Purple Tie Happy Hour Event Post Card

He should probabably brake soon. I should probably stick my torso back in the sunroof. Playing chicken with a red light.

This is how I live.  Free. Crazy. Lana del rey said "I am fucking crazy. But I am free."

Because there are far more worst things to fear in the world.

This

Eat, Grow, Glow

You are what you eat, right? In order to feel healthy, light and clear minded we must eat foods that are these in nature. I must admit I suffer from the worst sweet tooth but as the weather gets warmer and the days of sunshine get longer, I feel the need to boost my metabolism and do an overhaul of eating habits I have acquired during the wintertime. Lately I've been substituting my usual fried, greasy snack foods for more "simple" food. 

THE TASTE:

Seaweed

My latest craving is seaweed chips and rice cakes. Seaweed is consumed a lot in Asian countries in forms of jelly, raw, and in drinks and growing up in an Asian household I was always told the health and beauty benefits. Asian women will swear of the benefits it gives to produce shiny, strong hair, strong nails and clear skin and glowing complexion. My mom told me this since I was little but like many people, the smell, texture and look of seaweed can be a little intimidating to try. ALAS! Seaweed chips aka my alternative to greasy, salty chips I would have normally eaten before for lunch. Seaweed chips are more easy to consume because they are roasted and lightly salted and spiced. I was hooked after eating a whole bag and wont be turning to Doritos any time soon. They are light, crispy and delicious and packed with nutrients and let's admit... they look pretty cool. Word of advice: Kissing someone after eating these may be cautioned but at least you won't have cheesy orange fingers. 

Rice Cakes

Rice cakes are my alternative to sugary heavy breakfast foods. Starting work before the sun rises causes me to eat fast and easy. I usually will grab a coffee and donut or pop tart and call it my breakfast, leaving me with the sounds of an upset stomach later. Recently I have been having just my coffee and rice cakes which offer just the right amount to sweetness to wake me up. Cinnamon apple are my favorite but caramel and plain are usuals as well. They're light, crispy and filling which is the best part about them. You can eat two and not feel hungry an hour later. I even add Nutella spread on them or berry jam to boost the flavor if needed.

The Benefits:

Seaweed is packed with nutrients and minerals found in the ocean. They contain B vitamins, folate, magnesium and lingans which have cancer protective properties. They help with digestion, metabolism, and are loaded with iodine which can help prevent inflammation. They even can help with stress relief because they are abundant in b vitamins which helps with energy consumption. Cultures that include a seaweed diet or sea enriched vegetable are also shown to have fewer instances of obesity and diabetes.  Rice cakes are low in calories, plentiful in fiber and since they are a healthy carbohydrate, they give you lots of energy to last the day. 

Breakfast and lunch and no guilty feelings later

Healthy strong hair can be yours if you pack enough b-vitamins in your diet

A healthy clear glowing complexion can be brought on by seaweed's anti-inflammatory benefits

How to Narrate a Zombie Apocalypse in a Ford

We have to escape the zombie apocalypse in a Ford, that's stationary....byeeee! BOOM!"

Found a video of me joking around at the Philly Auto show last year and made a gif of the last moments of me saying "byeeee" and then the speakers turning on loud music unexpectedly.

Thank to my little brother Jon for never deleting his phone memory.

Runs or Drives in the Family

Have you ever thought to yourself a distinct trait or habit you have was passed down from your family? As if certain things you like and dislike are a result from a past? Our families play a pivotal part in how we are brought up sure, but there is no denying the little things and details of our personalities that emanate through us from our past. Every now and then I will go through old family photos. Recently I came across these photos of my dad from the late 70s (hence the dolphin shorts and gym socks). My dad collected Corvettes back in the day and attended Philadelphia Corvette meets in the city. These photos not only tell of his past but of my future as well. As I looked at these admiring my dad's effortless coolness and nostalgia, I felt a sense of myself in these photos.

In my family, you don't grow up Lopez without loving cars and the sound of an engine. Being a Lopez girl was no exception and having four brothers only helped this habit. I absolutely love cars, vintage and new, sports and classic, in a way that makes my father proud and emanates his "swagger" through me. Oddly enough, having this "sense of myself" in these photos was more than emotional. After all, shortly after these photos I was on my way into this world physically. I mean c'mon my father was the man and still is. I imagine this is how he met my beautiful mother. What girl was gonna resist a guy in a Corvette? Needless to say, my father opted for more "child" friendly cars later on to accommodate a car seat, but it's still in his blood and mine till today. A love for the beautiful bodies and sounds of an engine, clutch and wind in your hair.

