A Frugal Guide to Eating at the Airport

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As I walk around the airport this morning, I am looking at $12 sandwiches and $4 orange juice. Let’s take a minute to process this. Do not get me wrong – if the orange juice life changing, I would buy orange juice for $4. However, the food and drinks are honestly no better than the food you can achieve at home or at the store. That is what is so crazy to me! In order to combat this issue, here are a few tips that I gathered that could be helpful if you find yourself hungry at the airport.

Skip the Drinks, Ask for Water! If that costs money, go to Starbucks.

The goal here is to fill your stomach, not to indulge in soft drinks, wine, juices, smoothies, etc. Instead of ordering a drink with your meal or item, try to ask the cashier for a “cup of water.” If you looking into the case of drinks, you will find water… but a water bottle that costs $4 like the orange juice. From my experience with several kinds of eateries at several different airports, I would say there is a high chance of vendors even charging for a cup of water! If this is the case, you walk yourself to the nearest Starbucks (which should not be a problem if you are at any large airport) and ask for a venti water. Starbucks does not charge for water! Get you some, girl!

If you have time… price check and compare.

Sounds time-consuming, right? The crazy coupon ladies that save $300 on groceries also take some time to do their magic. Keep that in mind! Try to price check similar food items at all of the different vendors in your area. For example, this morning I ordered a blueberry muffin at Einstein Brothers. Later on, after my muffin, I walked to my gate and guess what I found? A cheaper muffin. Rookie mistake, but I am writing this post to help all of you! Price check, price check, price check.

Convenient stores and bookstores are your friends!

Instead of going to a restaurant or a made-to-order vendor, go to the nearest bookstore or convenient store in the airport. You know the ones I am talking about – the store with the books, magazines, Advil, snacks, and tourist items? These stores will have a bigger portion of food for a smaller price. If you are not in the mood for a meal, I HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest making your way to these types of stores for a bag of pretzels or a fruit and nut mix. Does the job and does not make you feel bloated or overwhelmed with a number of things you need to carry on the place.

Prepare snacks AT HOME.

I have no idea why people do not realize this. You are able to take food with you through security guys! Just because the liquids are limited, does not mean the food is limited. You could pick up a large plate a Mexican restaurant and even bring it inside to eat. I personally pack cookies, granola bars, and other snacks to kill the hunger if I am stuck in the plane.

That’s all I have for you guys! Please travel safely!

Practical 2017 Goals List

After years and years of resolutions, I feel like I work better with a list of goals rather than ONE resolution that I consistently have to maintain. That way, when one of the goals is completed I can check it off my list and start working towards the next one. I DO NOT want to be stuck with a list that is so “out there” that I cannot seem to find one goal I can complete. So, this is my “practical” goals list!

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1. Take a SoulCycle class

2. Cook one meal that is completely vegan (even though I LOVE cheese and I LOVE meat)

3. Get my “adult resumé” together Complete an entire year in my Project Life

4. Complete an entire year in my Project LifeGo to a theme park. I miss roller coasters!

5. Go to a theme park. I miss roller coasters!

6. Make BIG progress on my Postcard Project

7. Start creating my family cookbook

8. Visit Austin

9. Find a new TV series to obsess over

10. Take more pictures and videos to document my memories

11. Include more spontaneity into my life

12. Be able to do three pull-ups

13. Try to support more local businesses in my town

14. Write all the way through my current journal instead of buying a new journal before I finish

15. Find a service project for my family, my friend, or my boyfriend to do with me

16. Attend a slam poetry nightKaraoke in China Town

17. Karaoke in China Town

18. Pay for someone behind me in a drive-thru line

19. Go to a drive-in movie

20. Buy something from Urban Outfitters for full price because I always find all of my clothes/knick-knacks in the sale section

 

Christmas Around the World

(The Bellagio, Las Vegas)

It is pretty much a family tradition to travel during Christmas time. Many of our Christmas nights are spent on a plane because the flights are always super empty wherever we choose to go. A large portion of my family lived in Hawaii, so that was our go-to destination. This year, however, I have tons of aunties and uncles AND my grandparents living in Texas to celebrate now. I am very excited to spend Christmas with them and celebrate my favorite holiday with my big, loud family. To fill the traveling itch, (even though I probably am flying somewhere by myself after Christmas) I listed a few super cool places to fly to during the joyful season.

