Discovering My Mission

Originally, I started this blog for selfish reasons, by which I mean the electronic equivalent to an electronic journal. Now that I have started reading for fun again, I have noticed a theme in the content I truly enjoy. They tend to be self-help through someone's personal narrative. A "How To Declutter" book wouldn't be as interesting and meaningful as someone's story in response to utilizing said book to declutter their home and life.

That said, I have not been blogging much lately because I feel rather stuck as of lately. I feel like I need some sort of life change, but I'm not sure what. It would be awesome to learn a real trade or skill and not just soft skills that can apply anywhere. I'm not unhappy working as a cashier at a Chinese restaurant, but this is not a career and after second guessing my calling in Human Resources, it has me feeling lost.

What do I do when I feel lost or unhappy? I like to create.

One of my favorite methods of creation is writing. There is something really freeing about just writing without any idea where you are going. I will often write about the daily stuff (what I'm feeling, ideas I have, wants and desires, conversations I have had recently, and so on). There is a tiny book called The Daily Bones (I believe) that inspired me to do so. I don't journal every day, but I do when I need something back from it.

Today I felt like writing in my other "journal" and as I lay in bed unable to fall back asleep, I thought about what sort of changes I have been wanting. I guess I'm unhappy, but I don't really feel that way. The Universe seems to be telling me it's about time to change something.

One of my first thoughts went back to a conversation I had with a friend from college about what sort of business would I open if money was no object, but if I was to ever open a spa I would be no help for the real work because I don't know how to do hair, skin, nails, eyelash extensions, massage therapy, chiropractic... nothing. I have "soft skills" and could learn how to run the business and take care of my employees, but I would never be able to cover for one of them if they got sick or had an emergency. Opening a business right now would not be a good idea then.

Could I make money off of my blog? Maybe one day, but that's not the point.

Ok, so back to the drawing board AKA a small teal notebook with big white poke-dots and pink binding. Without looking through the previous pages of ideas, I wrote about what I aim to do every day which is essentially to "make today a happy day." I'm borrowing the wording from one of my favorite hoodies that I found at the UNIQLO near my host family's house when I was studying abroad in Japan. It's a pastel yellow with a picture of Mr. Happy surrounded by the words "Today is a Happy Day." Something I have learned is that if it makes me smile, it will often continue to do so long afterwards. Side note, I'm currently wearing it because my house is freezing cold.

Could my happiness journey be my schtick? Why not?

Lauren Singer's Trash Is For Tossers focuses on living a zero waste lifestyle, Simon's and Martina's Eat Your Kimchi (now also Eat Your Sushi) focuses on food and traveling adventures in Korea (and now Japan), Tanja's Rose Shock (AKA @RoseShock) focuses on creative makeup and cosplay, Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus write about intentional living and minimalism at TheMinimalists.com, and and the list goes on. You can literally blog about anything, but it appears that you must have a cohesive theme of focus.

Would anyone even be interested in my ideas about living happier and with intention? There only has to be one person.

Everyone should be living a life in line with their personal values. Lauren is a perfect example of this and she really inspires me to live intentionally. By "living intentionally" I mean that you live a life that aligns with what is important to you. The Minimalists have an awesome podcast on the subject.

I haven't quite figured the wording yet, but I make an effort to live my life is by enjoying the little things, by making today a happy day, by using and doing things that make me smile, by making an effort to appreciate how blessed I am, and by living in a way that aligns with who I am and who I strive to be.

I know that happiness is internal. It does not come from external sources, as awesome as that would be theoretically. It's definitely a challenge sometimes to keep negative external influences from affecting my mood, but there are so many more positive things going on that I feel my quality of life has gotten so much better. Since graduating college, I stopped taking antidepressants, was exercising regularly (I have since fallen off the bandwagon and need to get back on), talked to family and friends regularly, ate healthier, and overall these made me feel better.

Mental health, Happiness, and Intentional Living are so important.

