ONE // Mulled apple cider chai french crullers

The cooler seasons always get me in the mood for baking. Who doesn’t want to warm their house up and fill it with all the autumnal and wintry scents? I’m down for any recipe with cinnamon. Some other recipes for the oven are iced pumpkin cookies, 5-ingredient honey almond granola, streuseled sweet potatoes, pumpkin chocolate chip bread, and Totoro pumpkin cheesecake bars. If these recipes are too much effort for you, you can do what I did and buy sugar cookie dough from the supermarket (I got Pillsbury’s) and sprinkle it with cinnamon. (I haven’t bought cookie dough since, like, elementary school.) (They actually tasted pretty good.) (Don’t kill me baking snobs.) To top it off, why don’t we have some boozy apple cider.

TWO // DIY terrarium coffee table

You know I love my coffee and my coffee tables. When I first moved into my apartment, I knew for sure that I wanted my room to feel more like a living room than a bedroom, and so I knew I wanted a daybed and a coffee table. Okay fine, let’s be real. I just wanted my room to feel like a coffee shop. Anyways. I love this DIY terrarium coffee table, because you get that greenery, which is pretty much a centerpiece, without crowding the surface of your coffee table. Such a statement! And while we’re talking about the home, let’s move onto the closet. I really like the idea of this 10×10 wardrobe challenge. The idea is to pick 10 items of clothing (including tops, bottoms, and shoes; not including accessories, bags, pyjamas, or gym clothes) and create 10 outfits for 10 days. I think it’d be a good way to jump into a minimal wardrobe without making any drastic commitments… and it’d be a good away of minimising my laundry hah. Another way to spruce up your wardrobe is to DIY a band tee 3 ways.

THREE // Self-belief and the hideous sundress

We hear the phrase “you do you” so often that it’s begun to lost its meaning. And maybe even worse, sometimes it’s said a bit negatively, like to simply placate you. But this little anecdote about loving the hideous sundress, despite what everyone else was saying, was a specific experience I totally identified with. When I was little, I had strong opinions about what I liked to wear and what I didn’t, how I liked to do my hair and how I didn’t, no matter how much my mother or anyone else disagreed. That sort of self-assurance has slowly been chipping away as I’ve gotten older, but I want to find those pieces of myself again. Other little moments of reflection I’ve found inspiring are these thoughts on circumstantial happiness, the story of the hug, allowing yourself to process the world, and giving yourself time.

FOUR // Wales: The Slate Cabin

I love this little cabin and how minimal it is, and yet it seems so cosy. I imagine that the minimal design declutters the mind and allows you to focus on the important things and appreciate the serene coast of Wales. It almost inspires me to get rid of all the unnecessary junk in my apartment and live a nomadic lifestyle haha. For something a little more local to me here in Pennsylvania, I’ve been enjoying keeping up with Lokal Hotel’s developments via their Instagram Stories. Y’all know I love their Old City location (on the blog), but now they’ve also got a new A-frame cabin in the woods just 50 minutes outside of Philly. And since I’ve been loving cabins so much, here’s another one called Forest Cabin, and I’m loving the autumnal breakfast scene. Am I allowed to still be talking about autumn now that it’s December?

FIVE // How to create film-like images in your digital camera

I love how film photography looks but I’ve never used a film camera before and I don’t have one either, so this tutorial is going to have to do for me for now! And since we’re talking about images, why don’t we move onto visual social media platforms? (dat segue doe) Here’s a tutorial on how to hide Pinnable images and here are 15 clever ways to use Instagram Stories. Keeping up a brand and managing all your socials can be time-consuming no doubt, so here are 24 time-saving hacks for busy entrepreneurs. And for all the influencers and entrepreneurs out there, here’s all you need to know about navigating sponsored content online.

What has been your favourite read of the week?