Frankfurt, Germany

It seems like Germany is known for their Christmas markets. Just Pinterest “Germany Christmas Markets” and you will go nuts. Speaking of nuts…. the Frankfurt Market has tons of food to purchase while you are practically slapped in the face with Christmas cheer. Nothing screams “I love Christmas” than a Christmas Markets. Even urban districts of Houston have cheery Christmas Markets. Just imagine Germany!

Somerset House, London

I had once had dreams of being an Olympic ice skater, haha. Somerset House, which is known for showcasing many talented artists, holds Skate at Somerset House – a huge ice rink for the public to skate. The museum hosts food vendors, little events and clubs for the kiddos, and Club Nights with live DJ’s a night. What a cool way to spend your holiday season.

Kuwana City, Japan

The Winter Light Festival in Kuwana City uses over 7 million LED lights to create this fabulous tourist attraction. In most large cities in the US,  there are often light festivals happening at the zoo or in town somewhere. Think of your local Zoo Lights times a million and that is what the Winter Light Festival looks like. Imagine what beautiful pictures you could take at this place.

Sao Paolo, Brazil

Let’s turn the lights down a little bit. Sao Paolo has this huge Christmas tree during Christmas time that has 600,000 lights on it. There is also a lighting ceremony that travelers and locals can attend. The lights are animated and can be flashed in tons of different variations. You can celebrate Christmas while diving into the rich Brazilian culture.

Does this give you any ideas? Comment your cool winter destination!

Let the Adventures Begin!

Hello, lovelies! If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I am an avid traveler! I go on trips throughout the United States at least a few times a year. However, I have NEVER left the country. Crazy, right? With my flight benefits and all of the opportunities I am given to go out of the country, I felt like it was about time to file for my passport.

Normally, it takes about six weeks to get your passport in the mail once it is submitted… and after tons of paperwork and consistently checking the mail, I found this beauty!!

Buy/Receive my passport

That means one more thing is checked off of “The List.” Now I feel like I need to travel ahh! I know traveling out of the country is a lot of work and preparation, but I am so excited that more doors are opened now that I have my passport. Let’s see where this takes us (and yes,us, since I will post all of my travel updates on my blog)! Let the adventures begin ✈️

December Playlist

Even though I spend a good amount of my driving time listening to Ariana Grande’s “Christmas and Chill” or Sam Smith’s rendition of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” I need a break from the holiday music sometimes! I put together a small playlist of new music that I am loving lately. The genres are different for each song, it feels like, but nonetheless this playlist will give you that musical break you’re looking for.

Burn Break Crash by Aanysa and Snakehips – A summer electronica song that screams fun and dance. I can just picture a summer video log of best friends at the beach when listening to this one!

My Favorite Part by Mac Miller and Ariana Grande – A jazzy love song that my ears love. The two are in a relationship in real life and I love their chemistry. The visuals of this video are so nice too.

What’s Going On (Cover) by Allen Stone – What first attracted me to the song was the acoustics and chord progression behind Allen Stone’s rendition. Such a classic Marvin Gaye song, too, sung by an incredible, incredible artist. Perfection in a song.

Up There by Post Malone – This is a complete surprise if you are familiar with Post Malone’s popular songs. The vibes of this song are crazy fitting to late night flights or night drives. His new album “Stoney” has a good theme of this kind of sound if you like it!

Die Trying by Michl – Another song with good vibes. I do not listen to much of this genre of music, but this song is insane. Gave me straight chills straight off the bat!

You Don’t Know by Tank (ft. Wale) – And of course a song to satisfy the hip-hop/R&B craving! I have always been a fan of both Tank and Wale so I knew this song would be a hit. Tank’s vocals in this song work so well with the backtrack.

