23 Jul 2018
Wedding Mondays
Month: July 2018
23 Jul 2018
Song of the Day
Davie – Love Sick Fool
23 Jul 2018
Madewell Fall 2018
Just when the world is about to celebrate their fall season, it feels like we barely had time for a summer here in San Francisco. Summer has always felt like my season because of the carefree-ness and ease of throwing on 1-2 pieces and running out the door, but fall’s complex, but workable layers are something to envy. Even as I’m viewing these Madewell ready-to-wear looks, I feel like the layers would look like a mess on me, but then you realize it’s fall and nothing even matters. Everything seems to magically work. Even as you’re being stylish, you’re easing in comfort, functionality, and warmth. From a quick pass at these looks, I’m already making my list: sweater-like skirts, stripes, oversized scarves, endless knits.
Also how much do fall look books remind you of going back to school? This coming fall, I’m starting a new job and I can’t think of anything better than making a come back with a fresh new wardrobe.
23 Jul 2018
Does A High School Reunion Make Sense in 2018?
I recently got a text from Sasha asking me if I would be attending our high school reunion this coming September. Had it really been 10 years already? In all honesty, once I left that place I might have done everything that I could to scrub that part of life out of my history. I walked away with a handful of friends that are still my friends to this day and that was all I needed. If this information showed me anything, it’s that high school reunions in 2018 are not what they were 20 years ago. It’s no “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion” that’s for sure.
First off, how are people even contacted about this? How do people learn that an event like this is even happening? Recently I’ve been hearing more and more about a school shooting, will an event like this be safe? I wonder if there are panic button for schools? Those were my first questions to Sasha. “You’re not a part of the Facebook group?” There it was. Of course in 2018 there would be a Facebook group that would bind us all together, but let’s be real, that’s the actual high school reunion in itself, isn’t it? After looking up the Facebook group, it turns out I’m probably the last person in my class of 600+ people to join it. Mission accomplished – I wanted to try and go unnoticed and that happened. Let me tell you how long I got lost in that rabbit hole that was the Facebook group though – hours. Hours of looking up my former classmates and seeing if I knew a person only to realize that their last name has changed because they had gotten married. Hours of seeing default profile pics crammed with five people instead of just the one because people my age have families.
It’s amazing how much you can actually achieve in 10 years. What’s also astonishing is how you can do the opposite and diminish your own accomplishments to feel like you haven’t done nearly enough in 10 years. The concept of a high school reunion is fascinating to me. I imagine this is something that I thought about after leaving high school. I don’t think that this is something I looked forward to, but I assume I had an idea about what I wanted to wear, how I would talk about myself and who I wanted to see.
The other question I have about my reunion is wondering why there are tickets – even pre-sale tickets. Why is there a cost associated to this at all and why do our alma maters always try and suck the money out of us? Don’t y’all know that I’m still paying off my own student loans for college? Two years after I graduated, I found myself at a bar with many of my classmates that I hadn’t expected to see. It was wild and a shit show and unless my high school reunion gets to that level, I’m not sure I see a point of going to an event where everyone has to pretend like they are their button-up perfect selves. Who knew I would have so many feelings about an event? I certainly didn’t. Readers, have you attended your high school reunion and did you enjoy it? If you missed it, do you regret it?
23 Jul 2018
A Collection Part 51
For those of you who have been following Yow Yow! for years now, you know that these are some of my most intimate posts. Often times, I’m saying more with the images that I select than in the paragraphs I’m writing ahead of the post. For the first time ever, I’ve selected images that come from only one source. I recently discovered a new Tumblr that has become a fast favorite. Worried at first that I wouldn’t have enough material to use or even that the post would be an inaccurate representation of what I was hoping to convey ended up not being a real concern after all.
It has been a week of being completely stress free and living in my moments without having a plan. I think these photos depict an image of that. I think this is what carefree-ness and whimsy looks like and it’s entirely how I’m feeling. In these photos, you’ll notice that there are some up-close shots of a part of a body or detail zoomed in. I may not have known it at the time when I was picking out the photo, but it ended up being more intentional than planned. I wanted to focus and hone in on one thing specifically as opposed to doing the whole “big picture” thing.