Old habits die hard, but these aren't old habits if I was born into them before I can remember. Embrace the past and remember it's part in your future. I have the coolest dad ever.

Fleeting Fun

Live life in the moment everyone. Hippocrates knew that time was limited. Also, zip line over a street in Vegas with your best friend like I did. Have a great Saturday!

Taking in Water - Passage about Persevering Through Life

(Quote from Jack Kerouac's "On the Road".)

I am taking in the water, the hot water.  This is condensation  solitary paradise in this grimey shower and any surface not exposed to the heat and pins of the water hitting me is hell to my body. See I always craved inconsistency. Here, the water is never just right, never. I always turn the hot faucet to the right and the cold to the left in 5 minute intervals. It would seem that I conditioned myself to not be conditioned to anything constant in my shower and ultimately in my life. I could always go a little hotter it seemed, but never, no, no, never back, never a little cooler. This is how I operated I guess, in this ceramic, steel and damp sterilized atmosphere I called paradise about every night at approximately 1:30 A.M.  My skin was glowing red and hot, and an almost euphoric sense of all things holy in tactile awareness hit me with the contrast of the heat of my skin and the cold tile floor. This was perfect, it indeed was my usual temporary paradise. See, all thing possessed their innate utopia in its own form. The cold tiles fulfilled their means to be cold as they are, as they always should be,  and my skin in essence was perfectly coy to the receptors of temperature and touch. You will tend to find as I did in this confinement, that when things are seemingly not as they should be in your life your life can always return to a safe default mode of a simple theory of all things relative of “it is what it is.” And oh, this was it.

 Don’t try to find your life at the bottom of the shower floor, watching the water droplets roll off your eyelash in your peripheral. It simply will not work. And with this in mind I simply raised myself back up off the floor just as simply as I fell to it. There was tomorrow and next week and months to be had.

I wrote the following as a simple, late night passage as I do when I try to capture moments and perfect thoughts that are made simple in one instant setting. I never have a perfect life and that never seemed to bother me. I always thought that human conditioning was a skill to be mastered through rough times and heartache. If anything I write to release and give comfort not only to myself but others who may find themselves in this sort of life wondering rut that is both beautiful and chaotic at the same time. Kerouac's work and style of expression inspires me a lot in my life and writing. My message in the end, embrace your life, you've only got one yes, but you have an infinite amount of chances.

Smoke Signals

"Don't be blinded by love, or shiny bright bling!"

This was my Valentines Day outfit. I decided to go dark and layered as a satirical play on all the red and pink around me. I usually keep a natural makeup look with just mascara and lip balm, but I decided to offset the dark colors with a pop lip of bright red matte. It's always a good idea to play it safe with makeup and colors when going a bit heavy or highlighting accessories - like I have done here with my rings. It may be hard to choose one or the other but remember you can never be too dressed up, but you certainly can be too made up. Simple hair, bold lip, dark layers with a print (I chose stripes and an ombre knee high) and highlighted accessories. If you keep at least one element of your style simple you can't go wrong.

(Ombre wool knee highs draw the eye up and cut up an otherwise monochrome outfit)

Outfit Breakdown:

Rings: my own collections and finds

Striped 3/4 sleeve: H&M

Sheer tunic: H&M

Pleather Skater skirt: Forever21

ombre socks: H&M

Booties: H&M

Valentine's with Jimmy

Spending Valentine's Day with Jimmy and maybe my girl Amy Poehler later for a more appropriate "Galentine's Day".

Cultural NOMs - Embracing My Heritage and Taste Buds.

