Thank Your Lucky Stars

    


      It's that time of the year again. December is always bittersweet for me - it's the month of holiday decorations and Christmas carols, of warm hugs and hot chocolate, the month of reflection and gratitude, the month that wraps up the year to an end. December is an emotional roller coaster for me. One moment I'm skipping down the street soaking in every bit of the glittering holiday lights and feeling like a child again, feeling like nothing in the world could bring me down. And the next, I'm sitting in my room alone, thinking deeply about how productive my year was and wondering if I'm ready for adulthood, ready to take on a new year, ready to leave 2016. 


2017. Twenty-seventeen will be a big year for me. I remember going into first year of university and thinking that 2017, my graduation year, was a long way to go. 
But here I am, standing in the doorway of 2017. That went by so crazy fast. What happened? Well, a lot happened haha. But is this how I wanted it to end? Did I fulfill what I wanted to during these 4 years? I don't know. I can definitely point out a lot of the mistakes I made, a lot of things I regret not doing. A lot of things I wish I had done. But I also have many, many amazing memories and achievements that I will never let go of. But I think I sometimes get too caught up in what I failed at, and forget to give my good aspects of life enough attention. But December always reminds me to be thankful, to be grateful of what I have, to reflect on what I've done. Of course this is something that should happen every month of the year, but it's hard. It really is. We get so caught up in life that we forget to be thankful of the little things. 

     So, I decided to write a little gratitude and reflection post for 2016. 2016 was quite an event-filled year for me of both highs and lows. But I'll try and focus on the highs.


Friends. 2016 was a year of new friendships for me. That's one thing that comes to mind first. Friends come and go. But I don't believe that you need to constantly hang out with someone to be considered a friend. The friends I surrounded myself in in first year - the friends I spent almost every day with - I barely see them anymore. But that doesn't mean I don't care for them. We just split ways and made new friend groups, but when we do meet up once in a while, it's like back to first year. 
       And I'm grateful to have friends like that. Ones I know will be there for me even if we barely see each other. And trust me, I'm also there for you no matter what. But, this is another topic that I could go on forever with. So back to 2016. Towards the start of 2016, I met some amazing people who I can now call my closest friends. It's crazy how things unfold. I honestly never would have thought this to happen. But that's how life works, right? And I'm honestly so so so thankful for them, so grateful that I met these people. 
And then there are the people who I knew before 2016 that I was never really that close to, but became much closer to this year. It's interesting how things change. And I'm so thankful for whatever reason, whatever event it was that led us to become closer friends. 


Family. It's tradition for families to get together and celebrate Christmas/the holidays/the end of a year. They come together and share stories and bond over delicious home cooked meals. But family is a touchy topic for me. I, for one, have never experienced that typical family holiday gathering. My family doesn't really get together for a multiple reasons, but here's two main ones. One, my mum's side are all in Japan and my father's are mostly in China. Two, my parents don't get along. They've never gotten along from as far as I could remember. So to me, it's not like it was a big change. My parents weren't lovey-dovey and then divorced. I never experienced that transition, which I guess I could say I'm thankful for because it must be terrible to go through as a child - to see your family change that much. But for me, it was a bit different. For the entirety of my childhood, I actually thought it was normal for parents to sleep in different rooms, on different floors. All parents had their own room, right? But of course I eventually learned that wasn't the case after visiting my friends' houses and seeing my friends' parents hold hands, seeing them kiss. I still joke how I thought it was abnormal and icky that other parents did that hahaha. But I just didn't grow up to that. I never experienced it at home so it was, to be honest, foreign to me. What I was used to was hearing my parents argue every second night while I pretended to sleep, and listen to them complain about each other as I try to hold in my tears. So, not surprisingly, we never really had family gatherings. But of course, I'm still grateful for them. Although they weren't the best of role models, they still cared for me in their own ways and loved me. That I know for sure. And I don't think I turned out too bad, right? Haha. But I need to thank my friends for that. There were so many times I've cried myself to sleep and if not for my friends at school, I probably wouldn't bother waking up. And I'm thankful for those who listen to my rants, because honestly I need to let it out sometimes. And it feels so much better getting everything out of my system, with the comfort of a friend. 
      So yea, Christmas is bittersweet for me. Everyone is with their families and it sometimes just makes me wonder what it would be like, how different my life would be, if my parents loved each other. It makes me want to experience that huge family gathering, the large dining table overfilled with plates of food and the room echo-ing with laughter and fun talks. To me, it's more like a scene from a movie than reality. 


