My Tunes -- October 2015

     Wow... It has been so long since I last blogged! I guess I've just really been busy with school, but I do want to try making blogging a regular thing again. Let's see if I can actually do that :)
      Anyways,  today I wanted to talk about some of my favorite songs of the moment. I really love music, and it is pretty much always on in my room. Whether I'm doing my homework or running... I'm always listening to something. Here are my favorites for October 2015:

1.      Camouflage - Selena Gomez (Revival)

To be honest, I wasn't really impressed with Selena's new album, but I really liked this song. Out of the 11 tracks, this is probably my favorite and the only one I actually listen to.








     2.  Coming Down - Halsey (Badlands)

I honestly love this whole album. Almost every song from this album is in my playlist, which is saying something, because rarely will you see this many songs from the same album in one of my playlists. But this whole album is great... and Coming Down is one of my favorite tracks from it right now.

     3. Mustang Kids - Zella Day (Kicker)

This is another one of those albums that has pretty much every track from onto my playlist. And Mustang Kids certainly isn't the only song from this album that I love. Zella Day's voice is just so pretty and I love her music. This is definitely another one of my favorite albums, and I just love Zella's music! 

     4.  Jet Black Heart - 5 Seconds of Summer (Sounds Good Feels Good)

I have no words. I love this song :)

     5.  EASE - Troye Sivan (WILD)

Troye Sivan has always been one of my favorite singers... ever since TRXYE came out last year. His collaboration on this song with Broods is amazing. The entire EP is awesome, as always. I have always loved Troye, and WILD is a great EP that he released. 

     6.  Hotline Bling - Drake 

Drake's at it again with a great new single :) I heard the version of this song with Charlie Puth and Kehlani on the radio, but it's not on Spotify... I honestly loved that version much more. Does anyone know where I can find that?

    7.  The Hills - The Weeknd (Beauty Behind the Madness)

Again, no words. The Weeknd is just amazing right now. 

     8. The End of all Things - Panic! At the Disco (Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die) 

I know this song is really old, but Panic! has become of my favorite bands right now. And this song is really different from everything else on this list. I have a lot of other random favorite songs from them, but this one is probably THE favorite (if that makes any sense) 

    Of course, these aren't the only favorite songs of mine. If you would like a complete list of my playlist which features all these tracks, click here. 

    

     P.S. Halloween is coming up! Do you have your costume ready? I don't know what I'm going to be yet but I'm so excited for that last day of October. Hope everyone is enjoying fall... although where I live you wouldn't be able to tell that summer is over :) 

Oahu

     Me and one of my best friends/sisters (and families of course) just visited the island of Oahu in Hawaii. It was such a marvelous trip and I just got back from the airport earlier this morning. I got zero sleep of course, courtesy of the red eye flight. I just can't sleep in a plane...
    Anyways, I had such an amazing time while on vacation, and I tried to take some good quality photos (still working on my photography skills at the moment...don't expect too much!) And I did some vlogging along the way, which you can watch right here:

    My vacation was filled with excitement ranging from daily beach trips and learning how to surf to hiking through the muddiest trail in the world to see a spectacular waterfall (with the company of mosquitoes of course). Our hotel was located right on Waikiki Beach Walk, which if you don't know is basically a huge street filled with high-end shops: Louis Vuitton, Chanel, etc. Of course, I didn't go shopping there, but I had a great time browsing around and adding items to my "want list" :)
 

     Day 1: Arrival
Our flight landed at the Honolulu airport at around 11:00 am, so we had plenty of time to spend. Unfortunately, an hour or two of our time was crunched waiting for the "Speedi Shuttle" to drop us off at the hotel. All I'm going to say about it is that we didn't really have a pleasant experience with that shuttle company. Our hotel was absolutely amazing...right in the middle of all the shops and liveliness of the city...just how I like it :) After getting settled into the hotel room, we set out for the beach at around 5:00pm for the first time on this trip. The water was amazing, and we had a blast taking pictures with our waterproof camera.

    Day 2: Relaxing
Since Hawaii is 3 hours behind Californian time, we were able to wake up bright and early and head to the beach at around 9:00am. We were trying to avoid the sun... After coming back at around 11:00-12:00, we explored the malls a little bit. Then, we just relaxed in the hotel room for an hour or two.  By then, our other friends had arrived on the island as well. We went down to meet them, and made beach trip #2 for one day.

    Day 3: Boogie Boards
Me and my friend, Kita, and all the fam of course rented boogie boards the next day, and we had so much fun cruising the waves. We just hung out for the rest of the day, and did some crazy things like swinging from Banyan trees :) For dinner, we went to a place called  "Cheeseburger". The burgers were simply amazing. Loved them.