PS: more friday favourites

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ONE // Rose lassi

I’m also loving these rose rose cakes (they also come as cookies), watermelon frosé (frozen rosé), and edible terrariums! Straying from the pink, here are recipes for black sesame sugar and toffee snickerdoodle Totoro cookies and lemon berry mascarpone tarts. For those of you looking for savoury recipes, check out honey butter lemon chicken with asparagus, grilled corn, tomato, and avocado salad with chimichurri, creamy greek pasta salad, and this brunch bruschetta bar. Funny how I find all these recipes, but all I ever make for myself is cereal or some variation of stir-fry…

TWO // Instagram created a monster

Y’all know I have a love/hate relationship with Instagram. I feel like I constantly complain about it, yet here I am, still on Instagram and trying to figure it out. I mean, if I really hated it, I should just quit and shut up and start putting good vibes out into the world, right? I think I need to stop being a big baby and stop being so stubborn. I can’t avoid the fact that despite all its flaws (imho), Instagram is an influential platform, and it’s something I’m going to have to come to terms with if I believe it has the potential to support my blog. This article gives you all the information about the new algorithm and talks about how it started and how to play the game, but it’s up to you to decide what you want to do with that information. I don’t want to play the game, but I will have to develop a strategy. What kind of strategy? Well… I’m still working on that. Sometimes you have to do what you don’t want to do in order to do what you want to do. It’s all about perspective. Maxie offers some tips about how to network if you hate networking. Alexandra Franzen offers a perspective for those who love making art but despise marketing: marketing is making art. It’s all about inspiring and inviting. On the topic of inviting, she also shares some advice about how to find clients and customers: Full heart. All in.

THREE // Boost your creativity

I think some people think that creativity is either something you have or you don’t. But what those people don’t know is that while, yes, those people who just “are creative” probably did start at the beginning already having creative inclinations, but everything from then on was practise practise practise. Corina shares some creative exercises to help you boost your creativity. Megan shares an honest update about how life and business has changed for her and Mike, her husband and creative partner. It’s a learning process that requires hard work. This article from the New York Times offers some words of wisdom as well: “Don’t wait around for creativity to come to you on accident. Be creative on purpose.” As Chuck Close said, “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” On the topic of creativity, check out Wit and Delight’s creative space and A Pair and a Spare’s travel journal ideas (just in time for summer break!).

FOUR // A day in the life: blogger shoot days

Crystalin and Natalie have this awesome thing going on where they do blog shoots for each other; one will photograph for the other, and then they’ll switch. Not only is this a reliable and efficient strategy, but it’s also a very natural one. Because they are both fashion and lifestyle bloggers, they understand each other on a creative level and know what they are looking for. Whilst I’m not a fashion or style blogger, I had a great time collaborating with local fashion and style bloggers in my city (recap here), and since then I’ve been more curious about working with models. I found this beginners guide to working with models quite helpful. Making the models feel comfortable and being able to provide direction when we’re stuck for ideas are two aspects that are important to me when I’m doing a shoot with a model, so before a shoot, I’ll browse Instagram to get posing inspiration. I like this video where Jenn Im shares her go-to Instagram poses and this Buzzfeed article where guys learn to pose like Instagram models.

FIVE // What I ate + a new chapter (vlog)

I randomly found Steph whilst browsing my Instagram discovery page some time a long time ago. She “[lives] a high carb vegan life and [hopes] to inspire others to live a happy and healthy life.” What stood out to me was what a happy and beautiful soul she is. In this vlog, she said something that was so inspiring and resonated so deeply with me that I had to save it and quote it (I’ve included time stamps if you’re curious):

(1:24) In my life I’ve always only really done things for, like, a means of an end, if that makes sense. (1:39) What I’m trying to do these days, in these last, like, six months, is just to do things for the pure joy of it, not necessarily for any outcome, not for any kind of like adulting goal, but just to have some parts of my life that are just purely for enjoyment and for nothing else. (2:33) I just really encourage you guys, if there’s something that you like doing but you’ve always just thought that you shouldn’t do because you’re not gonna be, like, a professional at that or you’re not gonna do that for a living… Who cares? If you enjoy it then do it. That’s, like, what the point of life is, right? It’s just to enjoy the experiences that you’re having.

Another link that resonated deeply with me was this one about how we crowd out happiness and how we shouldn’t. I almost always crowd out my happiness. I stick it in between the miserable stuff in hopes that the miserable stuff will seem less miserable, but really all it does is crowd out happiness. It’s time to flip the script and change my perspective.

What has been your favourite read of the week?

PS: more friday favourites

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ONE // The artist and the storyteller

In the spirit of Valentine’s month, here’s a blog post from Camille Styles’ “It Couple” series, “featuring photographer Kate Zimmerman and professional storyteller Luke Turpin.” They’re way too cute asdfghjkl. Lots of love and also creatively inspiring.

