Follow:

Style

Travel

Home and DIY

Browsing Category:

Travel

    Outfit, Travel

    Strand Beach

    July 12, 2015
    Photos by Ale Veyna and Me
    Outfit Details (On me):
    Target Straw Hat (Borrowed from Ale)
    Asos Striped Bandeau Bikini Top
    Topshop High-waisted Bikini Bottoms
    I thought I’d share these pictures from my beach trip on the 4th of July weekend. My sisters and I drove down to Strand Beach in Dana Point and spent a few hours lounging and soaking in the sun. I have to admit that I used to not be the type of person who would enjoy spending time at the beach, but it has recently started to become one of my favorite summer activities. I think the reason for that is that I’ve been prioritizing self-care and carving out time to just relax, which is a perfect thing to do at the beach.
    Since I plan to go to the beach often this summer, I decided to invest in a new bikini top. If you’re a busty gal like me, it can be very difficult to find a swimsuit top that provides enough coverage and support, but still looks very cute. I settled on this striped bikini top from Asos and what I like about it is that it comes in my bra size, has underwire support and doesn’t make me look like I’m wearing lingerie to the beach, which can be a problem when you’re shopping for swimsuits in extended sizes.
    I love this picture of my sister Ale walking towards the ocean because it looks like an illustration straight out of a storybook.
    My sister Sarah is the coolest teenager I’ve ever met. I wish I had been as confident, smart and stylish when I was her age.
    I’m really glad I made a summer bucket list this year because it’s been motivating me to be more adventurous and active on the weekends. On Saturday, my siblings and I went hiking at Griffith Park and accidentally found the teahouse that was built by artists out of reclaimed wood. It’s a really cool place to check out if you’re hiking in the area, and you can even make a wish on one of the many wooden tags hanging on the walls. Unfortunately, since the artists that built this teahouse didn’t receive authorization from the city, there is the possibility that the building will get torn down. I signed the petition asking the city to keep it standing, and really hope it stays since I think it is a very interesting addition to Griffith Park.
    xoxo,
    Helen
    Follow me on…

     

    !function(doc,s,id){ var e, p; if(!doc.getElementById(id)) { e = doc.createElement(s); e.id = id; p = ‘//shopsensewidget.shopstyle.com/widget-script.js’; var cb = new Date().getTime(); p += ‘?cb=’ + cb; e.src = p; doc.body.appendChild(e); } if(typeof window.ss_shopsense === ‘object’){ if(doc.readyState === ‘complete’){ window.ss_shopsense.init(); } } }(document, ‘script’, ‘shopsensewidget-script’);
    Outfit, Travel

    Los Rios Street

    July 8, 2015
    Photos by Ale Veyna
    Outfit Details:
    Forever 21 Fedora Hat
    Old Navy Jersey Maxi Dress (Similar)
    H&M Sandals
    Crocheted Bag (Handmade by my grandma)

     

    After spending the morning at the beach last Friday, my sisters and I stopped by Los Rios Street in San Juan Capistrano. I visited this place several times last year (you might remember it from this post), since it was the most convenient halfway point for my best friend Laura and I to meet while she still lived in San Diego. The street is very picturesque and has many cute shops, and there even is a butterfly sanctuary where you can observe the monarchs that are abundant in this area. There is also a cool and cozy coffee shop called Hidden House Coffee at the end of the street. Although I’m a creature of habit and lattes tend to be my drink of choice at coffee shops, I decided to be a bit adventurous this time around, and ordered one of Hidden House’s specialty drinks called “The Crush”; I was pleasantly surprised by the deliciousness of this concoction, which consisted of orange crush soda, chocolate espresso and milk. I guess I really should make an effort to try new things every once in a while.
    This black jersey maxi dress is also something that you’ve seen before on this blog. I wore it over my bathing suit because it’s so easy to take off and put back on again. Another great thing about a black maxi dress is that you can easily add different accessories to achieve different styles. This time around, I styled it with a camel fedora hat and crocheted bag for a more casual look that was perfect for a day of exploring.
    xoxo,
    Helen
    Follow me on…

     

