MY FAVORITE NEW BRANDS + WHAT I'M WEARING THIS SPRING

Spring has got to be one of my favorite times of the year solely for the fashion. I live for bright colors, floral prints and all things fresh and new.

I’ve noticed that as I get older, I’m drawn more to buying quality pieces from designers I know i’ll have in my closet for a long time, rather than items that are trendy from ‘fast-fashion’ stores. I used to buy things from places like Forever 21 and H&M in bulk and realize I end up tossing more than half those clothes once a new season comes around. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with shopping at those places…but in an effort to be more environmentally friendly to the planet and economically friendly to my wallet, I’ve invested in some higher end, yet affordable brands that I know I’ll have hanging in my closet for a longer time.

What I ask myself when choosing these pieces is a) is the print and/or color timeless? A good floral print will never go out of style, while the neon trend of lime green dresses certainly (and hopefully) will! Sorry — just not a fan. The next question I have to ask myself is b) is this cut/style flattering? I love a good midi length dress that elongates your legs at the calf or wrap dress that cinches at the waist. The smock waist trend is so cute but let’s be real, that look isn’t flattering on a day you’ve had a bowl of pasta (or anything but iced coffee for that matter). The final question I ask is c) can I style this to wear for more than one type of outing? I try to make sure mostly all the pieces I buy are versatile enough to be worn from day to night, casual to dressier if need be. Bonus points if its appropriate enough to be worn at the office.

Below are some of my favorite new brands i’ve discovered that I feel totally mold to my main three criteria when picking out pieces and different ways you can style them.

And Other Stories: Polka Dot Midi Dress

I’ve been working with And Other Stories for almost 7 months on my Instagram and I absolutely love every piece i’ve selected from them, but this polka dot mini has to be an all time fave. It’s an appropriate enough length and covers my shoulders enough so I can wear it to work, but also has a flirty little slit and cinches at the waist making it super flattering. The fabric is also breathable, making it an easy Spring dress to throw on for warm days.

HOW TO STYLE CASUAL: Sandals/Slides, cross body bag and loose hair. Iced coffee optional ;) Ideal for weekend errands and farmers market runs!

HOW TO STYLE DRESSIER: Give a nod to the Western trend with cowboy boots and add a pop of color with a statement bag. Pin hair back on one side and add some fun earrings for an ideal drinks to dinner look.

Keepsake The Label: Floral Mini Dress

I randomly discovered this Australian brand through a PR company and fell in love with every piece this brand makes as they are completely on point with my aesthetic. Think all things romantic and floral down to the very last detail— complete with ruffles, lace and puff sleeves. I’m also very impressed with the quality of the pieces! Could this floral dress be anymore ‘me’!?

HOW TO STYLE CASUAL: This dress is on the dressier side as it is with the lace trim and ruffles, so make it more relaxed with cowboy boots and a wide brimmed hat.

HOW TO STYLE DRESSIER: Play into how girly and fun this dress is with pearl hair clips and a pink lip. Perfect for a warm date night!

Keepsake the Label: Ruffle Maxi Dress

HOW TO STYLE: This dress is begging to be worn to a wedding or a vacation! Style with some sandaled heels, a cute straw bag and some pearl hair pins to complete the look

Keepsake the Label: Balloon Sleeve Sweater

HOW TO STYLE: I’ve been wearing this sweater non-stop since I’ve gotten it! it’s a lightweight sweater perfect for the chillier Spring days we have in San Francisco. The material is great quality, feels so soft on and has the cutest scalloped striped details throughout. My favorite part is definitely the dramatic balloon sleeves though. Since this is a more basic top I can just throw on with jeans I’ve had a lot of fun styling it with extra accessories like this pearl bag and statement earrings.

Keepsake the Label: Flare Sleeve Mini Dress

HOW TO STYLE: Safe to say that Keepsake is going to be a new staple brand in my wardrobe. The fit and quality of the pieces is seriously the best I’ve come across in a while. This dress has a gorgeous floral print with ruffles cascading across the dress and huge flared sleeves. I would probably wear this to a bridal shower ( I have one coming up in June!) or somewhere out at night that serves a tasty and overpriced cocktail (which isn’t hard to come across in SF) with some sandaled heels and fun hair clips.