TWO // Dorm decor: starting with the basics

Um, I still can’t get over this dorm room makeover?? As a current college student, I know that the dorm rooms we have to work with are… lacking. When I lived on campus, the only decorating I did in my dorm was a wall of photos I put up with sticky tack, and when the photos started falling, I just pulled them all off and left it blank. I live off campus now and I’ve been more successful at making it feel like home, especially with my bed and coffee table. I don’t have any coffee table books, but I do have a pretty stack of magazines (I’m so adult). The newest edition to my collection was the 11th issue of Boys by Girls, featuring Tom Odell, Cole Sprouse, and more dudes! Anyways, for more interior inspiration, check out The Daybook’s interior update.

THREE // Unicorn hot chocolate

Whilst this unicorn hot chocolate isn’t really Valentine’s themed, it totally could be! It’s pink and magical; is that not festive enough? I think this galaxy glaze and these crunfetti cruffins are in the same vein as the unicorn hot chocolate. I can see them sharing a table at a party.

FOUR // Alignment before action

I can only read or listen to a limited amount of personal growth and self-care content before it gets to be too much for me and then I become very skeptical and think the preacher is full of hot air. It has nothing to do with the content creator and only has to do with me. Anyways, one of many podcasts I listen to is The Lively Show, but I’m not always up to date with her content for reasons explained previously. I was listening to Jess talk about 80% alignment and 20% action, and it really struck a chord with me. This is relevant on so many levels, but also especially to bloggers like you and me who might hit writer’s block once in awhile.

FIVE // How to set up an online portfolio (that will land you the job)

I’m trying to figure out what I want to do this summer. I should have already had this figured out, but… I don’t. In the meanwhile, I’ve been productively procrastinating by thinking of ways I can present my creative work in a way that is professional and visible. I don’t even know if I’m looking for a job on this track, but it’s something I suppose. Some other blogging and business links I’ve found are: do you really need social media to grow your business, 6 ways to brand your Squarespace website, and 30 desirable content upgrade ideas. On the other hand, maybe it’s time to go beyond content upgrades and ask what else? Talk, write, and behave in a braver way, like drinking full strength black coffee. Have better conversations. Tell great stories.

What has been your favourite read of the week?

PS: 10. 09. 08. 07. 06. 05. 04. 03. 02. 01.

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ONE // Summer solstice

How’s everyone’s summers going so far? We’re a good way through it, so I hope Mother Nature has settled down and gotten the memo wherever you are. I’m completely taken by these vibes. I knew I had to include this post in my roundup as soon as I saw the paper lanterns. Going to a lantern festival has been on my bucket list for forever; I never considered that I could light one and float it away from my own yard! I still want to do it at a festival though. It must be so magical seeing all those paper lanterns floating off into the sky together. Brb, I need to go rewatch Tangled and try not to think about the fact that I’m in my house and not in the Kingdom of Corona. Although tbh I’m probably better off in the safety of my house than wandering a magical kingdom because I have the worst sense of direction. I’m home isn’t so bad; all you need are indoor plants and speckled tableware. Lol I’m Mother Gothel-ing myself.

TWO // Cold noodle summer salad with salmon

I love simple recipes that only require me to mix things up. The sauce is so easy and I already have all the ingredients in my kitchen, which means I won’t even need to go grocery shopping! I can make a huge batch and then ration it out for the rest of the week, and I won’t even need to microwave it! Live simple, my friends. Another easy recipe are these sun-dried tomato and basil pinwheels, which I like to add an egg to if I’m feeling fancy (and if I’m not running late for work). And of course, there are a ton of desserts on my radar, but I’m too lazy to make them this summer, though I’ll be sure to try out a few once I move into my new apartment at the start of the school year and have my kitchen all set up: green tea matcha coconut ice-cream, mango creamsicle milkshake, London fog vanilla cake x caramelized potato chips, toasted sesame and sweetened condensed milk bundt cake, pecan peaches, and Magnolia Bakery’s banana pudding. Also, how cool is the concept of this cafe? I already know I’d be the ultimate cafe leech there if it were located in my city. Also, if you’re in London, please check out Tombo for me and I will live vicariously through you (pokē and matcha bar waaaat).

THREE // Flowers on her hair

Honestly I love all of Corina’s designs and illustrations. I need to come up with more original ways to express my enthusiasm for her work besides commenting “omg love this!” on all her blog posts, even though omg I really do love them all. Have you checked out her shop yet? My favourites are the marble cube candles. Another great visual inspiration of a similar theme is this editorial photoshoot that Nicole Warne worked on with Dolce & Gabbana. The story behind the concept of the shoot was too perfect (does this girl even live in real life??), and my favourite photo was the second one.