    Day 4:  Trolley Tour 
Morning protocol: beach trip. The afternoon was well spent on two trolley tours, in which we saw most of the island that we hadn't before. We visited places such as Diamond Head Crater, and other historic sites. I spent the evening watching the Pretty Little Liars finale, and to be honest I was very upset by the reveal. What were your theories? I'd love for you to tell me in the comments :)

    Day 5: Hiking 
I think this was the most exciting day...me, Kita, and her parents went hiking to a huge waterfall. Although the path was muddy and we were totally unprepared outfit and shoes wise, it was well worth the hike. If you watched the vlog, you would see how much fun we had and how silly we were being along the trip :) The evening, yet again, was spent at the beach. Although this time we stayed a little later past the sunset, which could have been potentially dangerous. But hey, I'm alive (and Kita is too) to tell the story so...all was well :)

    Day 6: Explore
This was our last day on the island. After checking out of the hotel in the morning, we rented a car and explored the northern part of Oahu. Our first stop was Dole Pinapple Plantation, and we had Dole Whip there! That part just made my day. After spending an hour or two there, we drove up to the north shore beach. It wasn't half as nice as Waikiki beach...and I wouldn't recommend swimming there because you can't go out too far. Regardless, we continued on throughout the north side of the island, which is much more green compared to the concrete jungle that is Waikiki. It did rain a bit and the humidity was pretty high, but it just added to the scenic views. Our flight was at 9:30 that night, so we said our goodbyes and left the island.

Back to School Chatting & DIY Notebooks

     I'm pretty sure most of you (if you're in school) are already back to school or are going back to school fairly soon. I go back next week, and I'm not exactly thrilled about it. Sure, I'm dying to see my friends again and all that, but I don't want summer to end :( I guess I can speak for most people when I say that,  haha.
     I've also heard from some of my friends who are a year or two older than me that the teachers I got assign loads of homework, and that is definitely something I'm not looking forward to. On top of all those honors classes, I'm going to be juggling weekly piano and guitar lessons, two hour tennis classes twice a week, and being a human and writing on this blog and posting Youtube videos. I guess you can see that I'm going to be crazy busy this school year, and I just wanted to give a quick heads up as to why I might be seeming MIA from my blog and Youtube channel.
     Saying this, I do realize that I haven't posted much on my blog or Youtube channel very much this summer, and I honestly have no excuse for that. I was really looking forward to having consistent uploads this summer, and I guess I just got kind of lazy. With school starting up again, I really wish I had uploaded a lot more during these past couple of months, but it is what it is. I will try my hardest to upload at least once every week or two weeks, but just bear in mind that I have a huge amount of work to accomplish this school year, so I might have to be out of schedule for a while. That being said...let's try to get a bit excited about school starting up again!

 I uploaded a video a couple weeks ago called "What's In my Backpack", and you can watch it here:

 
     One thing I quickly wanted to mention is that in the above video, I showed two blank composition books that I said I would DIY to make them look better. I did do this with one of my friends, and I wanted to show them to you. This is what they turned out like, and I'm so excited with the final result.

Left Notebook: Full Page Image + Text
Right Notebook: Collage Notebook
All Images Taken from National Geographic Travel Magazines 

   I also quickly wanted to share how I made these:

1. Find any magazine clippings that you like. (it could be a full page or you could make a collage) you could also cut out some text, or just anything that you find that you would like to be on your notebook cover. 
2. Arrange everything on the cover of the notebook so that you can see what it will look like once you glue it down. Make sure to trim everything to size so that your design completely covers the notebook cover and it fits perfectly. 
3. Glue on all your magazine clippings. I used Mod Podge, but any strong holding glue will work. 
4. This step is optional, but if you would like to make your book look a little more professional and make the cover less flimsy, you could put clear tape over the top of your design so that it looks laminated, and your clippings are less likely to peel off. 

     These are so customizable and I love how it turned out. They could easily look like notebooks that you'd find on Tumblr and have to buy at Urban Outfitters or someplace expensive, but in reality they cost less than $5 to make! 

     I think that having school supplies that you actually like are so important because you'll be encouraged to use them more. For example, with these customized notebooks, you might be more encouraged to actually take notes, which can greatly affect your study skills and test grades. Also, who doesn't like customized and cute supplies? 