School. Ah, school. Graduation is creeping up on me at a terrifying speed. Do I know what I'm doing after I graduate? No, not really. Did that mean I wasted my four years of undergrad? Well, I sure as hell hope not. Although I might not be too sure about what I'm doing after I graduate, I think it's alright (who am I kidding, I have panic attacks thinking of what I'm going to do LOL). But whenever I get really worried, I try to stop and remind myself that it's alright. It's alright to take it slow. You just had 4 years of gruelling school filled with all-nighters and cramming, that 1 year to just take it slow is OK, no?  Well, that's what I think at least. Of course, for those of you who know exactly what you're doing, that's amazing. Graduate, and get right to it. But I also think it's fine to step back and take a break if you aren't one of those people. Yes, I'm considering grad school but I don't see the point in applying yet if I don't know what exactly I want to go for. I think, considering the amount of time, money, effort that goes into grad school, you should be putting in a LOT of consideration of what you're going in for. If you're not sure, then take the time to find out! Despite me always complaining to my friends that we're so old, I do truly think that our career, something that pretty much takes the majority of your life, can wait the 1 or 2 year break. Explore and try new things. Go discover yourself, because let's be real. It's sometimes hard to do that in school. 
      On the topic of trying new things, I tried really hard to make this last year of undergrad count. This past summer, I interned at a hospital, helping and observing special needs children in the pediatric/psychology department. I also worked hard on my blog this year, because who knows. Maybe I can transition my love for fashion and blogging hobby into a career? I also started and founded a new club at my school to experience creating and managing a team, an organization, from scratch. I think a lot of us don't acknowledge our achievements because we're scared it'll make us sound cocky. But there is a fine line between proud and cocky. I'm always so harsh on myself (shout-out to my Asian father with ridiculous standards haha) but I think I deserve to be proud of myself once in a while. We all do. 

     And I guess I just want to end by saying Thank your lucky stars, because we all have them. Take this month, take the remaining few weeks of 2016, to be grateful for everything you have, and to acknowledge your achievements. We have so much to be thankful for. 


2016, thank you. 


