Glasses Wishlist

I have been wearing glasses since I was 2 years old, so this cool and geeky accessory is pretty much part of myself. For most of my early years, I hated them. It was an obligation to wear them, a wall between me and regular teenagers. I was the four-eyed girl, I was automatically labeled a nerd (okay, I was a nerd), and view with slightly suspicion because, clearly, glasses meant a higher intellect, therefore we must avoid such people. Anyway, it wasn’t till a fateful day in 2005 (I remember it like it was yesterday), when I needed a new pair of glasses, and as I arrived at the optical store I decided: I wear glasses, might as well stop trying to hide it behind ugly wire frames (not my thing, clearly). And it was on that cold 2005 winter, that I bought my first pair of advertiser’s glasses (that’s how I call them). The thick black square frames I bought completely changed how I looked. I even changed my hair style after getting those glasses. They truly changed my life, and it’s the only style I buy now.

Another thought on glasses, though: they are a very expensive purchase, especially when you have very high prescriptions and weird eye problems. So, as I was growing up and learning about money and the cost of things, I was always terrified of one thing: one day, I’d have to buy my own glasses. There would come a day where my parents would not pay for that stuff anymore, and I’m not gonna lie, it did add some pressure to my college career “I need a career that will help me afford my expensive glasses!” Thankfully, I got such career (after a lot of schooling, I’m not gonna lie), and with said career also came eye insurance benefits, ie: best thing ever. I bought my first pair of glasses almost two years ago, a pair I paid for myself (thanks EyeMed and Westminster!), and, since I could afford it, prescription sunglasses to go with it. In July, I get another $100 toward a new frame from my insurance, and I plan to use it wisely to start my own collection of glasses. I’ll probably only add to it every two years, but it will be a fun and useful thing to collect, crazy glasses in all different colors and shapes! Anyway, here’s a few ideas of the kind of frames I’m thinking of buying.

Glasses Pictured:

Elderberry – Warby Parker

TF2078  – Tiffany&Co

RX5150 – RayBan

Cobson – BonLoon

I’d love to hear your thoughts on glasses on the comments! Do you wear them too? Do you love or hate them? What’s your favorite style of glasses?

Happy Mother’s Day

I’m not a really great storyteller via text, so I thought the best way to celebrate mother’s day and honor my favorite mom ever, was to post a selection of our best mother-daughter pictures.

Mother’s Day Gift Idea + Discount Code from Blurb

(Note: I do get paid for my Blurb posts, but their product is so fantastic, I was promoting them for free way before I started getting paid to do it!)

Head’s up! Blurb just sent me an email with an awesome discount code to share with you all, to help with your (let’s face it, totally last minute) gift idea for mother’s day! I already tested out their new Designer Template Books with my Austin trip photos, but today I created one with some funny (and some endearing) photos of me as a kid to send to my mom. I know she loves photos, so there ya go.

Instant Books are easy to create, take about an hour, and start at just $12.99. This is definitely a present she will leave on the coffee table for everyone to see each and every day! Start creating your Blurb Designer Instant Book today and save 20% with promo code LOVEYOUMOM valid through 5/10/13!

Offer: 20% off through May 10, 2013 | Code: LOVEYOUMOM | Dates: 4/25/13-5/10/13

Wanderlust: Travel Goals

My goal in life, money-wise, was always to make enough of it to live comfortably and travel every year. And today, after extensively discussing travel and living abroad with several people, I decided it was time to get organized on my travel goals, at least for the next 10 years. I’m setting up a plan to save extra money every month for a travel fund, research the places I want to visit and deals/prices to make it happen. I’ve been already cutting my expenses to the bare minimum (I really don’t need cable tv), and i’ve been doing some extra photography on the side, to help up with my travel-fund goals.