(Chinese New Year treats)

(fresh unpeeled lychee hanging)

(Rice on rice on rice on stacks on stacks on stacks)

(A whole roasted pig ready for Chinese New Year feasts)

(Pork bahn mi and sesame lotus cookies)

A weekly hobby and delicious habit of mine is running market errands with my mom to the local Asian market. Asian markets are a visual and sensory heaven for foodies and those looking to try out "new" and "different" flavors and smells. I am half Cambodian and Asian markets are where I have been every Monday with my mom since I was little learning about my heritage's food and keeping an open mind with non-traditionals flavors as I stray from a usual flavor pallet of American cooking and fast food

Asian markets are always filled with fresh exotic produce such as fresh lychee (pictured hanging with their skin in bunches) , dragon fruit, Thai mint (my favorite to ease a migraine) as well as fresh fish, meat, poultry and spices. Some people may be a little intimidated at an Asian market - signs in different languages, the smell of fish and seemingly odd cuts of beef tongue, tripe (stomach lining), and the over whelming variety of cuisine, but that aside you will find it to be very enjoyable and also colorful! Asian food, particularly Southeast Asian food where my mother is from is also very healthy and fresh. Sweets such as the sesame lotus cookie pictured above have just the right amount of sweetness and crunch. 

Last week I snapped a few pictures of my market trip which was filled with towers of burlap sacs of Thai Jasmine rice which smells so fragrant, lychee hanging from registers, Chinese New Year preparation sweets and goodies and my favorite snack Bahn Mi, a Vietnamese hoagie that is filled with fresh cilantro, shredded carrot, radish, jalapenos, and your choice of bbq pork, or any other meat. 

I love food and trying different cultural food from around the world. I encourage anyone to embrace their roots and discover their cuisine as well as others.

Street Gems

I believe the stone is a striped apricot agate.

A bracelet from a SoHo jewelry market I picked up.

Skull and hand ear cuff from L.E.S. jewelry market.

Rings. I collect them. This one is my absolute favorite which I have just gotten returned after a long year apart from it! I was never a fan of "traditional" or "classy" jewelry. Bling was not my thing. I was always more intrigued by the one of a kind, unique and rustic/folk look of the rings I've collected throughout the years. 

This particular ring was given as a gift from my love at the time we were in New York. It was custom wrapped to my finger and I got to choose which stone to use. I got it from the many NYC jewelry markets and jeweler street vendors that are flowing through  the streets of NY. You can always find the best jewelry there from independent artists and prices are always negotiable which is exactly in my price range. 

The beauty about having a unique piece of jewelry is that you know no matter what no one else will have the exact same piece as you, or the exact same story. That is why I collect after all. Jewelry to me especially holds stories that make vintage finds, family heirloom pieces and handmades not merely just a fashion accessory but a part of someone else and you as you wear it. 

Dog Eat, Dog World

Showing out love tag 

My lovely other half lost sister Maria and I had a girls night Saturday. After hookah, mango martinis and a Philly parking hunt/war we decided to hit up Underdogs, a "gourmet" and not your average hot dog joint. Try all twenty two flavors, get you menu punched and get your name on a wall fist of fame.I only have about eleven other hot dogs to destroy. I always take out of town friends here for a fun late night place to cure the snack tooth after partying in the city. Here I was embarking on the "Texas Tommy" a bacon wrapped dog topped with cheddar cheese and Maria had "The Warsaw", a polish sausage with saukraut.

Underdogs is located on 132 S. 17th Street.

They also have gluten free and veggie dogs.

Cat Tuesday

I wonder if our pets know how fascinated we are with them? My cat, Bentley, definitely must know. I just can't shy away from moments when he grooms his tail because he hold it with his cute paws. 

Why So Curious?

Cats are always curious. It is in their nature to do so, and sometimes it should inspire others to always explore, take risks, be a little silly and look around you. Here I caught my cat Bentley eyeing a woodpecker in our tree. Needless to say they both caught each other's eyes.

Home bound

This is my home, my city, and my heart for 22 years. Philly. I was stuck in traffic for 2 hours after finally crossing the Betsy Ross Bridge into the city. Sunset was immaculate.

Free People, Free Love - "Roshambo" a film by Free People

So I am in love with being in the moment(s) of love all thanks to Free People's short film "Roshambo". The film stars the beautiful model Sheila Marquez and Christopher Abbot from the hit HBO series "Girls". I fell in love with the cinematography, the simple dialogue that made you want to know about the couple's past as well as future. It made me want to rekindle my past and channel my inner free spirit and live for the moment of love.

