Month: March 2017

Style
28 Mar 2017

Felissimo Lip Gloss

We’ll try just about anything as long as the packaging is adorable, right? I can’t even remember the last time I wore lip gloss, but when I heard about the special ingredient being featured in this one by Hin-Yari Ohana, I maybe reconsidered. I know what you’re thinking… what’s. with. the. cats? It’s more than just a mascot, it seems because this special lip gloss includes kitten milk.

*pause for reaction*

Additionally, wearing the lip gloss is also supposed to give you the sensation that you are kissing a cat’s wet nose. This is something that I’ve never had a true desire to do, but in reading the description, I’m convinced that this is a lip gloss for cat lovers only.

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Life
28 Mar 2017

Pro Coffee Nap

When a former colleague of mine told me that a coffee + a nap was more productive than having just one or the other, I didn’t believe her. In college, I was the queen of testing every hack I needed to in order to stay productive through the night when I was pulling all nighters and never once did I hear about this trick. However, since I was traveling so much this past fall and spending a lot of time on planes, I thought this might be a good time to actually test this out. Before a recent flight, I picked up a coffee at Starbucks like I always do, but this time I made sure that before we even took off, my eyes were closed and I was trying to unwind down to my sleep state. Instead of setting an alarm like this Vox video advises, I instead made sure my headphones weren’t in and that I awoke naturally to the sound of the flight attendants letting us know that we could now use our electronics. It’s not much time to take a nap, but it did the trick for a west coast to east coast flight and after that nap, I was awake the whole rest of the way and working from the air.

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Uncategorized
28 Mar 2017

Trying Lyra

Growing up, I didn’t have too many options to choose from when it came to exercising or participating in a sport. If you were a kid, you could either do soccer, softball, or basketball. Well, I sort of gave each one a shot, but nothing ever felt stuck or rather, I never felt like I belonged. I was a petite girl (still am today!) and I didn’t enjoy running – something that is involved in almost every sport every kid my age was in. As an adult, staying healthy and being active is important to me. It’s not in my top 5 priorities, but I am very aware that I’m not going to have my metabolism forever and the work I put into my health and wellness now will serve me better as I age.

In the fall, Sandy asked a few of us if we’d be interested in trying a Lyra class with her. I hadn’t ever done it, but looked it up before I headed to the class and thought because of how tiny I was that it would be doable. I had been going indoor rock climbing on/off for the last few years and knew I had some upper body strength. Well, when I say I had been going indoor rock climbing, what I really mean is that that was the last form of exercise I had done and I probably hadn’t gone back in a year so that upper body strength I thought I was equipped with? Gone.

First off, please excuse for the not so high quality photos. I know it looks like I’m making it seem easy in these photographs, but the girls I went with all know how much I struggled. It was hard for me to even push myself off the ground let alone get into the hoop and balance myself. These two poses were done at the very end of the class and even then I had little hope that I would be able to pull them off! Lyra isn’t about endurance, but more so strength and a whole lot of patience, which I realized I clearly didn’t have at the end of the session. Would I try Lyra again? Potentially! However, now as an adult, there are so many different classes you can take – many options that I didn’t have when I was a kid and I’m really excited that I get to choose from them all.

Uncategorized
27 Mar 2017

I’m A Bridesmaid!

In the last few years, some of my favorite content on Yow Yow! has been through some of my own experiences. Typically, when something happens, Instagram will get the exclusive first in that moment, but Yow Yow! will get the deep dive into it all maybe just a few months later. This past fall, two of my favorite girls – Ashley and Jennie – got engaged! You may know them as the women I am always referencing in “Wedding Mondays” post. Both of them got engaged while I was traveling on the East Coast for work and when I got the infamous texts with the photos of their respective rings, I was fast asleep as I was always three hours ahead. Obviously, I was excited for my girls, but I experienced a lot of FOMO as well and it was sort of a reality check that I was away from people that I cared about and have been for a few years now!

Shortly after her engagement, Ashley asked me to become one of her bridesmaids! You never know it’s going to be you until you actually get asked though so the arrival of said box above was the greatest package I had ever received. This is my first time being a bridesmaid for one of my friends and hopefully not the last. I’m taking this job very seriously though and though I don’t know what I’m doing, I will somehow be incredibly knowledgeable in being a great bridesmaid to Ash haha. We haven’t discussed any plans to document this wedding journey yet, but we’ve got a whole year to go so who knows what could happen.