Love, 
Lena

~~~~~~~~~~~

Photographer: Clement Cheng (IG: @clemango)

Three Ways to Style A Maxi Dress


I recently bought this simple maxi dress from Calvin Klein and I absolutely looove how versatile it is! Maxi dresses like these are great for the summer for wearing on its own, but when the chilly autumn weather starts rolling in, it gets a little too cold for that. So, I decided to share a few of my favourite ways to style maxi dresses so that you can keep wearing them even after summer ends! 

For my first look, I paired the dress with a short-sleeved mock neck cream shirt with black booties. I also added a simple necklace because I find that the chest area can look a little empty. 
Layering a shirt under a spaghetti strap dress is one of my favourite combinations. I find that it just looks so cute and girly! 


 For those days that are a little too chilly to wear short-sleeves, you can simply switch it up for a long-sleeved turtleneck! Because it's going under a dress, I recommend that the sweater be lightweight and not too thick, or else it just looks too bulky. Here I'm wearing a thin black turtleneck sweater that works perfectly with the dress. 



For a more dressy, night-out look, pair the dress with a lace bralette and top it with a leather jacket! And to finish the look, I always like to add a choker :) 


Put on some heels and you're ready to head out! 


And there you have it! Three fun ways to vamp up a simple maxi dress :) Hope you like them as much as I do! 

Love,
Lena 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Outfit Details

Outfit 1
Dress: Calvin Klein
Shirt: Mendocino 
Boots: Urban Outfitters

Outfit 2
Dress: Calvin Klein
Shirt: Banana Republic 
Boots: Vagabond

Outfit 3
Dress: Calvin Klein
Bralette: Aritzia 
Jacket: Zara
Shoes: Steve Madden


Lip Monthly Unboxing - Oct 2016


Hey guys!

For the month of October, LipMonthly sent us these super pretty red fall leaf pouches. It included 4 different full size lip products that we have swatched and reviewed below. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Keep reading, because we both have discount codes for your first purchase!



October LipMonthly Includes: 

Cargo Lipgloss in Sahara
Hikari Lipstick in Romance 
Be a Bombshell Lipstick in Charmed 
Laritzy lipliner in Deep Orchid 

Cargo Lipgloss in Sahara

A glittery peachy nude lip gloss. Doesn't have a particular smell but a light fragrance of what a typical lip gloss would smell like. Applied on, there isn't much colour, but definitely adds a sparkle! We would recommend using this on top of a lipstick versus by itself. The texture is a bit sticky, but manageable. 


Hikari Lipstick in Romance 

This lipstick shade is a peachy pink, and goes really well with the Cargo lip gloss. The lipstick is neither moisturizing, nor drying. However, it is leaning more on the sheer side and requires multiple swatches to get the opacity in the photo. We did notice that the lipstick fades after an hour or so. Although its consistency and lasting-ness might not be the best, it's a great everyday shade we can see ourselves wearing! 

Top swatch: Hikari Lipstick
Bottom swatch: Hikari Lipstick with Cargo Lip gloss on top (looks so cute together!)

Be a Bombshell Lipstick in Charmed 

The lipstick we were most afraid of was definitely the Be a Bombshell lipstick in Charmed. Out of the bullet, the lipstick appears brown, however on the lips its a very orange-y warm brown and was actually really flattering! The formula was a bit sheer and wasn't opaque in one swipe and was neither moisturizing nor drying.


Laritzy lipliner in Deep Orchid 

For a lipliner, we felt that the Laritzy Deep Orchid was very creamy! It is super pigmented and leans more purple than plum. We wouldn't hesitate actually just using this lipliner by itself, but it would also work great as a base. 


Did you enjoy any of these products? We can't wait for next month's bag, we'll be reviewing them again! 


Promo Codes:
Use "JIANING" or "LENA55" for 55% off your first Lip Monthly purchase! 



Love, 

Jay & Lena





Fall Fashion


Fall (noun): the favourite season for the fashion world. 
But actually though, fall has got to be my favourite season when it comes to choosing an outfit. It's chilly enough to layer comfortably, but not cold to the point where nothing even matters because a large marshmallow-like jacket covers up everything.
 I absolutely love layering because it lets you style clothes in so many different, fun ways. 


Another great thing about fall is the trench coat. Trench coats are one of my favourite coats. They are just so classy and timeless. 


Here's a close-up of my new pair of heels I got from Charles and Keith! I am in love with the clear/gradient heels. Every girl needs a pair of simple black heels because I find they go together so well with fall outfits. 


Ah, the blanket scarf. Who could forget those? I am obsessed with blanket scarves and fall is the perfect weather to bring them out. When it's not too cold, a blanket scarf works great in place of a coat! Wrap it around you like a shawl and you're good to go. 



Here's another look I put together that's great for the fall. I don't usually wear neutral beige tones, but autumn is the one exception. I think it just looks so nice with the colourful leaves and fall atmosphere!




OUTFIT DETAILS

1
Trench coat: Burberry 
Jeans: Zara
Shoes: Charles and Keith 
Shirt: H&M

2
Shirt: H&M
Jeans: Zara
Boots: Call It Spring
Scarf: Zara

3
Trench Coat: from Tokyo
Dress: Brandy Melville 
Boots: Zara
Scarf: Burberry 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Love, 
             Lena 



Hair Experience at N15 Salon Toronto



I love the front of the salon - you can really tell they put in effort with the decor. 


(The entrance)


The waiting area is filled with different types of magazines such as ViVi, Vogue, Ray, to give you inspiration for your hair :)

 As I was waiting for my appointment to start, I was able to briefly meet Jessie, the co-owner of N15 (Hiroki is the head stylist and the other co-owner). She explained to me that she was actually a client of Hiroki's for 5 years before she offered to start a salon with him. N15 actually stands for November 15, the day they decided to partner up! :)
Personally, I was searching for a new salon, and on almost all of the Yelp comments regarding Japanese hair salons mentioned Hiroki. When I saw that the head stylist was called Hiroki, I was positive that he had opened a salon and quickly made an appointment.


This was actually the second time I visited N15. The first time I went for my partial highlight consultation, and for a hair cut. Jun was in charge of my hair. He's extremely funny and talented in hair cutting.

 The consultation only took around 10 minutes, and Jun discussed pricing, colors, how thin/thick I wanted my highlights and differences in my hair vs the picture I showed him. I told Jun that I wanted ashy brown natural highlights. I highly recommend bringing in a picture regardless of if you're getting a cut or color.
  A couple of days later I came back for the actual highlighting process.



(Jun foiling my hair)


(Jessie kindly brought me tea while I was waiting)

After: 


(Taken the day of - at the salon)
(Taken at a couple of days later - outside natural lighting)

Tada! My hair! Jun also color corrected my previous highlights I got done in China over the summer (they were really chunky and bad...) He added delicate highlights and a slight purple and blue hint to make it more ashy :) The entire process took around 3 hours (for the highlights) and around 45 minutes for the haircut. It really didn't feel like a long time because I was able to chat with my stylist and also go on Facebook and Instagram with their wifi! 

All in all, I must say that I will be returning frequently for hair cuts and for touch ups on my color! Ultimately, for it me it came down to having a stylist that I could commit to long term, and knowing that they will do a great job with my hair. N15 delivered, and I completely trust my hair with them!The entire staff's really nice and makes you feel really welcomed and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone. 

Also, if you show them that you follow my instagram (@jayyangg) you will receive a 20% off all services for your first time there <3 



Find them at: 

N15: 
North of Bay and College street (Toronto, ON)

Find me at: 


*Disclaimer: I was not sponsored to write any of this post. They are my own thoughts and how I genuinely feel about the salon! :) thank you!


Love,
Jay