Girl Boss Gift Guide

We all know this girl – the one who seems to have every aspect of her life together, who is constantly busy, and who kicks ass at what she does. Girl Bosses are everywhere! Are you a girl boss or do you know a girl boss? This is a perfect gift guide for the girl who works hard and who is doing everything in her power to reach her goals.

A LARGE Notebook is a must have for a girl boss. She is busy and taking names, so what better way to treat a Girl Boss than to buy her something she uses daily. You can opt for a cute, feminine design. I love gold foil, so naturally I would recommend something with gold foil all around it. White Cabana Striped Notebook, $18

Hand Cream is great for any girl that does a lot with her hands. These can be college students, teachers, office workers, business women, nurses, doctors, etc. This cutie hand cream is in the travel size section of Sephora and fits well into any purse. I personally use this brand’s hand cream, and it keeps my hands smooth and moisturized throughout the day without a greasy film like the rest of the hand creams give you. It’s Skin Mini Bebe Hand Cream, $5

Heels are not only a closet staple but also a confidence booster! When I wear heels, I automatically feel like my outfit is so much better. For a girl boss, it might be required to wear heels at her workplace so I would suggest a shorter heel. Beauty takes pain I know, but your feet and back will strain less with a shorter, more stable heel. Couldn’t find the link to this Steve Madden shoe! This is a similar one – Louise et Cie Kota Ankle Strap Pump, $1oo

Insulated Water Bottles keep your daily water intake cold throughout the day and is great for the environment. Busy, busy girls also may not have the time or the money to buy a cold water bottle whenever she feels thirsty. These bottles in particular are so sleek and are comparable to Hydroflask and Yeti manufacturing. S’well Onyx Water Bottle, $35

Sunglasses are a great stocking stuffer for any girl, girl boss or not. If you are in mood to splurge on a pair of sunglasses, I suggest Quay. They make super cute styles and many will double-take when passing you because most of the styles make a statement. Quay Australia High Key Gold Sunglasses, $60

A Fashion Watch would be great as a statement piece. This gift is not only practical but also stylish. Busy girls, like myself, work on a hour-to-hour basis. No time should be wasted! A watch that’s as cute as this one will for sure help to keep your daily schedule throughout the day. BP Roundface Watch, $25

What’s a LLR gift guide without a planner? All of the girl bosses I know keep a planner religiously. But since a new year is approaching, a new pretty planner would be the absolute perfect gift. The Happy Planner, specifically, is great because the pages can be pulled out and cinched back in at any time. There are also covers, sticker books, and other accessories that you could buy as well! Create 365 Happy Planner Make Things Happen, $14

Last but not least, a Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick would be ideal to a girl with a busy schedule. Currently, liquid lipstick are the BIGGEST trend in make up. Every high end brand has a form of liquid lipstick, so you gift givers should have no problem picking one out! I suggest either going for an everyday nude shade or a bold, dark lip shade for the winter. Tarteist Quick Dry Matte Lip Paint in Fortune, $20

If you are interested in what other products or pieces are my favorite, I should be posting a favorites post very soon. If you have any other blog post suggestions or gifts that you found helpful, comment them below or message me on any one of my social media platforms. Happy Christmas shopping loves!

Christmas Tag

While browsing around the blogger community, I came across the Christmas Tag on My Life as Marina’s blog. I fell in love with it! If you do not know, Christmas wins in the “favorite holiday” category by a LANDSLIDE. Everything about it makes me gush with joy and sing! What’s a better way to start off the Christmas season than answering some questions about Christmas? Here’s the tag! Christmas is quickly approaching….here are my answers –

1. What is your favorite Christmas film?
Elf, a billion times Elf! This movie screams Christmas even in the middle of July. I thought the concept of the movie was quite interesting and the humor to be absolutely HILARIOUS. If you have not watched it yet, please do.