For that One Person: A "SORRY" D.I.Y. card

We all say things in the heat of the moment that we wish we could take back. But we can't. A moment whether amazing or terrible is a moment in time imprinted in the universe and minds of those we affected. I admit I'm not perfect, and to blame my short temper on anything but myself is wrong. But I do admit when I have done wrong. So when words have hurt from the mouth, say it with your hands. This is for a very special person that deserves better from me. So for YOU I am deeply sorry and would have rather seen you smile then fire angry words back at each other. 

It killed me to cut up beautiful editorials and magazines but I feel like they were used for a good purpose. I can only hope I am forgiven. For it is one thing to say sorry and another to show it in this way from the heart.  This is also a good idea for Valentine's Day.

Materials:

1. Card stock/ envelopes

2. glue

3. makers

4. scissors

5. adhesive felt

6. magazines

7. twine/rope/string

Half and Half

Self portraits seem so much intriguing when you just crop half of your face and as always you can never go wrong with black and white. 

When the Weather Outside is Frightful, Make it Delightful

It's snowing AGAIN in Philly. I admittedly am not a winter loving person but I will admit it is a beautiful sight for the most part. As I am not one to have "fun" in the snow I will make the best out of it indoors. Something I always did as a little kid which I think everyone has done and will never outgrow is writing on cold frosted windows. A frosted window screams to be touched with sarcasm, hearts, and our autographs on random surfaces. Another fun activity to do is make a cold treat. My sister and I are making all the Jell-O we have and flash freezing it outside by burying a tray of it in the snow.

So make use of the cold and the weather it brings!

First Book of the New Year

Who can ever NOT notice Grace Coddington? The former model and now the creative director of American Vogue magazine's signature fiery auburn mane is seen often next to Anna Wintour on runway shows, probably and almost always with a pen and book sketching away at runway looks and inspiration. I've heard a lot of buzz around Grace's memoir and I am excited to run into my nearest Barnes and Noble to get the first book of this new year.

Perhaps why her memoir intrigues me are the quotes and insights. Particular one's that had my interest :

"They could be pretty bitchy, those fashion-mad French girls. I would never dare talk back to them. For me, the French were always so superior in matters of style. England was cool but never chic."

"I was considered avant-garde and fashionable rather than pretty. "

"I undressed, put on my nightie, pulled down the top sheet, and there, neatly laid out on the pillow like one of those little chocolate mints you find in boutique hotels nowadays, was a condom. "What is this?" I wondered. I really hadn't a clue. Moments later, to my surprise, I was joined by Tinker carrying a steaming cup of cocoa and looking adorable in his stripy cotton pajamas. But his air was not that of someone about to read me a bedtime story."

Keep Calm and Look at Cats

Yes. I am a cat lover. I love my cats. I love their independence, their curiosity, their quirks, their cuteness, I am that cat instagramer. Bentley, my precious little Bengal, loves bird watching or dinner watching, whosever perspective you want to look at. Here I caught him holding his tale to clean it, and then spooning with Flash my newest adopted kitten.

Collect Something! Find Your Hidden Gem in Your Life.

"The home should be the treasure chest of the living." 

- L.E. Corbusier 

Since I can remember I have been collecting something. First stamps, then stickers (you know the Spice Girl Chuppa chupps pops!), and anything else that caught my eye and interest. Now I've collected something with more depth and value - rings. Even if you think you don't have anything to start a collection look around your space. You may find patterns or frequencies of objects, books and trinkets that reoccur in your home or space. 
Collecting does not have any material bias and as always you should collect something because you love that something and it brings you not only material joy but aesthetic bliss as well.

I started collecting rings after my grandmother brought me a jade gold ring back from Cambodia for my sixteenth birthday. It is one of my most prized possessions. After that, my ten digits had to have something on them. Not all my rings are of monetary worth. Some are gold, some are vintage and some are even street vendor finds from NYC many fairs and markets. I go for unique pieces and eclectic adornment.

Collecting rings gives me temporary order in my life. 
I recommend collecting for those who sometime feels that their lives may be hectic due to career, relationships, etc. because if you find something you love to collect, it is like having your own personal treasure chest of YOU and what it is to be YOU.
So start collecting! Recently I have found myself collecting headpieces and headbands as well. What do you collect?