This year, I have two trips planned: Southern Utah and a road trip in California. I’ll be talking about those soon, but in the meantime, here are my goals for the next 10 years:

International:

In the next 10 years, I’d like to visit at least 3-5 countries I’ve never been to, with the following being on my top 5:

Photos: Japan | NZ | Canada | Scotland | Thailand

(Also on the list, but maybe we’ll shoot to go to all those in my 40s: Germany, Australia, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Greece, Turkey, South Korea, Czech Republic, Iceland)

Japan is definitely happening in the near future. I already started saving for it, and I have an idea of hoe much money I need to make it happen. I’d like to make it a 2-week trip, with at least 2 or 3 days dedicated to Disneyland Tokyo. I’m also very curious to see all the temples and historical sites in the country, and not really high on my list of priorities is Tokyo, actually. Except, I’d love to go shopping for all sort of cool things, and to spend a couple of hours at a Cat Cafe. New Zealand is somewhere I’d like to go and spend some good time at, maybe doing a road trip through the islands, like my friend Adina from Gluten Free Travelette did. I’d love to go see all the places that Lord of the Rings were filmed at (#nerd), and to enjoy the sea, of course. And, Canada! I can’t believe I live so close to it, and yet, haven’t visited. This is definitely on the short list because it will be very easy to make it happen. I might even make it to Vancouver before Japan. But I’d also like to go to Quebec on the other coast. Scotland is another top spot on my list, especially Isle of Skye, who has some striking landscapes. Thailand is last, but not least. I have a friend who lives there, and I’d love to visit her and see all the beautiful sights of the country.

And I’d love to revisit some of my favorite stops in Europe, from when I went when I was 14:

Photos: London | Venice | France 1 & 2

I know they are the top 3 cliche places to visit in Europe, but what can I say? There’s a reason why they are so popular, and I’d love to make my way back to all three. I’d also love to explore much more of England than I did when I was only 14 and a little tied up to my group to be able to go anywhere I wanted. For example, we never made it to Stonehenge, one of the places I most wanted to visit at the time, because the driver didn’t feel like driving us there. I was so sad about it, I’ve longed to go back to go check out that place. And to revisit so many of my other favorite cities I’ve been to on that trip: Oxford, Brighton, and of course, London. At least when I was in England, I was there for 3 weeks with plenty of time to explore, but the rest of Europe was a blur. Two days in Paris, with a quick sightseeing tour where we didn’t even stop at the attractions, except for the Eiffel Tower. I, with a couple of other friends at the time, vowed to go back with our significant others some day, so Mike, let’s get on with this! lol. And Venice, ah.. I even wrote here some other day how I wish to go back there on a photo trip, to just enjoy the city for a couple of months and take pictures.

In the USA:

I’d also like to add some more US travel to my itineraries, I feel like there’s so much of this country for me to see yet:

Photos: Hawaii | DC | Alaska

I have been dreaming of a Hawaii vacation for years. I’ve been trying to find a friend who’d be willing to go, but due to costs and how much time off we’d need, it’s been kind of tricky. So  Hawaii has been postponed indefinitely, but if anyone feels like going in February next year, let’s make some plans. I’ve been to DC for a conference, so I only had a day to sightsee, and I’d love to go back and actually spend time in all the museums. Alaska ia also a place I’d love to visit, big expanses of striking landscape is kind of my thing.

I also made a quick Google Maps to place virtual pins on all places I have visited and or lived so far. I hope to expand on it in the near future.

View Been there, done that in a larger map

You can check out my travels on my photography blog.

The Art of the Brick Exhibit

Here’s another insight into my nerd life: I love Legos. You know how some couples (aged 50 and over, of course) put puzzles together at night after dinner? Well, Mike and I get Lego sets and put that together, while watching some tv. And as I write this, there’s a small collection of tiny Lego figurines under my computer screen. So when I heard that they had a Lego exhibit in Park City, I immediately planned on going. Nathan Sawaya creates some pretty cool pieces using Lego Bricks, and I took some pictures to share with you all some of what  you can see if you hit up one. Or, maybe they are here to inspire me to create some cool things with Lego without the help of manuals.

