Inner Self Blog Challenge: Transparency

I was so inspired by a blog challenge sparked up by Jess Constable's brave post, "Things I'm Afraid to Tell You." Fifty participants introduced by Creature Comforts took on the challenge of true honesty and transparency, which makes me sound redundant, but in the blog world, no matter how controversial or personal bloggers can get, there is still, quoting Creature Comforts, a "vast cavern between true reality and the presentation of 'reality' on blogs."

That being said, I'd like to try and take on that challenge and hopefully make the world of blogging a more honest and open place in this crazy world of the interwebz...

Things I'm Afraid to Tell You

• I may be the most well-rounded, lost person in the world. Before I realized that the academe was my calling, I lived my entire professional life jumping from one type of job to the next, from human resources to copy writing to marketing and even teaching English as a second language. After that five-year stint of confusion, I jumped into yet another world and worked on becoming a nurse, then a doctor, then a physician's assistant, then an acupuncturist.
• I'm still not sure, even when I feel like I'm at my most certain when it comes to career choices. It scares me, sometimes, that maybe I'm not cut out to be a teacher either. It scares me because I don't know what else to do other than to work in a classroom, and who else to be other than to be a teacher.
• I'm scared of gaining weight. I always come off as someone who couldn't care less about her appearance, and someone who is also highly critical of media's standards on weight. But in truth, I have a fear of breaking that standard myself.
• I have no place to be highly critical of other people's writing, but I do it anyway. I whine about bad grammar when I stumble many times myself. I complain about non-originality when I know for sure people couldn't care less for most of my posts. And the hypocrisy goes on...
• I enjoyed the Twilight series, and I'm passing on my book set to my future kids because I know they would enjoy it, too. No matter how truly badly written it was.
• I want kids, and I want to have them soon.

I'm sure I have more to say, but I want to keep this first post short and not too overwhelming. That being said, I hope that whoever takes on this challenge -- and I am challenging all my fellow bloggers to do the same -- would not only make this whole transparency thing a one-time thing on our blogs, but a potential habit. I find that vulnerability makes this whole business of blogging, not just a business, but a meaningful endeavor for both yourself as a writer, and for your readers as well.

Giving My Inner Beach Girl a High Five

I posted this picture on Instagram (follow me: wearebiology) and thought that I should blog about how I came up with this hairstyle that I am currently obsessed with.

I got the idea from YouTube beauty guru, missglamorazzi, who did an awesome tutorial on what she called No-Heat Summer Waves, which is precisely what it is: a safe, all-natural way to achieve these lazy, beachy waves perfect for the spring and summer.

Here's how I did it!

Start with damp hair!

After washing my hair last night, I let it sit for a while inside my 'towel turban' while I did the rest of my night routine (i.e., lotion, brush teeth, skin care routine, etc). After about fifteen minutes, my hair was about 40-50% dry.

Condition for texture.

This is optional, but you can spray some leave-in treatment or put on some styling cream, which would give more texture and hold for your waves. I used Aveeno's Nourish + Condition Leave-In Treatment.

Braid away!

In missglamorazzi's tutorial, she did a single braid down her back, since she has finely textured hair. I have a lot of hair on my head, so I decided to do two braids, just to make sure that the waves stand out.

Voila!

After leaving your braid(s) overnight, this is what you get! Pretty cool, right? It's such a laid back but still pretty look that's perfect for the spring and summer. Once you've unraveled your waves, don't forget to protect them with hair spray or anything that would help hold the waves the entire day.

Try it yourself and let me know how it goes! Happy summer!

Giving My Inner Mexican a High Five (and a taco)

Happy Cinco de Mayo! In celebration of all things hot, spicy, and fun this beautiful fifth of May, here are five ways to give your inner Mexican a high five.

Strut that 'stache

Cinco de Mayo means Cinco de Mustachio! Contrary to popular belief, absolutely anyone can grow one.

The next best thing to Mexico is....

...the U.S. state named after it. Well, maybe not. But I love my state, and I think you're going to love it here, too!

Salsa competition

Whether it's the dance or the dip. I have to warn you though, my boyfriend makes the best homemade salsa in the world.

Stuck with airport food?

