work, lunch, play, repeat

Oh my goodness so far I am off to a super fun start this year! And I can't believe January is almost over!! The weather has never felt so amazing during this winter season in LA. The balance is perfect. I'm also pretty happy with my situation right now. Especially working freelance in the fashion industry because it gives me enough freedom to work on my illustrations and make time for myself. If you've been following me on IG you probably noticed some new illustration techniques I've been playing with ;). Reason why I haven't posted much trend reports lately is because I'm currently in an artist's block. {Dang Mercury Retrograde..} But that's okay because that gives me a break so that I can focus on the other things I love. I get to try new things and go out and play! Which is pretty much what I've been doing with my new favorite girl Jasmine~

We take advantage of our lunch breaks. The best part of where we both work is that our building lives in between two strip clubs. Okay... just kidding, no but it's true. But besides that we're close by everything. Little Tokyo, Chinatown, and our current favorite the LA Arts District. It's been so fun to run around like little girls discovering new things in the city. Not to mention the food... ohhh the food!

Too much fun right now! Can't get enough of it. Can't wait to work on future trend reports! I've got new tricks up my sleeve and can't wait to show you all~

xx ss

wednesday

Who does happy hour on a Wednesday with their favorite girlfriends? ...I do. Even though it seriously costed my energy { << does that makes sense? Is the grammar right for that? Lol..} for the rest of the week, I wouldn't have changed a thing. Every time we're together it's just all laughs and stories. It's just those moments that make life not so serious. We all work in the fashion industry and struggle to integrate reality and creativity to our work load every day..  And how we all met was from working together at the last company I was at. We've all become so very close ever since. I love these girls, they're definitely my other halves. Without them, I wouldn't be the happy girl I am today.

xx ss

a Beautiful Weekend

I love love this weather! It feels like summer already! We totally skipped Spring, lol. Anyway I'm starting to appreciate my free time even more now because I realize I have so little during the weekdays. I don't know if I like that.. haha. But! I'm still adjusting to this new schedule! This weekend was easy going since I had a lot of sleep to catch up on. But then of course, I had to make some time and grab some din din with one my besties! We ate at one of my faves, Umami Burger. I love that place. I decided I should treat myself to some delicious hearty & meaty foods since I've been eating vegan for lunch since I started working. Greens give me more energy throughout my days at work. I guess that's also why I've also lost a ton of weight... x(

I decided to sleep in on Saturday and work on some clean illustrations for the day. My muse this weekend was Stephanie Liu from HoneynSilk. I love her hair.. My hair would've been that long by now if I hadn't cut it two months ago but it was just putting so much weight and strain on my neck! It felt so good to chop it all off. Anyway, not everybody can make hair this long look this good. When I usually see girls with this length, it looks dirty and unmanageable. And sometimes just a mess. But this girl puts in the time and effort to make girls want to grow their hair this long. This girl can pull it off.

So I have a problem: I'm obsessed with green tea anything. Too much green tea here.. too much. I love it. Green tea and great talks and good advice from the bestie. The fashion industry, the drama, blablabla, and life and its surprises. What I love about meeting up with each and every one of my friends is that at some point in our convos we both realize that everything we do and aim for has been a work in progress. When we reflect, we realize that from the last time we met up, we've accomplished something good and it's made us happy. I love hearing their stories of accomplishments and sharing my own experiences as well. It just shows how we're able to create exactly the lives that we want. I love my friends <3

My Asian selfie to end the weekend. I don't like doing selfies, and I shouldn't be doing them, lol. Hope you all have a good week ahead of you! Think happy thoughts!

xx ss

girl talk

I had such a lovely Sunday yesterday sharing yummy lattes with a bestie at Urth Caffe. I got much too much green tea goodies though. But I was craving it.. I love catching up with a friend.. love, love. I just get great advice. We shared lots of great stories, laughs, major goals for the year, and marketing tips for business which made our conversation more worthwhile. Yesterday she inspired and motivated me to rework my illustration style. And that's today's scribble.

Thanks, Brenda <3

xx ss

Burning Man Meeting

Attended my first meeting with friends for probably the biggest event for all of us this summer, Burning Man. Wow wow wow so much to plan in advance...! I mean, I've never been to major events like these, I haven't even done Coachella or EDC lol {what's that like?}. Apparently this is really taking it to the next level because I'll be spending a week in the middle of the desert living like a hippie.. literally! There's no hotels, no shops, convenience stores, roads, - just sand, people, music, and art. Oh, and you gotta educate yourself on Survival 101 because there's nothing and nowhere to spend your money on for supplies. Crazy, huh? So that's why we had this major meeting.

So of course it's a bit scary, but what an experience that would be! To be stripped from all of your connection to the world {no cellphones, minimal connection} and be stranded in the desert for days only to change your perspective on life and learn to be in the moment. It's a spiritual experience I think. Which is why I'm going :)

So I've jotted down a couple of notes that I thought were important. Just so you know, I had a much bigger list than this - 4 pages long! I just wanted to list the essentials, things I need to work towards.. especially COSTUMES! Weeee the best part! I was so excited after our meeting that I had to start sketching out some ideas and themes right away.

Thankfully I have costumes saved from my Bollywood and Bellydance classes that I can reuse again :) I've already started shopping for fun pieces to wear like my Triangl bathing suit and coin bras! Oh, another thing I've had to keep in mind was to bring anything and wear anything you don't mind getting f*cked up from the desert sand.. the sand texture is so fine that it will get into everything and anything you have.. so I gotta go light and cheap!

What I'm also looking forward to is all the art, activities, and theme camps to participate in! Apparently everyone there all dress up wildly and beyond which is so exciting for me because I'm going to document, photograph, and sketch everything that inspires me :)

"I'll be spending a week in the middle of the desert living like a hippie.. literally! There's no hotels, no shops, convenience stores, roads, - just sand, people, music, and art."

I've never looked forward to anything this big in forever. I know this experience is going to be epic. Here's to summer fun!

xx,

SS