Faithfull the Brand: Red Floral Midi Dress

Another Australian label that I’m loving lately is Faithfull. Their prints are unique but still timeless with classic floral prints. This red dress makes me feel like I’m living out my dreams in Paris in the 60s. Also i’ve noticed all of their silhouettes are extremely flattering, flowing and hitting at all the right spots.

HOW TO STYLE CASUAL: This dress is perfect for weekend coffee or brunch with a wide brimmed hat and your favorite top handle purse

HOW TO STYLE DRESSIER: Throw on some platform heels and curls in your hair for a cute girls night out look

Faithfull the Brand: Green Midi Dress

HOW TO STYLE: I die over this color! It’s such a gorgeous green color with a simple yet beautiful floral design that makes matching accessories with it a breeze. I added my current Spring favorites — heeled sandals, straw bag and pearl hair barrettes to complete the look

Just Female: Floral Maxi Dress

I recently discovered Just Female, a Scandinavian brand based out of Copenhagen. Similar to the Australian brands, Just Female has the most amazing quality and fit to their pieces I seriously can’t get enough. I discovered them at a local boutique here in SF and have been on the hunt for more of their pieces ever since. This floral maxi dress is becoming a staple in my closet this Spring as its appropriate enough to wear to work and on the weekends.

Just Female: Leopard Maxi Dress

HOW TO STYLE: This leopard print midi dress has a full skirt and a belt to cinch at the waist so it gives me retro vibes, which is why I love it with a higher heel and a hair accessory like a headband. Perfect for work and happy hour in my book!

Just Female: Orange Print Dress

HOW TO STYLE: This orange print dress has me literally dreaming of a vacation somewhere along the Amalfi coast. Not only is the print super cute and unique, the ruffles make the dress so fun and the flowy fit is nothing short of flattering. This one can definitely be dressed up or down — I just got it last week and have already worn it to the office with heels and a shopping event with sandals as pictured.

What brands are you guys loving for Spring? I want to know! Let me know in the comments and what you think of my picks and if you have also tried them.

BLOGGING TIPS: HOW TO GET STARTED

A question I get a lot is not where I got a particular outfit or what beauty products I use, but rather how did I get into blogging and what advice can I give for someone starting a blog themselves. I’ve been in the blogging/Instagram influencer hemisphere for a little over a year and a half now, and I can honestly say through this journey of a lot of trials and errors, I’ve picked up a lot of helpful tips that I’m happy to pass along.

The first thing I want to address is that there is a difference between a blogger (i.e., someone who posts on their own website like I’m doing right now) and someone who is an Instagram influencer (someone who doesn’t create posts on a website but rather makes their income/presence off of posting on Instagram alone).

While I follow many bloggers and influencers and a combination of the two alike, I feel like it’s important to know the difference between the two. I’ve personally fallen into the ‘IG influencer’ realm a bit more this year as I’m posting on IG frequently versus creating posts on my website but the reality is that is where the money is. IG is becoming the number one way people buy things, so as far as brand partnerships and sponsored posts go, companies care more about you posting on IG versus a separate website. Regardless, I think it’s important to have a website if you want to call yourself a blogger and want to build a brand. There is a whole word of content you cannot capture in an Instagram post or story (and something I want to become better at this year myself is creating more blog posts!)

TIP #1: MAKE A PLAN FOR CREATING YOUR CONTENT/PHOTOS

The number one thing I think people worry about when they want to start a blog is their photos. Who will take their photos? Where will they take them? What do they do in the photos? And this is your content, the bulk of what your audience will absorb so I can understand how it can be something to be stressed over.