FOUR // When you realize your blog sucks

This blog post was a breath of fresh air and a great reminder. It totally resonated with me, and when she talked about wanting to be more professional with her blog, I thought she was talking directly to me; the whole reason I switched to WordPress was because I wanted to be more professional, and I explained more about it when I announced Brunch at Audrey’s 2.0, but it’s also so important to me to remember who I was and who I still am. After reading her blog post, I went back to my archives to see what kind of stuff I wrote about when I was first starting out with this whole blogging thing. And when I say I went back to my archives, I mean I went back to my first blog posts on Tumblr, which I’m not going to conveniently link right here in this sentence as to not encourage you to check out those embarrassing posts though my social links are all at the footer of my blog. I don’t know if those posts would mean anything to you, but for me, it was like time travel. The posts were so specific and detailed all the stupid little things that amused me. For the record, they still do. I Snapchatted old pictures and excerpts from my blog posts to my high school buddies–“remember when…?” Back then, I didn’t give a rat’s ass about “staying in my lane,” the length of my blog posts, or even good writing for that matter. That said, I do think that those tips warrant consideration, though they shouldn’t dictate your creativity.

FIVE // Let’s chat! Our first date & proposal!

Lately I’ve been completely obsessed with the blog Love Taza. The block of text I always comment is kind of embarrassing; they’re not even really constructive or anything, but at least they’re supportive? The blog makes me so happy because I can feel the love that goes into everything about it, and it was cool to see that in another dimension with this chatty vlog.

What has been your favourite read of the week?

PS: 09. 08. 07. 06. 05. 04. 03. 02. 01.

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ONE // The lost photo collective

I love this concept. It’s Carrie’s “new project to save photos from the depths of random external hard disks and make sure they see the light of day.” One reason I love blogging is because it’s a way for me to organize my photos and memories. I take so many photos thinking that they’ll be great for memory-keeping, but I never go back to them and I never print them out to frame or paste into scrapbooks. So I share them here on the blog. But even then, I still have so many more photos dusting away in digital space. Occasionally when I need to free up space on my phone, I’ll scroll up my camera roll and rediscover old pictures and all the memories that come with them. The Lost Photo Collective seems like a more proactive way to unearth these moments. I do think I’ll try to adopt this blog series some time in the future, but for now I have some other ideas boiling that I’d like to organize first.

TWO // Inside our airstream

In anticipation of my new apartment, I have a new appreciation for interior design. The majority of my text messages with Kat (my future roomie) are now just pictures of beautiful interiors we find on Pinterest. Anyways, it’s amazing how Sarah has furnished the inside of her little space and especially inspiring because Kat and I will be squeezing ourselves into a large one-bedroom apartment. We’re just college students; we don’t need much. Other inspiring spaces to check out are Izzy’s office and Kate’s dressing area.

THREE // Coffee Room, Prague

You know I love myself a good coffee shop. Just two weeks ago I shared about my visit to United by Blue‘s warehouse sale at their flagship store in Philly, mentioning their mission statement that promises that for every product sold, United by Blue removes one pound of trash from our world’s oceans and waterways. Who wouldn’t be for it? Coffee Room also incorporates conscious living into their concept and are involved in the Water for Cameroon project, in which the organization grows a tree for every 20CZK spent at Coffee Room. They are also unique in the fact that they have a unique food menu, which is not something you usually find at a coffee shop; a unique array of coffees perhaps, but not necessarily of food. Speaking of food, some delicious recipes I’ve found around the web are DIY floral macarons, 5 ingredient strawberry rose tarts, Hong Kong curry fish balls over ramen, and matcha Portuguese egg tarts.