22 Jul 2018
Let’s Get Cozy
Teddy Coat – Cupcakes and Cashmere / Denim – Levi / Boots – J. Crew
It’s unclear whether or not the teddy coat trend is here to stay, but for now I’m a fan of anything cozy. It’s not crazy to think that this coat is out of place here. In the city, it can actually be chilly enough for this and the wind is oh-so-unforgiving. On this particular day though, I will admit that I found myself getting a little bit sweaty with this over me. This caramel brown color makes you feel like the ultimate teddy bear and there’s no other color that I would choose over this one. It’s going to be perfect for your wintertime and late fall/early spring, but might be a bit much anytime outside of those periods. I’m generally someone that skews being more cold than warm so when I’m at the office and without a blanket, a jacket like this will come in handy.
22 Jul 2018
Sunday Words
[Source]
21 Jul 2018
Ice Cream Books
You can find an Instagram account for just about anything these days! If you’re interested, I’ll begin sharing with you more accounts that I follow! When I first joined Instagram, I loved following all of my favorite bloggers, but over time, there were a few other accounts that tapped into food and lifestyle in ways that I haven’t seen done before. There were accounts that had specific focuses and together – seeing them in my feed created a holistic viewing experience. Other times, there are just accounts that I find delightful. Ice Cream Books is one of them. The accounts features photos with scoops of ice cream smashed onto books which, oddly enough, is incredibly satisfying. Enjoy!
20 Jul 2018
SF Eats: Kama O Deli
If I’m a picky eater, it’s because ramen has made me this way. When it comes to food, I’m usually not that particular, but different kinds of ramen can make me feel some sort of way. If the broth is too creamy or too acidic, it can give me a case of acid reflux. If the egg is too undercooked, I get scared to eat it. And if the corn has to be ordered separately and isn’t included in my bowl or you don’t offer corn at all, expect me to give you the side eye.
Kama O Deli was just around the corner from my work and while people frequent this spot for their poke bowls, their ramen flies under the radar. I’m not sure why because I find it to be delicious and always hitting the spot, but it could also be the fact that it’s hard to find it on their menu. The egg is cooked just right. The broth isn’t too creamy and boasts just the right amount of sodium that I’m looking for. It comes with corn and the piece of pork satisfies the craving I’ve got in the middle of the day. If I’m being honest, I probably hit up Kama twice a week and get their ramen on one day and the poke bowl another. If you’re looking for a new ramen alternative that is somewhat considered a hole-in-the-wall, add Kama to the top of your list.
Beware of the weekday lunch rush though. Arriving at 11:30 or even 1PM will help you avoid some of the longer lines.
20 Jul 2018
Instagram Questions – Ways To Use It
photo cred | Taylor Lorenz – The Atlantic
There’s a little bit of anxiety when it comes to using the Instagram app. It is, no doubt, my favorite of all my apps, but comes with so many features not all of them being that intuitive until you’ve become a pro. Whenever Instagram unveils a new feature, I like to jump on it pretty quickly – polls, music, GIF, questions. I want to familiarize myself with it before it gets overused and I want to try and understand how people are using these features and if they make sense for my account – not all of them always do.
The appeal to questions is very clear to me. It’s your own personal “AMA” and human nature has taught us all that we love to talk about ourselves. While I received a handful of questions, I couldn’t imagine it being as engaging for my followers. Some of my responses felt pretty short and mediocre. It didn’t seem like good content. As a follower of other Instagram accounts that did the same thing, I also found myself disengaged. Then I noticed another Instagrammer using the Questions feature in another way. Instead of asking for questions so that they could answer, they used it to solicit suggestions from their followers. It makes this feature more of a 2-way exchange. The answers that I received on how I should spend my time off were much more satisfying than for me to answer questions about myself that took me back to the days of Myspace surveys.
While complicated to understand these features at first, I like that over time, we can see users applying them in different ways. They don’t have to be intended to be used in only one way. I had been feeling this way about Questions for a few days, but Taylor Lorenz’s article in The Atlantic brought it full circle. The Questions feature doesn’t have to be annoying. However, there’s a right way and a wrong way to using all of Instagram’s features.