26 Random Facts About Me

25 things about 25

Today is my 26th birthday, so I thought I would share 26 facts about myself.

I hate tomatos.
I have a donut obsession.
My favorite quote is “a negative mind will never give you a positive life”.
I have small hands and “freakishly small pinkies” according to my friends. I have my nails painted 99.9% of the time.
My most used emoji is the monkey covering his eyes.
I have been obsessed with purses since I was a child and used to pretend I was a teenager.
I am the queen of power naps.
I really want to go on a hot air balloon ride.
I have zero tattoos but 7 piercings.
My favorite ice breaker question is “what color is your toothbrush?”
My favorite Tinder pickup line was “I’d like to shake the hand of your orthodontist” but I’ve never had braces.
I have never had a dog but want a mini goldendoodle.
My favorite TV show is Criminal Minds {even though I can’t watch it if it’s dark out}.
Capitola, CA is my favorite place.
I’ve never been skiing or snowboarding.
My biggest pet peeves are slow walkers, people who don’t clear leftover time on the microwave, and nail biters.
My favorite movie is She’s The Man. I quote it in daily life.
I cannot watch The Big Bang Theory without singing the entire theme song {I sang it to myself after writing this}.
Cupcakes and Cashmere is my favorite blog. It’s the first one I ever read and I have actually read every single post.
If I won a free trip to go anywhere in the world, I would pick Australia/ New Zealand.
Laundry is my favorite household chore.
I either call my mom or see her every single day.
In college, I bought the exact same notebook in pink for every quarter and would drive to multiple stores if it was out of stock.
I love kids and I always end up making friends with the youngest person in the room.
If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be potatoes.
I’m both really excited and really terrified to work on my blog more seriously.

Spring Fever

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Spring officially begins next week and I couldn’t be more excited to freshen up my wardrobe. Spring is one of my favorite seasons because flowers start blooming, the sun is shining, and the weather is mild so you can still layer and transition your wardrobe comfortably {in California at least}. Lately I have been all about neutrals and simple outfits and I see that trend continuing throughout spring.

Have a great weekend! I’ll be celebrating my birthday and enjoying some much needed sunshine.

What’s In My Bag {Chloe Faye}

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For as long as I can remember, I have always loved purses and bags. Growing up I always had some sort of purse that I would carry around with my “essentials” and to this day I rarely leave the house without a bag. Over the last 6 months or so I found myself drawn to the Chloe Faye bag. Every time I saw someone with it on Instagram I would screenshot it and any time I went into a department store I would somehow end up eye guzzling it in the Chloe section. After looking it up so many times and desperately yearning for it, I decided to take the plunge. It is quite frankly the most expensive thing I own and I couldn’t love it any more!

Being a bag lover my entire life, I have to say that I always carried the biggest bags I could find; so, the Faye is a big change for me. I usually carried my Longchamp Le Pliage tote daily so I really had to think about what my essentials are and streamline what I was going to fit into this bag. It wasn’t easy but after about a month of using this bag daily, I think I have it down.

The Faye comes in various colors, sizes, and materials, but I decided to go for the medium bag in black with the suede flap. I love black so I knew it would go with everything I own and I liked the idea of mixed materials. Once I got the bag, I knew that my beloved Marc Jacobs wallet was not going to fit in it without stretching out so I needed to find something new ASAP. I knew that Nordstrom has several slim wallets, but I couldn’t pass up the one from Target for only $5. Maybe in the future I’ll invest in something a little nicer, but currently the wallet holds all the cards I need on a daily basis plus it has a zipper for bills and coins and a little space for receipts or business cards. Then I carry my boring old keyring around. No matter how small my bag is I always fill it with lip products. The pink pouch is an old Ipsy bag that holds the right amount of essentials. I always carry Tums because you just never know. I also have a travel size Bare Essentials mineral veil pressed powder because it’s great in a pinch and has a mirror. And apparently I carry around 6 lip products every day which is totally unnecessary. I have a mini Bite Beauty lip crayon in Quince, Loreal La Lacque in Choco Laque, Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lip Color in Seduction, EOS lip balm, Tarte LipSurgence, and MAC Rebel.