    Travel

    California Summer Bucket List

    June 22, 2015
    I’ve recently realized that this might be my last summer in California for a while since I’m moving to the Pacific Northwest this upcoming fall. Although I’m excited for this new turn of events in my life, there are moments where I wonder about how I’m going to deal with not being able to see my family and friends all the time, not making trips to my favorite coffee shop and simply leaving all the things that have become so familiar to me in the past few years. To make my transition a bit easier for me and make sure that I make the most of the time I have left in my home state, I decided to put together this short list of things I want to accomplish this summer.
    • Make time to visit Museums-It’s crazy, but I still haven’t been to the Getty Villa even though I’ve lived in the L.A. area my entire life! It’s also been a while since I’ve visited The Getty Museum, LACMA and MOCA.
    • Go to a couple of concerts-I want to catch a show at my favorite venue, the Hotel Cafe. I also want to make the most of the free concert series going on around L.A. such as Grand Performances, Saturdays Off the 405 and Levitt Pavilion.
    • Spend a day at the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens-This is such a gorgeous place and I can spend all day just walking around the different gardens.
    • Explore bookstores around Los Angeles-Before I leave, I want to make sure that I make one last trip to The Last Bookstore, Skylight Books, and Vroman’s Bookstore.
    • Schedule a beach trip at least once a month-I am determined to put my bathing suit to use this year. Also, I made several trips to the beach last year and realized that I like making the time to sit down and just relax. My favorite beach is Strand Beach in Dana Point, which I discovered after my best friend Laura and I made it our halfway meeting point last summer.
    • Go out dancing– My favorite place to hit up is The Echo for Funky Sole on Saturday nights. I love that there isn’t a dress code and you get in for free before 10:30.
    • Tour Hearst Castle-I’ve always wanted to visit this place because it looks so gorgeous in pictures. I might stop here on my way up north and go on one of the tours.
    • Make a day trip to Salvation Mountain-I really want to make a trip down to this quirky landmark before I leave the State of California. That being said, I think that I’m going to have to make that trip by the end of this month, before the heatwave hits.
    • Spend a day in San Francisco-I’ll most likely stop in S.F. on my way up to Portland. I’ve charged my bestie Laura, who is moving up to the Bay Area this summer, with the task of finding all the best coffee and food places before I arrive.
    • Ride a bike-It’s been a very long time since I’ve been on a bike and I figured that I should try it out again before I relocate to a much more bike-friendly city. I’ll probably go on a bike ride during one of my beach trips–bike paths seem so much safer to me than riding on the busy streets of L.A.
    • Go on a coffee shop crawl around L.A.-Visiting new coffee shops used to be my favorite thing to do because it was a fun and inexpensive way to get out of my neighborhood and visit other parts of L.A.. I’ve become a creature of habit mostly because I found a coffee that I’m in love with near my house, but I want to try to make the effort to try something new. I also might just make a day out of visiting some of my favorites around DTLA such as Blacktop, Demitasse, G&B and Cafe Dulce, and then head back home and hit Copa Vida, Intelligentsia, Home Brewed Bar and Jones Coffee Roasters. I’m going to be so caffeinated!!!
    • Go on a metro adventure-I used to ride the metro more often when I worked in Downtown Los Angeles and had a monthly pass. I find riding the train to be a very peaceful activity and there are so many cool spots to visit along the different metro lines. I might make a day of it and visit a few places that I would normally avoid driving to due to traffic.
    • Spend time outdoors-I want to schedule in a few hikes on weekends and maybe have a picnic around the Echo Park Lake.

     

    That’s it for my bucket list. I want to keep it nice and simple so that I can make sure to do everything on my list. Do you have certain activities or goals that you want to accomplish this summer?
    —-
    I hope you all had a great Father’s Day weekends celebrating your fathers as well as the single mothers who went the extra mile to adopt that role. My sister Ale and I took our dad out to brunch, and spending time with him reminded me of how fortunate I am to have such a positive male role model in my life. He’s loving, supportive, and always inspires me to be the best version of myself that I can be. That must be why I have such high standards of all the men who enter into my life. All joking aside, he really is awesome and probably deserves to be reminded of that more often than just once a  year.
    Have a great week!
    xoxo,
    Helen
    Follow me on…