When I was first launching my blog, I went online and hired the first professional photographer I could find that would entertain my idea of me changing outfits a few different times around Balboa Park in San Diego for a couple of hours at a decent price. Shooting day came and went and when I finally got back the photos, I was a little devastated that what I was envisioning didn’t quite come across IRL. For starters, the photos were taken at a time of day that direct sunlight was hitting me in the eyes, the angles didn’t quite display the outfits like I had hoped, and the backgrounds were a bit too bright and saturated for me like it was a shoot done for family portraits, rather than a cool fashion blog. I ended up editing the photos myself and using them, but it was a long ways from what I wanted in terms of my content creation.

The second time around shooting with a professional, I took my time doing a little more research and found a photographer on IG whose work and aesthetic I loved, rather than just googling local photographers for hire. I also planned my outfits around the location I was shooting at, and made sure to choose a location with backgrounds that was more inline with the vibe I was going for. For example, my personal style at that time was V Southern California/boho/beach vibes so I decided to shoot in a neighborhood by the beach in La Jolla, CA. Luckily, this photographer and I ended up clicking and creating magic together! It made me so happy to be displaying outfits and creating photos that I thought were genuinely good — it kind of reminded me of seeing photo editorials in fashion magazines when I was younger.

Ever since then, I have only worked with/hired photographers after doing my research to see the work they have done and whether it was in line with my aesthetic. I know paying for photos can seem like a gamble, but at the end of the day starting a blog is like starting a small business, and cost of photos is something I had to factor in as an investment to start this blog.

From my most recent professional shoot with Asha Bailey Photography (I stalked her on IG and we began shooting together a year ago — she’s one of my favorite photographers and make it a priority to schedule a shoot with her whenever I’m in San Diego)

If you cannot afford to hire a photographer, there are still many ways to get your content! All of these which I have done, still do and been very happy with:

• Ask your friends. I would drag my best friend all over LA to take pictures of me when I would go and visit her on weekends. True story: we were out to breakfast one day and there was an empty table against a wall covered with ivy which I thought was V cute. I took my chai and went over to the empty table and forced my friend to snap a couple of pictures of me while we were waiting for our breakfast to come. It may feel uncomfortable, but you honestly have to not give AF what people may think of you if you want to be in this industry.

Thanks to my best friend Kelsey for making my vision of this pic come true while we were both impatiently waiting for our food at Cafe Literati in LA

• Meet up with local bloggers. When I was desperate for pictures and I couldn’t afford to hire a photographer, I decided to reach out to another blogger who I had previously met at a blogger event. I just DM’ed her on IG and asked if she’d ever want to get together to take pictures for each other. Like me, she also needed content and was up for it! We started making it our weekly routine to do this just to have photos to post for the week as we both also worked full time jobs outside of blogging/influencing and it was great because it was someone who understood my need for a million different angles/options to choose from and I could reciprocate that for her as well! I also did this when I first moved up to the Bay Area and didn’t know anyone and ending up making a good friend out of it.

Shooting with a fellow Bay Area based blogger I met via Instagram here in San Francisco

• Ask your mom. Let’s be real, who will always be patient for you and there for you when you need something? Mom, of course. I still to this day ask my mom to take photos of me when I am back home visiting San Diego. She actually gets really into it now, giving me posing advice and what backgrounds she thinks will look good.

Bribing my mom with a lunch date so she would take pics of me here in La Jolla, CA

I dragged my mom to this popular restaurant and hotel near her house just to take pics (in Rancho Bernardo - a suburb in San Diego). She’s my biggest cheerleader so she was up for it as long as we didn’t have to drive far

• LAST RESORT: Ask a stranger. And if all of the above fail, ask a stranger. I know this may be really weird but that is the level of not giving a fuck being a blogger has turned me into. For example, when I moved to SF and didn’t know a soul but needed content, I definitely did this. I went to a Refinery 29 event alone and got tons of pictures by just asking random strangers that were walking by (luckily it was an interactive art exhibit so everyone was taking pics anyways). Another time I went to get a coffee and fell in love with the coffee shop’s aesthetic that I couldn’t leave without taking a pic. I noticed two girls in front of me taking selfies and asked them if they wanted me to take their picture. After, I asked if they wouldn’t mind taking a photo of me as well. And being brave paid off!