If my story helps even one person, then I have done my job.

(Updated: August 12, 2017)

Enjoying Your Morning Coffee

When I was in high school and college, I envied my mom for having the time to sit and enjoy her morning coffee. She would set up the coffee pot the night before so that all she would have to do is push the one and only on-button the following morning. Once I had convinced her that cats are a necessary part of life, she added feeding them some canned food to this morning routine. Mom would then take her mug to the couch where she would turn on Good Morning America to see what is going on in the world. As someone who could never get myself up early enough to do anything but the basics, I could not comprehend how she managed to get up around 6AM every single day. In middle school and high school, when I was a bit self-conscious about my wavy hair because silky, straight flat ironed hair was the trend, I would force myself to get up super early (AKA 6:00AM) and straighten my hair. Once I was in high school, that concern eventually fell away. There wasn’t a good enough reason to waste my precious sleeping time to have straight hair like every one else. I actually got compliments on my natural hair and found out that a beautiful, curly-haired college friend of mine had a very similar experience. As I matured and got older, I still could not find the time to actually use a coffee mug for its intended purpose unless I made hot tea. In case you are gripping your seats in curiosity, it was usually chai tea. Maybe it’s because one of my majors was East Asian Studies, but I started drinking a whole heck of a lot of tea on a daily basis. I actually figured out that people started associating my huge Tervis cup with sunflowers on it with me when someone would call and ask if they had found my cup after I had left it somewhere on campus.

            It was not until I started writing and blogging for the fun of it that I ever got up early. It definitely helped that my husband needed a ride to work at 5:30AM since our roommate totaled his car, that we eventually adopted a dog who needs to pee at 8:00AM sharp, and that I had fallen off the morning yoga in my bedroom bandwagon and taken to watching TED Talks to start the day instead. After taking Mike, my husband, to work that morning I would come home and sit down at our off kilter, round kitchen table and open up my laptop. At first when this habit continued into the weekend, I lied to Mike about what I was doing and said I was doing the online class I’m definitely still supposed to be working on. As I write the first draft of this section, I still have yet to tell him that I started a blog. The secrecy seems to make it kind of fun for the time being. Creative writing was never something that I had much of an opportunity in school to cultivate since I avoided English classes if I could, but I also felt like I had nothing to really contribute to the written world and so I avoided it into college as well. The funny thing is that as I read more blogs and listened to TED Talks and YouTubers, that self-doubt was essentially erased. If they could do it, then I could too. One quote that resonated with me was to “write what you want to read.” If I re-find this quote, I will make note of it and give credit where credit is due. I really would like to thank this person for inspiring me. This quote was so simple that it hit me like a ton of bricks. It really made me sit and think about whether or not I could actually be a writer like some of the TED Talk presenters that I had really enjoyed, like Elizabeth Gilbert, who is most famous for writing Eat, Pray, Love, Committed, and Big Magic. Both of these books are currently on my To Read List, but hearing her TED Talk made me want to read her work more so than I had before when I did not have a face and voice to put with the name.

            Whether or not I’m qualified as a life coach or some guru, I want to keep writing about my life, the things I have learned, even the smallest experiences that made a difference to me, and my thoughts on something. I don’t care if only my parents read this. At this moment in my life, I want to write for me and for the sake of writing. I have always loved the process of creation and that is why I identify as an artist. I’m an artist with no true medium. In my opinion, half of the fun is trying a medium that is new to me to see what I can create. Developing that process further is another awesome step on that creative journey. I have to say that the time I spend in front of my laptop at my kitchen table with a hot mug of coffee is precious to me. I wish I would have found the value in it earlier in my life, but maybe if I had then I would not appreciate it as much as I do in the present. Enjoying my morning coffee is akin to taking the time to do my skin care routine and enjoying a relaxing face mask for a whole uninterrupted fifteen minutes. We should all be doing the little things that makes us smile, makes us feel relaxed, and makes us feel inspired.