The Art of the Brick Exhibit at the Kimball Art Center in Park City runs till April 21st, and it’s free!

Head to toe Denim

This is just to amuse you this Friday night. Rent the Runaway shared the following picture on their Facebook page:

And it brought back memories of my favorite outfit in the late 90s:

I honestly think that’s all I wore at that time. No other outfit has ever appeared in so many pictures before! I wouldn’t mind finding that super awesome embroidered chambray shirt again, since chambray shirts are all the rage now. I love how the 90s fashion is making a come back, but way more fashionable.

We did have a denim week on Occupy the Wardrobe, last year, and two very cool all-denim looks showed up that week, Stephanie’s from the blog Bloom in Saturation and one of my own:

I’d love to hear from you now though, what was your late 90s staple outfit? Come on, we all have an unfashionable past to share!

Thoughts on Catcher in the Rye and Other Books

I have a thing to say, that many of you will cry in outrage, but I have to say it. Here’s my confession: I was the girl in Sociology class who raised her hand, after half the class had raved about Catcher in the Rye and how that booked changed their lives, and admitted to not having understood what was so good about it.

And don’t get me wrong, I tried. I had everything to be another of Salinger’s fans, if you’ve been following me, you know I had some pretty depressing years on my back. But still, this book just didn’t do it for me. And I’m an avid reader, who started to move on to more serious books at a young age. I think I first read Catcher in the Rye when I was 13, the loneliest year in my history. And I picked it up out of curiosity, after watching Mel Gibson’s Conspiracy Theory, it was not a required book at all.

So back in college, when my Sociology professor started to chat about it, I raised my hand and admitted to not liking it. She challenged me to read it again, and I did. And stil… nothing. I thought, maybe something is wrong with me, so I gave the book to my smartest friend, who just happened to not have read that book yet, and asked him to tell me what he found out. And, to him, the book did nothing either.

It wasn’t till this past month, when I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, that I think I finally got it. While I still don’t think this book changed my life in any way, it still really spoke to me. Being a teenager at the same time Charlie, the main character of the book, was, and having music and books as such an important part of my life like him, and being just as lonely and confused… So this is what you were all raving about on Catcher in the Rye, wasn’t it? I read Perks in a day, and felt the pain of it in me. I was basically Charlie… well, a way-less-fucked-up version of him, but still, I got it. And I think that makes me understand the Catcher in the Rye fans now.

What I’m trying to get at is… I guess we all have our own Catcher in the Rye. Books that speak to us and change our lives or how we think. And then I realized it that I have had other Catcher in the Ryes in my life. Lord of the Rings, the book that cured my insomnia (not what you’re thinking!); The Solitaire Mystery helped me understand my loneliness and being different; 1984 is also one of those books you just can’t stop thinking about once you’re done; His Dark Materials is crazy, but it questions so many things I took for granted… I have so many books that I love dearly and just want to hold close to me, and those are just a few that stood out.

But now I want to know from you!

Three Years That Changed My Life

As part of my un-official series “Get to know your blogger better,” tonight I’ll be sharing my thoughts on a question prompted by Plinky this month:

Think of three important years in your life — not including the year you were born. Why are these 3 separate years so important? What happened, and where were you?

I almost missed this question on my weekly Plinky email, because it was the one at the bottom, which is a part of their emails I’ve always ignored. But as I quickly scanned the contents of that email, I saw this and I knew I wanted to answer. And as I thought of the three years that were so important to me, I saw a pattern emerge: years and events that mark a change from bad experiences to life changing experiences are the ones that stand out for me. So now as I share my important years, you’ll also learn of the 3 events that changed my life:

The year is 1998, which was my first year of High School, which if you’ve been reading for a while, or known me for a while, you know that my teen years were no picnic. And it’s not like 1998 was the year everything suddenly became better, because it wasn’t. But it was the year I decided to say F* off to all of my tormentors and live the nerd life I was meant to live: devourer of books, britpop fan, and president of the Live Forever Oasis Fan Club, the only semi-official Oasis Fan Club on the planet (yup, it had a tagline). That fanclub might as well have been the precursor of my nerd life on the web, but pre-web. Yes, the internet existed in 1998, but it wasn’t as widely popular as it is today. Thanks to my extensive English knowledge though (for a South American high schooler), I read and translated articles about Oasis into a monthly zine for the subscribers of the Live Forever Fan Club (For a modicum US$2,50 a month to cover printing and mailing costs). That zine was a work of love, I even created crosswords and puzzles based on Oasis. And the first website I ever designed? “Baby Gallagher,” to share photos of the Gallagher brothers, their wives, and their kids.

And 1998 was the year Oasis first came to play in Brazil. It was March 21st, 1998. 14,000 people bought tickets and showed up for the concert, but I was one of the lucky few who got a spot in the front row, with Noel Gallagher (Oasis leader and all-around gentleman) right across from me and my Live Forever Fan Club president t-shirt. But that wasn’t really the event that changed my life.

That night, after the concert, thanks to the ingenuity of our young age, three friends and I headed out to the hotel the band was staying to try to meet them. And me, also out of ingenuity, had asked all of the Live Forever Fan Club members to send me letters to the band, that I made into a book to give to Oasis. In what planet I was living in to think that would ever happen, I don’t know.

But it did. I’ve shared my account of that night in other places, but since today I’m talking about the year, I won’t go into details. But that night, profoundly altered my view on life. My first thought the next day, when I was back to being somewhat cohesive, was that dreams do come true. A bit of luck might be involved, but if it wasn’t for my perseverance and ingenuity, it would never had happen. Yes, the dream of a 15 year old is a simple one, but that isn’t what matters. And having that happen to me, imbedded in me a new strength that years of depression and bullying had taken away from me. I didn’t became happy from one day to the next, but that night was the catalyst for my first big change in life.

I started college in 2001, which was the start of a happier me. And I know it sounds kind of like a downer to keep pointing out how unhappy I was growing up, but I always felt that my evolution as a person was connected to my level of happiness, so let me power through this. College brought me friends that were more like me, and independence to make adult decisions and stick to them. But even though I was happier than in High School, college also brought some pretty down moments in my life, culminating in the end of 2004 when everything just felt like it was going to shit (pardon my language). I was still unconvinced that I was good enough at anything to make a career out of it. My work felt mediocre compared to that of my colleagues. I had passion for advertising and design to spare, but I didn’t have experience or maturity in either. And that alongside a love life that was going fast towards the path of self-destruction, it didn’t really matter that my grades were up and my friends were awesome. I was pretty lost and verging on depression again.

And that’s why, out of spite, I signed up for the Disney International College Program with a few other friends from my class. Surprisingly, I was accepted (with 14 others in my state), and spent the next few months divided between being so excited about going on a trip abroad, and having to hide my excitement from people that I loved but weren’t supportive of this endeavor at all. But I had my “whatever” button turned on, and I powered through and boarded that darn plane to Orlando barely a day after my last final. And you know what? I DID have the time of my life. I met amazing people that will be my friends for life, I have no doubt about it. I learned about Customer Service and Corporate Identity from the best in the business. And the most important of all, it helped me make decisions that would shape the live I’m living right now. I went back home and put an end on all things that were making me not so happy. I got a job doing web-design, something that up until then I thought it was only a hobby, not a career path. I became a TA for a web-design class as well, and found out I was actually really good at teaching. 2005 was a tough year: making some difficult decisions to end all unhappy things in my life made me even more unhappy for a while. But I learned how to smile at Disney, and I have not stopped smiling ever since.

On a side note. going to Disney really made me believe in magic again, something I had lost after going through all that I went through when I was young. But being there, and being part of that world, I now know that magic is real, because we are it.