 

2. Have you ever had a White Christmas?

When I think about it, I don’t think I have. There was a year or two where it “snowed” around the Christmas season, but never on Christmas day! I normally have the complete opposite – Christmas on the beach! Eventually, I want to experience the magic of a White Christmas.

3. Where do you usually spend your holiday?

At my house with my family. When we first moved to Texas, our family learned how to have a great Christmas with JUST us. Now, I have tons of cousins, aunties, uncles, and my grandparents here to celebrate the holiday season with me. Since my love takes leave for the holidays every year, I also have the blessing of spending Christmas with him!

4. What is your favorite Christmas song?

“Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” – this has been a fairly recent favorite. I am absolutely in love with Ariana Grande and Liz Gillies version. The entire song makes me want to gather around the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa.

5. Do you open any presents on Christmas eve?

Now we do! My family goes to Christmas Eve Mass and it is now a tradition to open one small present before we head to bed. Last year we got a little carried away and opened up all of them, but in most years it is just one present!

6. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen… Rudolph

7. Is your Christmas tree real or fake?

Fake! To be really boring about it, I think fake trees are so cost effective. I would not want to spend money on a tree and dealing with it dying. Also, real trees drop their needles constantly which can really mess up the house.  I love my fake Christmas tree!

8. What is your all time favorite holiday food/sweet treat?

Chocolate Chip Cookies. Another talent I have is to eat an embarrassing amount of chocolate chip cookies at one time. The cookies were given to Santa as a child, but now I would probably sneak in the middle of the night to grab the cookies and eat them for myself (sorry, not sorry)!

9. What would be your dream place to visit for the holiday season?
I think Germany would be really cool. I have been watching too much of the Almost Daily vlogs and it makes me love Germany more and more. I think the German culture and architecture is beautiful. Plus, the weather is very chilly which gives you the opportunity to bundle up.

10. Are you a pro-present wrapper, or do you fail miserably?

This question… I was just thinking about it today as I was wrapping one of my boyfriend’s Christmas presents. I think I am half and half depending on the day. One day I will wrap presents with perfect lines and no struggle. Then, another day (a.k.a TODAY) I will fairly miserably at even wrapping the paper around a box. The love makes up for the ugly wrapping-job.

 

11. Be honest: do you like giving gifts or receiving gifts better?

This might sound cliché… I love GIVING. I smile from ear to ear when I  am shopping for others and wrapping their presents. The anticipation of “will he/she like it” is exciting to me! Don’t get me wrong, I truly love receiving gifts as well!

12. What makes the holiday special for you?

#1 – The Family Time. This type of year is just filled with a lot of singing, laughs, and warm feelings. The traditions mean the world to me and just spending time with good food with the people I love is everything I could ask for, honestly. #2 – Anniversary/Love Things. Kekoa and I’s anniversary is on the 27th of December, just two days off of Christmas. Another great reason why I love this time of year.

 

And there you go! I hope you enjoyed my answers. Please try to use this tag on your personal blog. I would love to read all of your answers!

Papercraft Explosion: How I Got My Project Life Album For $5 + Happy Planner Redesign

This past Sunday, I got two new and exciting goodies for my two running papercraft projects:

Project Life Black Leather Album

About a week ago, I posted an update on my new papercraft project, Project Life! On my wishlist, I included obviously a Project Life album to house my upcoming 2017 spreads. Let me tell you, those albums are EXPENSIVE. Yes, $40 may not seem like a lot to you – but as a poor college student IT IS. I did not want to spend full price on an album online or in-store so I looked for other options from third parties and online. After church, I was welcomed with a canvas Michaels Bag and a gift card with $10 credit! CRAZY right? So by that time, I was destined to buy something for myself and my papercraft projects. After a long time thinking about my Project Life and the look I wanted to go for, I decided to opt for a Recollections Black Leather D-Ring 12×12 Album. This album is super cute and simple. Plus, it came with 10 12×12 pocket pages.