Friendship Day & Cold Beaches

   

     As many of you may know, yesterday was friendship day. To celebrate and honor the occasion, me and some of my closest friends went to the beach to just relax and enjoy each other's company. We drove down to a small town called Capitola, which was just about a 30-45 minute drive from where I live. The moment we drove in to town I fell in love with the city. It has such a rustic charm to it and is just so cute and colorful.
     As if the ocean isn't enough, there is a river that connects right to the beach, and is crystal clear and the perfect place for paddle boarding. Countless restaurant patios overlooked the river, and you can enjoy the view of people kayaking and paddle boarding down the water.
     Right on the sand as well were a line of brightly colored hotel rooms that reminded me a lot of Spanish adobe houses. You can literally rent a room on the beach! 
     Unfortunately, all the beaches in northern California are freezing cold. This didn't stop me and my friends from going into the water, but it certainly wasn't a relaxing experience. Nevertheless, we spent about an hour or 2 in the icy water before giving up. It's kind of surprising how the sun can be so hot but can't heat up the water a couple degrees to make it more bearable!
     Regardless of all the troubles the cold water gave us, we managed to have an amazing day and had a great toast to friendship day at our Thai dinner. I really wish I had more time to walk around the streets of Capitola though, it fits the description for the perfect beach town. Living in northern California, you don't see many beach towns. It's mostly just about the Silicon Valley industry, but it was nice to see such a pretty town just a half hours' drive away!
     If you ever find yourself in northern CA, Capitola should be on your list of cities to visit! 

DIY Back to School Supplies

     Wow, how long has it been since I last blogged? Well, I'm not going to dwell on that because I just uploaded a new Youtube video in which I showed 5 super easy DIYs for going back to school. They are seriously so simple and only require one or two steps each, but the results were amazing! Make sure to watch the video:
                                     
And if you try out any of the DIYs, I'd love to know how they turned out! Leave me a comment either on my video or this blog post...I'd love to hear about how they worked out for you. Anyways, as always, if you have any video requests, I'd love to know about them so fire away in the comments :)
Have a great weekend everyone!

Summer Hair Care Routine & Essentials

     It's finally summer time...time to sport that beachy, salty hair! Of course, it's really important to maintain healthy hair and good habits when it comes to hair care. That's why today I want to talk a bit more about hair care and some good products to use.
     First off, I want to say that I think essential oils work better than any leave in shampoo or conditioner. They're all natural, and personally I think they heed better results. Lately I have been using argan oil, and it works wonders. I apply just a dab of it to my palms and finger-comb it through the ends of my hair. It leaves the ends so soft and since I didn't apply very much, your hair doesn't end up looking greasy and in need of a wash. I have also tried coconut and olive oil, but I think argan works the best (at least for me).
     Another tip I have is that when you comb to detangle your hair, use a thick brush or a wide toothed comb. Brush from the ends to the roots, as that causes less damage to the tips. When your hair is wet, don't use a brush. The best thing to use is a wide tooth comb.
      If you're looking for a DIY hair mask, try eggs. I know it may seem weird, but trust me...it works. Separate the yolk from the whites, because you aren't going to use the yellow part (it makes your hair stink). Just apply the egg whites as you normally would for a hair mask and you will be left with soft, shiny hair that is less prone to damage.
     Try to stay away from heat, especially in the summer when you're going to be exposed to the sun more anyways. If you must use styling products though, make sure to apply a heat protectant spray so that your hair won't get damaged. I honestly don't use a lot of heat, so I don't experiment with a lot of protectant sprays, so the brand would be up to your choosing.
     If you want to step it up a notch, use essential oil shampoos and conditioners. They are more likely to have all natural ingredients and less harsh chemicals. Again, you can choose which oil you would prefer to use. I recommend experimenting around to see which type of oil works best with your hair.
     As for styling products, in summer I just use a simple sea salt spray for beachy waves. Currently I am using the Tres Semmé Perfectly Undone Sea Salt Spray with Sea Kelp Extract. This one works great and gives me the perfect waves...and smells nice too :)
     So I hope these basic hair care tips were helpful for you! This is pretty much how I maintain my hair, and let me know about any products that you use and any other tips that you have!
xoxo
A n i k a 

Stay Fit this Summer!

   

     Before I say anything else, I want everyone to be aware that the title of this post is "Ways to get FIT", and not "Ways to Get Skinny" or "Ways to Lose Weight". There's a huge difference between being fit and being skinny. You can be skinny and be REALLY unfit, and I want all of you to be aware of that. Being fit means that you can perform at your physical best, and does not completely rely on your body shape or size. That being in mind, let me tell you about some simple tricks that I use daily (or try to use daily) to stay fit.
Note: I am not a certified fitness instructor or a nutritionist of any sort, but these are all tips that I use personally and I don't recommend trying anything that does not seem comfortable for you.