Design
27 Mar 2017

Wedding Mondays

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/192691426]

Mandi and I had a controversial wedding conversation in which we came to an agreement that weddings these days can be… well, a little bit extra! Up until just a few years ago, I didn’t even really consider bridal showers to be a real thing. In fact, I will admit that I totally thought it was a ploy to just receive more gifts. It’s half that, but it’s also a great opportunity for you to have a more sophisticated get together with the women in your life that isn’t necessarily a (what could be) raunchy bachelorette party. For Wedding Mondays, we generally don’t feature many videos that aren’t a wedding video, but today is an exception. I came across an anniversary shoot captured with a video last night and it struck a chord with me. Whether I am married for a year or five years or ten, I very much still want that love to be well and alive. It’s refreshing to see how couples continue to show each other that in different ways. It may not be for everyone and yes, sometimes doing things like this will cost a little “extra,” but it is still a very special sentiment.

Be honest with yourself. You do not hate this.

Uncategorized
25 Mar 2017

It’s Our Birthday Again

Hello!

I know it sounds silly, but every year, I used to like my birthday to be a little bit of a spectacle. I can’t remember a time when we didn’t have a celebration of some sort and during college (especially for my 21 run) I sometimes celebrated up to three times. It was excessive and even as I’m thinking about this now, I’m getting tired from it. This year, I’ve been preoccupied with so many things going on in my life that I forgot about my birthday until my parents had sent me an email the day before. With a new job, it’s hard to think about anything else.

Last night after a very low-key birthday dinner with Mandi, she asked me what my goals were for year 27. I felt so put on the spot! The thing is, I thought about this question every year and usually had a response – one that would end up on Yow Yow! but not this year. As I woke up in bed this morning, I spent some time reflecting on year 27. What am I actually trying to achieve this year that I haven’t yet achieved in other years and the first thing that came to mind was really quite simple: self-care. It’s a thought that bounces around in the back of my head from time to time, but during my recent time off, it was an idea that I stuck to. Because I had the time off work, I made a concentrated effort to take care of myself in more ways than one. I had close friends visit me from out of town. I spent time outdoors and getting out of my home to try new things. I flexed my creative muscles and spent more time writing on the blog than I ever have  – probably since college. I treated myself to a lot of things – facials, boba, candles, food, sleeping in. I exercised regularly and came up with a healthy daily routine to take care of my mind and my body. In my last days of being 26, I was already doing this and now I want to keep it up going into 27.

As you’ve been following me, you’ve probably noticed a lot more weddings and bachelorette parties in my life. I could not be happier for all of my friends and their incredible news. G just announced recently that she was expecting – the first out of all my friends that I am closest with! The news is always overwhelming, but so full of joy and I can’t wait until I’m in their place and sharing that kind of news with my friends, family, and Yow Yow! I used to wonder as a kid and a teenager when all of these life changes would happen to me, but now at 27, I’m glad to just be having a job that I enjoy, great company in my life, and the ability to be able to stand on my own two feet right now. Everything else will fall into place when it needs to. <3

People
25 Mar 2017

Casting JonBenet

JonBenet Ramsey and I were the same age so when the story broke out about her death, I was really too young to process it. To this day, even though there was sort of closure, there wasn’t really. People are still making documentaries about it and sharing their theories so naturally, this is one of those cases that I also never let go. I’m still very fascinated by all of it and often wonder what JonBenet’s life would have been like today had this not happened to her and why it seems like everyone close to her involved was let off the hook. This trailer was incredibly haunting to me, but still captivating enough that I might log into my Netflix account (which I do less than a handful of times a year) to watch this when it premiers on April 28th.

Style
25 Mar 2017

Snaps for a Snapshot

Who: Kiernan Shipka

Wearing: Rosie Assoulin

Where: Wednesday screening of “The Blackcoat’s Daughter” in New York City

So no, florals for spring isn’t necessarily groundbreaking, but they are when you’re wearing them the way Kiernan is. I love that this isn’t just a floral printed dress and instead the florals are full immersed into the shape of this dress. Don’t even get us started on those straps. We love it.

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