Thanks to the sweet stranger who agreed to take this pic for me at Portal Coffee in Little Italy, SD. She was a tourist visiting from the Midwest and we ended up chatting for a bit and following each other on IG later on!

Once you have found a photographer and a set time you want to shoot along with a couple of different outfits, the rest you can have fun with. Play around with poses (standing versus sitting), incorporate lifestyle in your photos (like grabbing a coffee as I clearly like to do), and remind yourself how amazing you look — if you’re not feeling yourself, it definitely shows in photos.

TIP #2: GET ORGANIZED AND PICK A PLATFORM

Ok, you have some content to put up on your blog now! Except for you have to make a website and that can be daunting. I tried a brief stint at blogging back in 2013 and ending up giving up on it because for the life of me I could not figure out how to configure my Wordpress site. In hindsight, that seems like such a stupid reason to give up but I really had no idea how to make it work and was fresh out of college so I couldn’t pay someone to design a site for me. Thank goodness the second time around when I gave blogging a serious try in 2017, I discovered websites like SquareSpace and Wix which make creating a website a breeze without having to know code or hire someone.

I use SquareSpace myself and personally love it because I can design my website directly on it, buy my website domain through them, and don’t have to use a 3rd party to host. I pay a monthly subscription to keep my website alive and it’s well worth it. There are different tiers of accounts you can purchase depending on what you’re looking for.

I also link my Instagram to my website (majority of how I get traffic to my site), and this brings me to the second part of getting organized as a blogger/influencer: creating your IG.

You can create a new IG account or convert your personal account to a business one (by creating and linking a business Facebook page) — I highly recommend having a business Instagram account as blogging is a business and you want to make yourself look legit in order to start gaining readers/followers and working with brands.

Once you have your Instagram up and running, download a post planning app like UNUM or Planoly so you can have a visual plan of what your IG feed will look like. I try to plan my feed a week in advance and space posts apart so that when someone new comes across my page, it looks aesthetically pleasing and they will want to follow along with my posts. For example, I try to break up my feed by having different sorts of posts next to each other. Maybe one where I’m standing showing off an outfit, next to a selfie, next to a photo of me sitting, next to lifestyle shot of my breakfast view or my purse and coffee. You don’t have to have this formula in place every time, but I personally don’t like it when it’s the same kind of photo over and over again.

Example of what I’d like my feed to ideally look like. While this is a goal I strive for, if it doesn’t happen for me some weeks I won’t stress over it. At the end of the day, I just want to make sure I’m posting quality content

I also try to make sure my photos all have the same filter/look/vibe to them. I use a number of photo apps to get the coloring on my photos to look how I want in line with my personal aesthetic and apply the same combo of filters to every pic I post. You can also use photoshop presets, but I personally don’t love the look of that for my feed. (See my post about the photo-editing apps I use here).

TIP # 3: BE AUTHENTIC

One thing I’ve discovered in this blogging world is that not everything is as it appears in a number of ways. Let me explain the reasons how and why you should avoid that:

1. Don’t (over) stage your photos: It’s a personal pet peeve of mine when something is outlandishly staged, like influencers who order 3 breakfasts just to get a cute shot with a bunch of food and end up eating none of it, or people who bring bouquets of roses to restaurants with them so they can get flowers in their photos and then end up tossing the flowers after they get the shot. Like yes, it looks nice but that will just never be me. I’m all for creating content and understand when you work with different brands, sometimes you have to stage your photos and add props but I also never want to come off as fake cause it’s personally a turn off when I see other bloggers doing it. If I do have photos with food in them, you can rest assured I ordered it for myself to eat.

An example of what I like to call ‘authentic staging’: A fellow blogger and I were invited to a tea time at Ketsourine Macarons in Daly City, CA. We probably had way too much dessert between the two of us but we actually ate and drank the macarons and tea (and took the rest home). The only part that was ‘staged’ was rearranging the platter and teapot to show up nicely in the photo

2. Don’t buy followers/likes/comments: I’ve never understood buying followers on IG. Brands can see through it when you have 20k followers but all of your photos barely get any engagement and it’s also suspicious when in one day someone jumps 1,000 followers. I think instead of focusing on the number of followers you have, focus on creating quality photos and blog posts that you’re proud of. And when you do create good content, you can be reposted on bigger IG accounts and gain an authentic following that way — with real people who will continue to follow you versus robots that will get deleted every couple of months anyway. I’ve been at around 12.7k followers for about 2 months now. While it’s frustrating because I want to constantly be growing, I’m still getting amazing brand partnerships with brands I once could only dream of working with so it’s not something I’m going to compromise on.