Yes, last year. I was having a hard time coming up with a third significant year: it’s hard to top 1998 and 2005. But then I realized that 2012 was a year of significant changes as well. The catalyst this time? Occupy the Wardrobe. A silly idea from a blog Vica shared on twitter, and it snowballed into something big for me. No, the blog didn’t turn into a hit. And no, no one is paying me to blog and talk about my sense of fashion. But you remember how I just talked about my feeling of not being good enough in anything? I think 2012 was the year that I finally got over it. Because you know, I am good at things. I am good at anything I work hard to be good at. I wasn’t one of those lucky few born with innate talent, and it doesn’t matter, because I make it happen anyway. And it also doesn’t matter I’m not getting international recognition for my newly acquired skills with a sewing machine, or my beautiful travel photography that I’m not entering into any contests anyway. I feel good about the things I do. I feel, dare I say, satisfied. My skills make me happy. My work makes me happy. I’m good at what I do because I work for them. And I won’t say I work hard for them, because, how can it be hard if it’s so much fun? Okay, let’s call it hard work because a lot of hours go into it, but it’s still easy because I’m having the time of my life.

So that’s it for today, guys. I had a lot of thoughts to share, which probably made for a very long procrastination session on your part, but I’d love to know which 3 years changed your life as well. Please share in the comments!

Thanks for reading,

Anita

Swimming Must Haves & Wishlist

The pool I swim at… waterless. 

I am by no means trying to turn this blog into a healthy-lifestyle blog, even though that’s my lifestyle. But right now, as any good beginning of year when I have resolutions of weight loss to catch up on, I guess I tend to be very single-minded. And since here is a space where I can write about what’s on my mind, well… this is what’s on my mind! Last year, after reading Mindy’s emotional recap running a half-marathon at Disneyland, I decided to try running as well. She made it sound so awesome, and even though her knee hurts (mine hurts all the time!), she made it through. I thought, if she can do it with a hurt knee, than I can do it! My knee was the only thing keeping me from trying that out. So the boyfriend and I outfitted ourselves with nice running shoes, printed the couch-to-5k training schedule, and started running 3 times a week.

But alas, this story has a twist. The Friday I got my best time and distance ever (2 miles in 25 minutes! I’m a beginner, don’t laugh), I also gained a nice little tendinitis on my knee. So I stopped running or doing any cardio for 6 weeks, and now that I’m back on the weight-loss wagon, I’m swimming instead, to try to get my resistance and breathing up to speed. But no worries, I’ll get back to running in the summer. In the meantime, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying swimming, and I think it’s a great way to burn a LOT of calories (with swimming, not just hanging around the pool, guys), and I definitely recommend it. If you’re thinking about getting started, here’s a few of my must-haves, in their “fun” version and “let’s-be-practical” versions:

I have a practical Nike swimsuit (that is also very flattering for some reason), but how cool it would be to have something flashy and fun like the R2D2 suit? I mean, I might even want to go swimming two, three times a day with it! Here are the links to buy them, the Nike one is on sale too! R2D2 Swimsuit | Nike Swimsuit

Here’s some more must haves, in my opinion!

Speedo Vanquisher | Nike Hydra | Flower Cap | Speedo Cap

Ear Plugs | Kickboard | Towel | Flip Flops

And if you want to splurge, on SwimOutlet.com, I saw some underwater MP3 players! I’m pretty tempted to get one if I keep swimming, because the music at my gym is awful!

Note: I have not shopped at swimoutlet.com, so I can’t recommend it personally, but that’s where I found most of those cool (and cheap!) swim gear. 

What do you do to burn calories??

Best Moments of 2012!

Hello, hello! Wow, 2013 is already over a week old, and here I am, finally with two minutes to spare and write something about it. First off, I got recap by saying that 2012 was an AMAZING year. I mean, I’m sure there were sad or dumb things that happened, but they were overwhelmed by all the great things, and I’d like to share a bit of it.