1. Drink a LOT of Water
Especially during the summer months when it gets really hot, it's really important to drink water. Anywhere from 2-4 liters would be an adequate amount of water to be drinking. Personally, I really have to work on this one haha :)

2.  Follow Youtube Fitness Channels
If you don't have enough money to spend on a gym membership, you can always follow Youtubers who specialize in fitness videos. Some of my favorites are Blogilates and Tone It Up. Both these channels have some great workouts that really make you sweat and they also have recipes for healthier foods. Make sure to check them out!

3. Keep a Fitness Diary
Having someplace to log your workouts and eating habits can really help you achieve your goals faster. I personally have a binder where I keep pamphlets for workouts from my gym, printed workouts, and any other notes that I have made or tips that I have for myself to stay on track.

4. Get Enough Sleep 
It is actually very important to make sure you get enough rest each night, because it affects the way your body functions. If you are well rested, you'll be able to perform better when you workout and it helps to prevent bloating and plateauing.

5. Watch What You Eat 
It's pretty much true...you are what you eat! To stay fit and healthy, you have to cut out all the sugars and unnatural foods from your diet. Try to stick to eating greens and natural foods. Stay away from the sodas, donuts, and french fries...as hard as it may be! If you are consistent with doing this, you'll achieve the results you want in no time.

6. Workout with Friends
Personally, I hate working out alone. I'm not even quite sure why, but I just don't feel comfortable if someone isn't there with me. Instead, I workout with my friends. It's a lot more fun, and you have someone to keep you on your toes.

7. Metabolism Boosters
Make sure to eat plenty of metabolism boosters, like green tea and celery. There's plenty more out there, so you can do a quick google search to find a list. Metabolism boosters are usually low in calories and help you to digest food faster, so that you don't gain fat.

8. Make a Workout Playlist
The music really does keep you going, so it's a lot more fun to run on the treadmill when you are listening to some upbeat songs rather than just staring at the little screen that counts your calories and heart rate, you feel me? Haha, but trust me, the music really does help. And, if any of you use Spotify, they came out with a new update recently that makes the beat of the music change to how fast or slow you're running. Isn't that cool??

9. Set Short Term Goals
You already know your long term goal...staying fit. Now, make some short term goals to get there. For example, you can say "by the end of this week I want to be able to lift 20lb weights and do 50 reps..." I don't know, haha...but something like that. Make sure your goals are realistic, so that you have something to motivate you throughout the week or however long your deadline is.

10. Keep a Positive Attitude 
It's not going to come easily...you have to work really hard to achieve your fitness goals. It certainly won't happen over night! It may seem frustrating sometimes, but you have to have the willpower to tell yourself to keep going. If you can keep telling yourself that you can achieve your goals, YOU WILL :)

Week at a Glance #1

   

     This past week has been full of activity, and at some points not too much activity, and I guess I just wanted to reflect on it. Let's start out with last Monday...
     I had a guitar lesson after AGES and lets just say it went really well. I am already familiar with music so I progressed quickly, and it was really fun. Music is just one of those things that makes me happy, and for me it classifies as something "fun" to do. So anyways, that's pretty much all I remember that I did on Monday haha. I mean... it was a week ago, and there's only so much I can hold in my brain :)
     Tuesday was off to a pretty lazy start, and I don't quite remember what I did in the morning haha...wow I should really start writing all of this down! But in the afternoon I had a tennis lesson for two hours and can I just say that I DIED. It was around 5:00 in the evening, and the sun had no plans of calling it a day at that time. It didn't help that the coaches made us do a crazy amount of fitness training :( I was sore for days after that class.
     Wednesday I honestly have no idea what I did...I feel so bad now! I think I really am going to start writing down my daily activities now. Let's see if it will come back to me later on...*has an "AHA" moment 15 minutes later* So on Wednesday, I had a piano lesson. I am actually preparing to take a piano exam in the fall, so all I did in class was practice for that. Practicing scales, dynamics, tempos, and making sure you get everything else right when you're playing the song...the torture never ends! Haha just kidding...I never think of piano as torture...it's a lot of fun, trust me :) I just might upload my pieces for the exam later on too...
     Thursday was a pretty crazy day. In the morning, my mom, my sister, and I went to the eye doctor for our annual check-ups...and I'm getting contacts now (yay!) But anyways... my mom had another appointment scheduled one right after another, so I didn't have enough time to finish getting "training" for how to put the contacts in and taking them out, etc. So I have to go back this Thursday, and we'll see how it goes. So after we left there, my mom dashed to another appointment and I went home and watched Pretty Little Liars season 5 on Netflix (I know, I'm so behind!) After a couple hours of binge-watching TV, I decided to sit down with my guitar and look up songs online to play. I started playing "The Only Exception" by Paramore and "Good Life" by OneRepublic. Just some basic chord progressions...nothing too fancy. Also, if any of you have musical experience, can I just tell you that I think my capo is my new best friend :)
     Friday was pretty laid back and relaxed...I spent the entire morning making a father's day painting for my dad, and just randomly fooling around on the computer. Yeah...nothing else that was very interesting (or that I can remember).
     I think Saturday was my favorite day from this week. Nothing too exciting happened in the morning, but then I had another tennis lesson...and for 3 hours this time! It didn't help that the timing was right in the afternoon, when the sun is at its hottest. I am still so sore from that class and my feet hurt so badly afterwards :( But I have to say the class was a lot of fun. Too many sprints though  :/
When my dad came to pick me up, he surprised me with a Golden State Warriors t-shirt, and I was so excited because they are my favorite team ever :) Around 7:00, my best friend and I went to our gym, where we hogged up a huge dance studio for the two of us to practice a dance routine that we found on Youtube. Any of you heard of Matt Steffanina? Well, we were doing his routine to "Trap Queen" haha. It was actually a lot of fun.
     Yesterday was Fathers' Day, and after delivering presents and the usual protocol, we drove down to a fancy outlet mall and went shopping. Everyone literally went on a splurge...from my sister to my grandparents...we all just bought whatever we wanted. I shopped at Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister, because they were a combined store in that particular mall. I might post a haul from there later.
     Recent TV/Movies that I watched:

• Pretty Little Liars
• Glee (haha I know, I know! but it's a great show)
• Mission Impossible I, II, & III
• Indiana Jones

     Let me explain quickly about the old movies...my dad gets all these movies when he goes to the library and so we just choose one to watch almost every night as like family time (but my mom and sister always go to sleep in the middle)

     So that was pretty much my week! And on a side note, in a previous post I said that I would post all my Polyvore creations to one specific post, but I think I'm just going to attach my recent posts to the most recent blog post. (how many times did I say the word "post" in that sentence???) So here's my newest sets:

                                                                                                                                                         

Chilly Cities and Ice Cream Trucks

     One perk of living in the not-so-stereotypical sunny weather and daily beach trips part of California is that the city is just a 45 minute drive away. My family drove to San Francisco on Saturday to just spend the day in the city. The weather, as usual, was cold beyond compare. Even standing in Union Square isn't enough to see the bridge; the fog is endless! Regardless of the freezing weather, we went into Ghirardelli to get sundaes, which are always to die for. If you ever find yourself in Union Square, make sure to get a sundae and buy some chocolate!
     On this trip, I really paid attention to the city, and I have to say that I'm very fortunate to be able to visit it so frequently. The houses, first and foremost, are so cute! Every house has a vintage and Victorian feel to it and it just feels so cozy :) Then, there's shopping. Downtown SFO has all the greatest shopping stores from Saks 5th to Prada to Express and everything else in between. There are mostly very high end stores, so don't plan on having much of a budget while shopping ;) Unfortunately, I didn't go shopping there, but we did drive through the shopping complex, which was very pleasant. The last thing that I really enjoyed about the city were the art galleries. While strolling through the streets, we passed by many art galleries which really caught my attention because of my love for art. There's not really much to say about it, but it really inspired me to start drawing and painting again. Even with the cold weather and unruly winds, it was really nice to just walk down the streets and take in some fresh air and just be somewhere other than the places you are used to, you know?

     I can easily say that Saturday was a day well spent. The next day was although less adventurous, a great memory. First, I woke up really late, and ended up missing a biking trip that me and my friend had planned. At around noon, I showed up at her house and we hung out for the rest of the day. First, we fooled around on Dubsmash (do any of you use that? I think I'm gonna make an account.) Then, when it got too hot in her room (I guess summer has finally rolled around, thank god) we went outside to play basketball. And of course, there's no way we can hang out outside without blasting our music loud enough for the neighbors to hear. Soon enough though, our music was put on pause when we heard...THE ICE CREAM TRUCK! By then, we literally ran around the entire complex chasing the truck only to end up catching it when it returned right in front of our house :) We all got ice cream and it felt like old times when we were all little in elementary school...ahh the memories! Anyways, it just felt kind of nostalgic and we ended up having a day that truly met all the "Summer Vacation" criteria.
     All in all, I had a great weekend. The best part, however, was waking up on a Monday and not going to school. Instead, I woke up and played the guitar all morning...talk about good times.

xoxo,
A n i k a
   
   

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