Getting reposted on Revolve’s IG page was amazing for me — it brought me a lot of authentic followers that messaged me they were happy to find my page (and I probably wouldn’t have been to reach them otherwise)

3. Be picky with what you post. I think while blogging/influencing is a lot of fun and a great market to be in, it’s also a very over-saturated market and can seem like you’re seeing the same few bloggers posting about the same things in the same outfits. I think that it’s important to really find your voice and your brand if you’re going to commit to blogging. If you copy someone’s posts or outfits because you feel like that’s the road to success, chances are you’ll fail because, a) your audience has already seen it and probably won’t be super impressed and b) you won’t be able to keep up with that person’s aesthetic if it’s not something that comes naturally. And I say this speaking from personal experience!

Where I’ve found success in my posts and photos is portraying my personal style via outfits I like to actually wear and think are cute versus wearing something just because it’s trendy (but probably isn’t totally in line with my own style). I also find the same to be true with captions, and try to add value in my captions. Sometimes I’ll post a joke and try to showcase my humor to my audience, other times I just talk about my day or ask my readers a question. Either way, I never want to sound like an infomercial trying to push a product or be boring and be like “I’m wearing this cute dress!” and that’s all you get.

Another instance where I’ve found it’s important to be picky is accepting brand partnerships. Don’t agree to post about something you wouldn’t actually wear/buy/use IRL. For example, the same diet tea company has reached out to me to do a sponsored post multiple times. And while I’d love to make money off it, I’m not going to endorse something I don’t believe in or would write about to my followers. When I see some other bloggers or influencers doing this, it feels a little off to me. I can’t help but think if they’re actually using this product! Instead, seek out partnerships with companies you would shop from and want to tell your girlfriends about as if you weren’t even a blogger.

A brand partnership I did with Boyish jeans. I not only loved the style of their denim but was genuinely impressed with their company’s commitment to being eco-friendly and reducing waste. I would definitely buy jeans from this company with my own money if I didn’t have a partnership with them so I’m happy to post about it with my followers.

There’s so much more I could talk and post about relating to blogging/influencing — which I will continue to do in a series of blogging tips posts, but I think that about covers the basics. I’d love to get your questions in the comments!

BLOGGING TIPS: FAVORITE PHOTO EDITING APPS

Instagram. Everyone’s obsessed with it and curating that perfect feed if you’re a blogger or influencer. (And even if you’re not a blogger, everyone wants a cute photo to post on their IG!) I think one of the fun parts of fashion blogging is not only getting to create content (i.e., style outfits, pick locations and shoot photos), but also picking out your favorite photos and editing them at the end of the day!

As some of you may know, in addition to blogging, I also work full time as a broker so my life is always busy and on the go. I would love to play around with photoshop and lighting on my computer but I just don’t have that kind of time. I usually pick out my photos and edit then post them on my morning commute to the office - all thanks to handy apps on my phone!

Below I've listed my five favorite photo editing apps that I use on my phone to edit my Instagram photos. Each of these apps has a cool/unique feature and while I may not use all of them at once, they are handy to have downloaded on your phone so you can edit your photos with ease (and without needing your laptop with you).

1. Facetune: I feel like Facetune gets a pretty bad rep because it’s known people use it as an app to alter their bodies BUT as a fashion blogger, there are some really handy tools on the app I like to use:

   1. The Details feature: I use this to highlight details on my outfit or accessories like bags, shoes and jewelry that would otherwise probably go unnoticed in the photo. I obsess over details, and used this feature to highlight the subtle floral print and intricate button detailing on my dress above.