Every day is a fresh start and a great day to have a great day.

I Wish Someone Would Make This

Good morning!

While scrolling through Facebook, I came across a short clip of someone filming the view off the side of their boat while sailing through the neon blue waters of Greece. My knee-jerk reaction was to smile and my eyes watered with u she'd happy tears. To me, Greece is the land of my ancestors and a happy memory of going on a cruise with my grandma and aunt's family. Here's a photo I took off the boat from our trip in 2013.

Grandma's grandfather, who we refer to as Papu, is the closest known relative to have made the journey across the Atlantic to make a better life for himself. Papu's story is our emigration story. Grandma is the most Greek looking of all of us, mainly since her children inherited her previous husband's fair skin which we attribute to his Scottish ancestry. She has the most beautiful olive skin tone and I used to envy her as a kid before I embraced my own fair skin.

My emotional reaction to a simple video sparked a happy memory of traveling to the land of our family with one of the he only family members to have real memories of Papu. She used to go visit her grandparents who lived across the street to play checkers with Papu. Going on this trip with my grandma was such a life changing blessing and I feel as though we grew closer because of our adventures together.

I had an idea. What if there was a book, movie, or documentary where they took Americans from the United States, let's call them "Usians" as in "you-zee-ans" as in what one of my favorite professors would call Americans, and let's take them on a fantastic trip to the country that their family left behind. I may justill put this concept in my book idea that I've been churning on for the last couple weeks. I would not be unhappy if this became a documentary though.

Have am awesome day!

First Impressions: Avocado & Oatmeal Clay Mask

Good morning! 

While I was drinking my favorite morning coffee (AKA sugar and creamer with a splash of Folgers Hazelnut coffee), I decided to do a face mask during my morning skincare routine. In my medicine cabinet, I have 2 sample clay masks from CVS Pharmacy, several tubs of various clay masks, and a tube of cucumber peel-off mask. Unfortunately, I had to return the other samples that I had purchased from Ulta and Walgreens because my husband was mad at me for spending too much money. The funny part is that one of my bosses at the Chinese restaurant ended up buying the mask samples off me before I could make it to the store to return them. Whatever works. I do plan on repurchasing the same items when we have more cash flow.

For today I decided to go with one of my CVS samples even though they don't really jump out at me. The actual product comes in a tube for around $5.

The Avocado Oatmeal mask claims to be balancing, to give you ultra soft skin, and to give a deep clean. I did notice that my face felt really clean more than anything else, but my skin didn't feel as soft as it does after I use the Shea Moisture Rose or Frankincense and Myrrh masks.   

This mask smells really good and it probably is the oatmeal ingredient since it also smells pretty natural. In my opinion, scent is important because that can really make or break a product. If it smells awful, you probably won't use it at all or as often as you would if it smelled good even if the results were breathtaking. Even if I don't notice a big difference in my skin, if the scent is nice then it seems more like a relaxing aromatherapy de-stress session. This mask seemed to fit more into that category than the one they were aiming for.

It's a thick consistency and tingles after you apply it. It almost feels like it's cooling on the skin; I feel it mostly on my nose and a tiny bit on my forehead. I'm not sure if it's because the packet has been in my cabinet for maybe a month or two, but the clay separated a bit which made it way messier and challenging to apply. This also made it dry uneven.

The packet said to let the mask dry completely, which totally goes against how I was taught to use clay masks. The way it felt when it dried was awful because I could feel the tightness and cracking. It also came off really chunky, so overall I'm not particularly impresses/

Would I repurchase?
Ehhh... I probably would not buy this again.

I would consider trying it again in a trial size to see if I got a dud or not. If I had purchased the bottle from CVS Pharmacy originally, I would use it, but it wouldn't be a mask I would reach for often.


The other CVS sample mask I have is the Dead Sea Minerals Anti-Stress Clay Mask, which sounds promising. Hopefully that one is a heck of a lot better than this one.