1. I turned 30! And it wasn’t as bad as people made it sound it would be. I might even dare to say that the 30s are the new 20s! Oh goodness, yes, that sounds extremely silly, because 30s are better than your 20s. Sure, in your 20s you’re young, your metabolism is high, your skin tight, and your alcohol tolerance is something to boast about, but the 30s are SO much better. The independence you get, for starters, your own job, your own house, your own car (oh wait, still working on that one because buses are just so much easier and green), your own wardrobe (more on that later), and the paycheck is something to boast about to your 20-year-old self. She definitely did NOT make this much money. But I also love the tranquility this age brings. In my 20s everything was so fast-paced, late nights, intelectual conversations, parties, the constant need to be on motion at all times. It seems I like the tranquility of my 30s better. Dinner parties that end before 10 pm, friends to go have coffee with at all odd hours in the day, good afternoons spent with books, putting puzzles (ahem, legos) together with the boyfriend. This whole “in bed by 10″ is just so much more me.

2. I traveled a lot! I mean, I didn’t go very far, but I stepped outside my state quite a few times this year, and this is something I’ve been dreaming of doing since I started college. It was my goal in life, really, to have a job that would help me afford trips. What else does a girl need besides great travel pictures? And planning for my next trip is always fun, something to look forward to when the days drag. Anyway, to boast about my traveling this year… I started the year by spending 10 days in Florida with the boyfriend, where we visited all my beloved Disney World parks (I was a cast member there for an internship once, and still love the place dearly) and the new Harry Potter theme park within Universal (big nerd, I know). Then not much long after, Mike and I drove the 6 hours to Las Vegas to watch Noel Gallagher in concert. And then there were the long summer months, stretching and lazying around… And when Fall was finally here, a friend and I planned an impromptu Disneyland & South California trip (I call it impromptu because most of my trips take months of careful planning and researching, because I love doing that too), and spend 3 awesome days soaking the sun in California. And to top it off, my most awaited trip of the year: a two-week road trip to Austin, TX! We drove through Southern Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and Western Texas, and then stayed a few days in Austin. We had big plans for the way back, but several snowstorm warnings made us just drive as fast as we could back home, so we wouldn’t get stuck somewhere with snow we couldn’t handle (and we still got at least 200 miles of really bad weather we had to drive through).

3. I spent a year without shopping! Yes! If you’ve been visiting me here, you probably already know about my other blog, Occupy the Wardrobe, where me and 4 friends started a year of not shopping in 2012 (to which I was the only one to go through all the way to the end, but I guess Vica was excused by being pregnant…). And it was an eye-opening experience. Not necessarily to my spending habits (which admittedly, are not really bad), but to how stuck creatively I was with my own clothes. So I started 2012 by getting organized, getting rid of anything that I didn’t wear or was just not flattering, and then proceeded to be super stylish in 2012 without buying anything new. Just to show you can be cool without owning the latest trends. But it was hard watching Spring roll by and not being able to buy any colored jeans!!!

4. I learned to sew! And trust me when I say I didn’t think I’d progress this much in a year, but by the end of 2012 I already could tackle complicated projects like dresses and pants. I have a few new items on my wardrobe thanks to my newly acquired skills. And let’s not forget that it’s such a great way to decrease stress. This year I started working on a velvety-ish dress from a Butterick pattern, but I had a bunch of problem and already unstitched and stitched it back on a bunch of times, but I’m intent on making it look the best, so I’ll keep on it. Lately, the hem is giving me trouble, but fixing it shall be easy.

For 2013, I’m starting it light. No hardcore New Year resolutions, just one: to take more pictures. I did terrible in 2012, because I was taking so many pictures of me. But this year I want to go out more and take pictures outside. And I’d like to write more photography tutorials for beginners, little tips and tidbits that I have learned that would help improve the photos of people that are not really into photography, but would like to have their photos look good more often. I had to do so many self portraits this year, I picked up a few new things. Maybe I’ll do that.