“It’s Your Year” Happy Planner Cover

After a bigger purchase, I normally stop myself from purchasing anything extra from Michaels. But as always, I decided to browse the Happy Planner section since my location just started selling the 2017 editions. Then I saw this beauty, the Classic Happy Planner Decorative Covers Set! My new Happy Planner cover came in a set of three. All three of the designs are wonderful and come with a front cover and a matching back cover. You can click the link above to see the two other designs. I FELL IN LOVE with this design because of the pastel watercolors and the gold foiling. I’ve already gotten many compliments on it and this cover came at the right time. I mainly bought my 18-Month Happy Planner for the inside colors and design, not really for the floral cover. This set made it all worth while!

Pricing

Originally, the album was $29.99 and the cover set was $7.99. All Happy Planner supplies were on sale that day, so the price for the cover set reduced to $3.99. I scanned the 50% one regular priced item coupon in my Michaels weekly email. This took $15.00 off of the album, leaving the album at $15.00. The total plus tax as 20.55 and I used the $10 gift card I received at the door to reduce the price  to $10.55. Overall, the album was:

$29.99 – $15.00 = $14.99- $10.00 = $4.99!

Great deal right! I know i’m such an old lady with my coupons, but a $5 Leather Project Life album is a deal I could not lose out on! I hope this inspires all of you to use your coupons and search for the best deals on your papercraft projects. Having money in your wallet left over makes the process a lot more fun. Have y’all found any good deals lately? Comment and share what kind of deals you got this Black Friday/Holiday season!

I Am Thankful For…

Happy Thanksgiving lovelies! This holiday season was quite a fun experience. I had a BIG Thanksgiving dinner with my family, a last-minute, late-night Black Friday experience, my first Black Friday retail shift, and a lot of heartwarming conversations with the love of my life. This Thanksgiving was all that I could ask for honestly and I hope you all had the same.

In spirits of Thanksgiving, I decided to tell you 15 things I am thankful for. These are things that are beside the conventional “my family, my boyfriend, the food, my life, and so on.”

• The view and the warm, cozy bed I get to wake up to every morning
• The goosebumps I feel when the Holy Spirit surrounds me
• Being able to document the great, wonderful experiences in my life
• Strawberries and sugar (my favorite snack) 😉
• Being able to talk to my best friend in South Dakota whenever I want
• The new fit lifestyle I started this summer. Not totally committed to it, but I am for sure getting there
• 24K Magic Album that has been in my ears from the day it was released
• Making 100’s on two papers I totally did not put effort in
• All of the standby plane seats I luckily sat in this year
• Being able to reinvent my look by cutting my hair, wearing new clothes, changing my makeup routine
• Having the luxury to spend a whole sick day watching Netflix in the dark
• The $38 dollar Kate Spade wallet I hauled to the outlet mall to get. The original price was $119! What a steal!
• The 9-hour Black Friday shift and the praise I was given after for my hard work
• Having a loving heart and the people that tell me when they feel it
• The “aha” faith and life moments I have gotten this year. There have been so many!

Washington D.C. Travel Diary

I have been on the longest blog hiatus of my life! I am so sorry for all the people who love to read my blog and see what i’m up to, especially the ones overseas. Hopefully, you have all been keeping up to date on my Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat! This blog post is well overdue since it’s been over a week since my trip to D.C. I had a blast guys! Kekoa and I have been planning for months to travel to another state or city. We finally put those plans to fruition, and this is the product! Took only three hours to get there, a lot of the attractions are free, and the food was pretty great. Such a great weekend getaway.

Btw, we visited the weekend before the election! We HAD to visit the capitol while Obama was still in office!

Also, another one off the list:

Ride a subway for the first time

The underground transportation there in D.C. was super fast and cheap! Definitely our favorite way to get around to all of the attractions.

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As I say everytime, thank you my love for taking me to this beautiful place. You’re my favorite traveling partner and I can’t wait to travel the world with you. To my viewers, please keep an eye open for more blog posts in the near future. Just a million more papers to write, and i’ll be done with semester! Be patient with me! Everyone have a great day today and make sure to comment your favorite place to travel. See y’all soon!