After hearing that clay masks are great for oily skin, I have become absolutely addicted to them. I love that you get that 15 minutes of me-time, they are usually cooling or tingly, and I can tell my skin loves them from how my skin feels after using them. If you also have oily skin or just want to take some time for yourself, then find a mask that smells good, claims to be for your skin type, and or says it will help with a skin concern that you have. A lot of samples are between $1-$2, so there is no real commitment required.

Have an awesome day and rest of your week!

My Thoughts On: Decluttering

You know how in the movies when there is a group of people sitting in a circle of plastic chairs for a therapy session? I imagine how uncomfortable most everyone is and those very few that have gone so many times that they feel way to comfortable there. Each person takes their turn to introduce themselves and "admit that they have a problem," and everyone else drones out a bored sounding greeting back.

"Hello everyone. My name is Rachel and I'm a packrat."
"Hiiii Raaaacheeeel."

Too bad there is not a mainstream Hoarders Anonymous. It is obvious to me that I will never be someone who lives a minimalist lifestyle. Kudos to those who do as it seems so modern and less stressful. I personally love have knick knacks around the house, most with sentimental value or are used daily, as it seems more homey. I come from a family of packrats, so parking my car in a garage is an experience I have yet to have.

A couple months ago when I first started the plans for moving to the city where my husband works (and long before that), I noticed (again) how much clothes I have. I do wear most of it, but the sheer volume of clothes in my closet, in drawers, and in purposefully placed piles seemed like too much. My husband, who is definitely a minimalist, backed me up on that observation. The last time I purged my wardrobe I donated five or six full trash bags of clothing. The purge before that it was two or three bags of clothes.

It had never even crossed my mind to go through my makeup collection until I watched makeup declutter videos from beauty YouTubers, @thataylaa and @katrinberndt. It took way longer than I anticipated, but I gathered up a good chunk of products that I don't reach for or have never actually touched. @thataylaa had the awesome idea to donate her gently used makeup to an organization called Project Beauty Share, who provides women in need with cosmetics and feminine products to get them back on their feet and help them regain their dignity. Regardless, I plan on donating whatever makeup I can and giving away or tossing what I can't.

What I actually kept included primers, foundations that actually match my skin tone, face/setting powders, blushes, highlighters, a bronzer (that I'm still playing with), eyeshadow palettes and singles, several eyeliner pens, a gel eyeliner pot, several lip liners, several eyebrow pencils, an eyebrow powder, and a dip brow pomade. I'm obviously super indecisive on how to fill in my eyebrows at the moment. If I ever get down a real routine, I will likely donate the other products.

What really helped me be ruthless was the idea that everything has a home, even if it is not yours.

Now to purge the wardrobe again.

My Yoga Resolution

After a week that has not gone anywhere near how I planned or imagined, I have decided to get back on top of exercising regularly by mainly doing yoga and going running. Today was my first day and it was definitely a challenge. My alarm went off at 5:30am and even though I didn't get up as soon as I planned or make it as far as I hoped, I did something. Starting is a challenge and sticking with it is even harder.

The time when I was doing yoga regularly was when I felt the best (since high school when I took belly dance classes regularly). I feel like this is a step towards lasting health and happiness.

I have used this app a couple times since I can't afford a yoga studio membership and I actually like it. I still prefer practicing in a studio because I feel more compelled to go since its at set times and usually push myself a lot more when there are other people around. I like that in the Down Dog app you can select the length of time you want to spend in a session, change the style of yoga, and change the background music selection. It's actually not a prerecorded video like other versions, but changing pictures with a voiceover explaining what to do in a soothing voice.

FYI the Down Dog app is available for Apple and Android and it's FREE!