   2. The Whiten feature: While people think this is only good to use to whiten teeth, I use it for everything but! I like my photos to have a bright feel to them, so when Im posing next to a neutral colored wall or on grey sidewalk, I use the whiten feature to brighten up those colors. I used it on the concrete sidewalk in these photos above. I’ve noticed doing this also helps my outfits pop!

   3. The Vibrance feature: I like to edit my photos with a cool tone to them (don’t like my backgrounds being super colorful and busy), but when I do this I notice it sometimes mutes the colors in my outfit. I use the vibrance tool after I’m done editing the tone of my overall photo to enhance the colors of just my outfit so I can make sure it stands out against the rest of the photo.
      

2. VSCO: VSCO is an oldie but a goodie. Everyone is really obsessed with presets right now but the cool thing about VSCO is you can tailor your own preset without having to be a Lightroom wizard. You can then save your edits (or preset) and copy and paste them to other photos in order to have a cohesive feed. I use the P5 filter which gives my photos a cooler, blue-ish tone and then bring the intensity down anywhere from a 3.5 to 5 depending on the photo. I then use the exposure tool to brighten my photo a bit and the grain tool to add a vintage vibe to my photos (anywhere from 1.5 to 3 intensity). This is overall a good go-to app when you want to simply edit a photo’s colors without all the bells and whistles.

3. Afterlight: Afterlight is like VSCO but on another level (with those aforementioned bells and whistles). It has more filters, all categorized by the color tone but then on top of that has cool additional tools to give your photos something extra. Some of my favorites include:

1. Selective saturation: I don’t like too many brassy tones on my feed so if something looks really yellow I’ll use this tool to leave the saturation on the photo the same except for the yellow tones which I’ll bring down. It’s a great way to control the colors you want to be predominant on your feed.

2. Fade: I love using the fade tool to add a little bit of a vintage feel to my photos (I don’t like heavy contrast)

3. Dust: The dust tool is great for REALLY capturing a vintage feel as you can make it appear like the photo you’re uploading was found in a shoebox from the 70’s. I use this tool conservatively though, as sometimes it can take away from the actual outfit you’re trying to showcase.

4. Text/Artwork: If you want to get creative with your photos, you can also overlay text or other designs on your photos. I seldom use this feature but it’s good to know if you ever want to add something extra to your photos.

4. TouchRetouch: I don’t use this app too often but it seriously becomes a lifesaver when I’m shooting photos on the street, especially on San Francisco’s sidewalks. This app is perfect for getting rid of leaves, random marks, cigarette butts, trash, etc. strewn on the sidewalk and makes it in your photo without you noticing. I also use it for getting rid of neon street/store signs, graffiti or otherwise anything distracting in the photo that would take away from my outfit.

5. Huju Cam: Out of all the apps I use, I probably utilize this one the least but it does make for fun photos! This is the app that makes it look like your photos are straight out of 1998 from a disposable camera, with a timestamp and overexposed colors. Sometimes these photos turn out too purple-y for my liking but I do like the vintage 90s look of them so I will use this in conjunction with an app like VSCO or Afterlight to get that cool timestamp but then to adjust the colors to not be so intense in relation to my feed.

Do you guys have any photo editing apps you swear by and I need to know about! Tell me in the comments below!

Shop my look here: (very into the poofy sleeves and mixed prints right now!)

HOW TO DEAL (WHEN LIFE THROWS YOU A CURVEBALL)

Hey guys! Me here - I took a break this summer from writing posts because of my big move to San Francisco. I've been here just about two months now and I feel like I can finally breathe (a little!)

Moving has been quite the adjustment. I feel like my entire world shifted over night and to be honest, it's been quite the bumpy ride. There are definitely times where I feel like I've failed to keep my head above water. New city, new job, new (TINY) apartment, a roommate (I haven't had one in 3 years!), adjusting to life without a car, and doing it all alone has been more than overwhelming.