I hope you enjoyed what’s in my bag! xo

Portland Travel Diary {Day 3}

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{one girl does not need this much luggage for 3 days}

I can’t believe how quickly 3 days goes by! I woke up on the third day not wanting to go home, but feeling sick. So after I got ready and packed my bags I headed to Target for some cold meds. In true Ariana fashion, I can’t resist a Nordstrom so I spent a good amount of time browsing around and buying myself a new pair of Topshop jeans. I had hit every spot on my list and wanted to stay downtown for the day, so I decided to head back to Powell’s. I ended up getting another book and then walking over to a nearby Starbucks to sip some tea, read, and relax. That is the best part about traveling alone…you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, with zero guilt. I spent about an hour reading before I got hungry and found a healthy salad place nearby called Garden Bar. I got the Blissful Detox salad which was HUGE and full of delicious and nutritious ingredients which is just what I needed after a couple days of overindulging and feeling sick.

Then I went back to Blue Star to totally counteract all the goodness I had just eaten! This time I got a maple bacon donut. It was good, but I preferred the two I tried my first day.

I walked back to my hotel and spend a few minutes in the courtyard enjoying the sunshine and reflecting on my time in Portland. It is such a nice place with friendly people and I would definitely go back!

Portland Travel Diary {Day 2}

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{Can you tell I was loving my outfit? Chloe Faye Bag | Zara jacket (old) | Show Me Your Mumu sweater | Old Navy Jeans | Nike shoes (no longer available)}

Day 2 was a big day for me because it was my only full day in Portland and I wanted to make the most of it. I got up bright and early, got ready, and headed out for the day. I decided to go to the “East Side” for breakfast. I was inspired by Crystalin Marie to go to Upper Left Roasters for some avocado toast. I took a quick uber and stepped into the bright and inspiring space. I wish I had my computer because it was a great place to work and spend some time. I ordered a chai latte with homemade almond macadamia but milk and avocado toast with radish and a poached egg.

Since it was such a beautiful day in Portland, I decided to head to the Lin Su Chinese garden after breakfast. I explored the garden a little bit on my own and then joined the free tour, which I highly recommend. There were tons of little details that the guide was able to point out and hearing more about the history and reasoning behind certain details was super interesting. After the tour, I made sure to spend a few extra minutes sitting alone and reflecting on my time and hopes for my trip.

I decided to walk back into downtown after the time at Lin Su because I had seen a ring the day before that I couldn’t go home without. I wouldn’t recommend making this walk. It was a little sketchy especially as a woman walking alone. But I made it back into town and got my ring, so I was a happy girl. After exploring more shops, I was definitely hungry and decided to try Lardo for lunch. I ordered the kale caesar salad and the dirty fries #balance. This was definitely way too much food for one person, but boy was it worth it!

After lunch, I decided it was time for Salt & Straw. It was only a mile or so walk, but after walking through the not so nice part of town earlier, I decided to take a uber. For the first time ever, I got the same uber driver. He had gotten a drastic haircut in the 3 or so hours since my first ride so it took us a few minutes to recognize each other. He dropped me off at Salt & Straw and as soon as I got out of the car I was welcomed with the most amazing waffle cone scent. Luckily I had beat the rush and had a few minutes to try some delicious flavors before deciding on almond brittle with salted ganache in a waffle cone.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I had ended up in the alphabet district and there was tons of shopping and cute restaurants to explore. I took full advantage and visited every boutique and shop on 23rd street. Everyone in Portland is so nice and welcoming. I spent tons of time just chatting with the people working in every store and learning about the city and the shops. After spending a couple hours exploring, it was time for my daily nap/rest and I headed back to the hotel.

I was starting to feel under the weather so I decided to treat myself and head to the hotel restaurant, Nel Centro, for happy hour and dinner. I had a couple glasses of wine along with the ricotta cavatelli with kale pesto, marcona almonds and pecorino; brussel sprouts with pancetta, and cinnamon creme brulee with chocolate dipped shortbread that the bartender let me take back up to my room so I could enjoy it in my bed!