This morning I set up a 60 minute session, which is how long the classes were back at my old studio, and only made it about 35 minutes before I was rather worn out and stayed in Childs Pose another 5 minutes before stopping it all together. I probably should have laid down longer and relaxed, but instead I got up and took a hot shower. I'm a bit disappointed in how badly I did, especially at anything that required balancing on doing a lunge.

Today is Day#1 though, so I do have to start somewhere. I will do better and better if I stick to it. Self-discipline has never been one of my strongest qualities, but I'm determined to change this and get my priorities in order.

Loreal Pure-Clay Detox & Brighten Mask

Made with 3 Pure Clays + Charcoal

1.7oz / 48g

Green = Purify & Mattify

Black = Detox & Brighten

Red = Exfoliate & Refine

Yesterday

My very first impression of the new Loreal clay mask was that it looked like it was being advertised as being made with natural ingredients due to the pale green and white box. The actual jar feels nice and heavy, but has a light weight plastic lid that is the same pale green color as the box. I super love that there is a sort of seal on the jar to keep the air out and keep it from drying out quickly.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy they clay was smooth onto my skin and it dried pretty quickly. It has a natural smell that I couldn't quite place, but it didn't smell like charcoal like I expected. My husband says it smells like tea and I'm inclined to agree. I originally thought it was black, but it's actually a dark gray color that dries down to a light gray with all the darker spots from the absorbed oil.

☆ Friendly Advice: Don't laugh or smile when it's almost dry. My husband is really funny and it was borderline painful when the mask cracked.

Today

Immediately after applying the mask it felt tingly all over and again it dried quickly. Thankfully Mike was too distracted by video games to notice me wearing a face mask, so I could keep a straight face and keep it from cracking. My skin felt clean and smooth and looked like it sucked up some of the impurities (if the black spots everywhere are anything to go by).

Final Thoughts vs. Claims:

All skin types? I don't think I can speak for any of the skin types, but I would recommend this to my fellow people with oily skin.

Doesn't dry out skin? Nope! It just felt nice and clean.

Goes on and rinses off easily? It went on surprisingly easily and evenly, but was harder to wipe off.

Completely draws out built up impurities, dirt, & pollution? Maybe? I still have blackheads after 2 days of use, so I doubt it has gotten everything.

Skin feels refreshed and can breathe? Clean-feeling doesn't necessarily mean completely clear of nasty stuff, but maybe it breathes a bit better?

Look brighter with a healthy glow? Actually, yes. It's subtle, but was noticeable for me.

Skin tone is more even? My skin was a little less red after Day#1, but I picked at my face on Day#2 so it was a bit red again (hence the lack of a second picture).

Skin looks smoother? I didn't notice any difference visually in my texture. I will update y'all later if this changes.


☆☆☆☆
Would I repurchase this product? Yes.

Want to try this for yourself? Click Here!

10 Random Facts About Me

Hello Hello! ~

Here's a little self introduction!

1) You may be able to buy my love with ice cream. If I could live off of ice cream, I would.

2) I'm a college graduate from an awesome, but overpriced, private school.

3) My husband and I have been together for 6 years and have been married for 3 months, and we currently live near base since he is in the military.

4) I have 2 cats. The female is a tortoise shell and her name is Maggie Mae, and the male is black with a tiny tip of white on his tail and his name is Merlin.

5) Recently, I have become obsessed with the beauty community on YouTube. I have bought products that I never would have thought to try. A few of the Youtubers that I follow religiously are JeffreeStar, NikkieTutorials, MannyMUA, JaclynHill, Grav3yardGirl, and CaitoPotatoe.

6) My long term goal is to go into Human Resources (and to paint and possibly test products on the side).

7) I love yoga and bellydance, but have no self discipline to continue my practice at home. I used to work part time at a hot yoga studio and used to take dance lessons in high school, and since then I've been hooked on both of these.

8) I collect pandas, stuffed animals, and anything soft and fluffy. And name tags.

9) My room is very messy.

10) The most memorable trip I have ever taken was when I studied abroad near Tokyo, Japan.

<3