FOUR // Just show up

At the end of my recap of sophomore year, I mentioned my plans for the summer. I said that “there were a few hiccups with communication so the job I ended up getting wasn’t the one that I initially applied for, but I’m excited nonetheless!” The hiccup was this: Originally I had applied to help my professor with his research with accessible text input. He got back to me and said that he’d given that job to a junior/rising senior, as the research experience would provide a good foundation for his senior thesis, which was a fair call, so instead what my professor had in mind for me was to help out with research a bit, but mostly work in the lab with technical stuff, which I was also all for. A few days later he got back to me and said that a department meeting had brought to light that they were hoping that the student they were looking for to fill that role would be a student living on Haverford’s campus, which I was not. He apologized for his miscommunication but assured me that he was excited to work with me and would help me secure a technical campus job this summer (which has turned out to be working as a Digital Scholar at Haverford’s library). He said he was excited to work with me because he remembered how persistent I was in trying to get into his Intro to Computer Science class. The class was capped so I audited it for four weeks with no promise that I would ever be officially admitted into the class, though thank goodness I eventually was. I did nothing more but show up every time. And he told me that that was the kind of person he was excited to work with. He said that there are tons of smart people out there, but this kind of drive inspires him. I hope he keeps that in mind when he’s grading my final exam. I also hope that I keep this in mind when my computer science studies get more challenging.

FIVE // Ice is slippery

The Intro to Data Structures final was rough. We finished it, or as much of it as we could within the class period, and then somberly headed to lunch. As if that wasn’t enough to dampen our mood, it was gross and raining out. The conversation at our table kept veering toward the negative even though we kept trying to pull it back up but to no avail. So because our words were failing us, we sought happiness by looking up funny online videos to watch together, and this one was my favourite. My abs got well and sore from all the laughing. Shout out to Rose for sharing this gem with us!

What has been your favourite read of the week?

PS: 08. 07. 06. 05. 04. 03. 02. 01.

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ONE // New in portfolio: Elie Saab

How awesome is it work with Elie Saab? I can only imagine. It makes me so happy to see fellow bloggers making such great things. Everything from the black and white photography to the embellished bridal gown to the logo design is so creatively inspiring. In this oversaturated industry of blogging, I always get excited when I find something that stands apart and creatively rejuvenates me. There’s lots of great content to go around, but sometimes you need to do a little something extra. Don’t just wait for inspiration. Become it. Even when you feel like no one is listening, be the lighthouse; beam out light and love. And while we’re on the topic of love, can we celebrate their one year? Their love story is like out of a movie. It kind of reminds me of One Day, but a happier version.

TWO // Teach girls bravery not perfection

My latest form of productive procrastination has been watching TED Talks. Ironically, I was watching Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator by Tim Urban and telling Kat about it when she recommended me to watch this one by Reshma Saujani, the Founder and CEO of Girls Who Code. I was especially interested in the topic of this TED Talk after having attended the Philly Women in Tech Summit two weeks ago. I definitely related to what she said about girls being socialized to be perfect rather than brave. There have been many times when I would be self-conscious or afraid or ashamed to show teachers or classmates my work in progress because I wasn’t confident with what I was producing, so much so that I’d rather show them nothing. Even now I still struggle with this. In fact, it’s often why I prefer to study for things alone rather than in groups. I wish that I had watched this TED Talk earlier, but it’s still not too late. It was really curious for me to see how lowly rated the video was on YouTube though, since I personally responded so positively to it. What do you think about it?

THREE // Hong Kong bubble egg waffle recipe

Julia showed me a place to get egg waffles in Philly’s Chinatown and it instantly became a part of my Chinatown ritual: oolong bubble milk tea from Kungfu Tea, Asian pastries from KC’s Pastries, restock on sesame soup powder, noodles from Nanzhou Hand Drawn Noodle House if it’s lunchtime, toasted coconut and sesame egg waffles from Yummy Yummy, and more bubble tea. Food at Chinatown is so hearty and affordable, but it adds up, especially if you go ham like I do. I should probably eat at the campus dining halls more than I do (or don’t) and/or make some food on my own. These bubble tea oatmeal and London fog cupcake recipes look pretty good… I can survive on a diet of sweets, right?

FOUR // You snooze, you win

Sleep is productivity! And I don’t just say that to be #relatable; I mean it! With finals coming up, it’s especially important to practice self-care and study efficiently. Taking a nap is a much better way to take a break than aimlessly scrolling down Facebook or starting another TV show on Netflix. After a nap, (ideally) you’re reenergized and refocused, which is the optimum state to be in when there is work to do. The last few weeks before the end of term can be highly stressful, so here’s a mini-guide to not being frustrated all the time. If you need more helpful resources, check out this post from my archive!

FIVE // WOOF

This video is slightly terrifying and not exactly my aesthetic but wonderful all the same.

How has your week been?

PS: 07. 06. 05. 04. 03. 02. 01.

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