My adjustment to SF has been a little like Murphy's law. Week 1 - my furniture I got delivered wouldn't fit up the curved stairs and narrow hallways of these old San Francisco buildings so I was without a bed the first few nights. Then my mirror I had diligently been tracking arrived shattered. The second one I ordered was no where to be found even though it was marked as delivered. You guys get the picture...

My second week here I rushed myself to the ER at 2 am (thankfully Uber and Lyft are available everywhere in the city at all times) because of swollen lymph nodes that got out of control over night. I still went to work the next day pretending I was fine (but I was definitely losing it a little on the inside from the stress).

Fast forward to July and my 27th birthday. I think this was the first birthday I spent without my family and best friends and it was just rough. I took myself to the spa and had a nice day of pampering myself BUT I felt like the whole time I was just thinking to myself, 'why did I decide to drop my entire life and come here!?' Throw in some troubles with my personal love life and I think I had just about had it. I was in tears, thinking to myself - I want to give up and just go back home.

So, as I sit here in bed typing this (I currently have ZERO living room furniture until the weekend so I have no other choice than to work from bed...I know, just another curveball), I can't help but notice that I haven't given my resignation or dropped my lease yet. I'm still here, knowing how lucky I am to live in such an exciting city. I think that sometimes when it rains it pours and knowing how to deal is crucial.

1. NOT EVERYTHING IS AS IT APPEARS:

I think a lot of people would be surprised to read this post and hear that things are probably going less than well. I've had so many friends back in San Diego look at my Instagram feed and message me saying 'Are you absolutely loving SF or what!?'. It's hard to say, well no...I'm going through some s**t with this move right now. If you look at my Instagram feed, I look so happy and on top of the world - but that's just because Instagram is a highlight reel. It's important to remember that. I'm showcasing my best moments. I'm posting pictures of myself in cute outfits at brunch or on walks around the city - definitely not when I'm half awake in workout clothes at 6:30am waiting for my train at the BART station. Not everything you see on social media is as it appears. I think it's important to remember than in hard times -- everyone goes through crap (even bloggers who are on that amazing vacation or that one friend of a friend who's always posting bikini pictures on the beach).

2. IT'S OKAY TO BE SELFISH

I think a lot of us have a hard time being selfish and doing things in our own best interest. But it's totally OK and even necessary (especially when life's throwing you curveballs). It's ok to not go out on a Friday night just because your friends are telling you to come out if you need a time alone on the couch with a movie to declutter your thoughts. It's ok to bail on brunch if you feel like going to a spin class on a Sunday morning is going to better serve you through the day. It's ok to splurge on a pricy face mask and pamper yourself after work if that's going to give you joy. It's ok to stand up for yourself (even if it's uncomfortable) if you feel like someone's walking all over you. I think having these moments to myself where I can workout, treat myself, or just simply assert myself to regain control definitely help when life feels like it's just one bump in the road after the next.

3. KINDNESS AND A GRATEFUL HEART GO A LONG WAY

I think at the end of the day, no matter how much things seem to suck in the moment that being kind and expressing gratitude can go a long way in dealing with a tough situation. Call it the optimist in me, but I refuse to let my circumstances make me a totally miserable person to be around. Extending a smile to strangers, letting someone drive in front of you on the road or doing someone a favor just because have all genuinely made me feel better, even if I get nothing in return. Even if someone hurts you, I don't think there's any use in treating them poorly as well. Being kind always works in your favor. 

I think it's also important to always be grateful. As much as I have a love/hate relationship with SF, I can't help but feel so lucky I get to live in such a cool city. So everyday, I've been finding things to do here that I couldn't do back in San Diego - no matter how big or small. The other day I decided to walk home from the Ferry Building (with a gorgeous view of the Bay Bridge) down to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf before making my way up Russian Hill and back to my apartment in the Cow Hollow/Marina area. I'm not sure where else I could have seen 4 tourist sights in one day on my way home but I felt pretty grateful in that moment to be in SF. 

I truly think the worst is out of the way now (and Mercury is out of damn retrograde!) and I'm so excited to see what San Francisco and the future has in store for me. La Vie Est Belle. Shop this look below (I'm loving the cute cherry print and lace up back details on this dress!)