Some airports (LAX for one) have really good hole-in-the-wall Mexican food stalls. Of course, don't forget the Dos Equis.

Soak up the sun!

Whether you're in Cabo, San Diego, or a remote island in the Philippines, Cinco de Mayo is the best day to book that trip to the beach and get your much needed vacation and tan.

Have a hot and spicy Cinco de Mayo! Cheers!

Friday Not-So-Fun Day: Staying In

I decided to stay in today, Friday. I wanted to see The Avengers but I've been feeling like a sick little puppy since last night. I've been trying to ease what seems to be an upcoming flu with immunity boosting supplements, and my own concoction of jasmine green tea and a teaspoon of honey.

So here I am, glued to the couch, with a nice view of my Serenity desktop wallpaper and lovely spring flowers, and the occasional reality show. There aren't exactly a lot of good shows during Friday night, probably because there aren't a lot of people at home either.

I know I've been trying to live a healthier lifestyle, but sometimes, I can't help but treat myself every once in a while to a good ol' cheeseburger. After all, we're all just a cheeseburger away from temporary happiness.

Also decided to do my nails, which took me almost two hours because there are days when I'm good at it, and there are even more days when I'm not. Today, I felt like I had two left hands.

Not exactly the most exciting Friday night, but I hope I get to rest enough to have a better weekend. Have a good one, friends!

Giving My Inner Health Nut a High Five

Remember when I said that there were two sides of spring? That sometimes, it can be great but that it can also be really annoying (I just sneezed to prove my point)? Today, spring showed me her good side. Chris and I decided to take advantage of it and go jogging around our neighborhood.

I hadn't had any kind of real physical activity since my failed 30-day bikram yoga challenge last fall. So you can imagine how miserable I was out there today; I felt like my body aged to about 80 years old as I huffed and puffed from one block to the next. Still, I did promise myself a few days ago that I needed to get back in shape now that it's gotten gorgeous and warm outside, and most especially now that I have gained some unwanted pounds from junk food. I'm not sure why exactly, but for some reason, I've been thriving on refined sugar and fast food like a real American, something I promised I'd never do when I decided to move here.

I can definitely feel the effects of this crap lifestyle and that's basically what made me leave the couch and go out in the sun. I finally threw away the bottle of expired multivitamins rotting in my medicine cabinet and bought a new one. I did have a BLT sandwich and wet fries for dinner tonight but I also have a lot of leftover romaine lettuce leaves in the fridge and tomatoes that I could make into a salad for tomorrow's meal. God knows I hate salad, but I do need to flush out all the crap with good ol' fiber. Sorry, TMI.

Wet fries make me happy.

A PicFrame picture says a thousand words...

Shoes! Having the right pair of running shoes is so important. I use Under Armour Women's Chetcho II Trail Running Shoes.

Immunity Booster! Echinacea is my favorite immunity booster. There have been studies that taking echinacea as a supplement may cut the chances of catching a cold by half, and shorten the duration of a cold to less than two days. But some research also shows that it cannot be fully proven. Personally, it works. It could be a sugar pill side effect, but what matters is that I feel good and will continue taking it.

Outdoor essentials! Aside from my keys and iPod, I also bring my pepper spray with me whenever I go out walking. Paranoid or not, it makes me feel more secure, and I love that it's hot pink! 

Happy face! Because a smile never hurt anyone.

My reward for a job well done. Thank you, honey!

Giving My Inner Kiddie Artist a High Five

My boyfriend and I are both artists. Well, at least, we enjoy doing arts and crafts, appreciate paintings and sculptures, and play music together. Nothing professional, but it's definitely a shared passion and hobby of ours.

We went to the flea market recently, and were amazed by the abundance of scrap metal that could be used for metal sculpting -- a medium that we've always wanted to try out for ourselves. But right now, we do not have the basic skills, nor can we afford materials for artistic welding, so we decided to try out other medium instead to get started.

We chose oven bake clay!

I never worked with oven bake clay before, but even as a kid, playing with clay was one of the best experiences ever. There's just something about the soft texture of clay that makes even the simple rolling of it in my palms a unique experience.

The beauty of oven bake clay, compared to regular Play-Doh, is that you can sort of immortalize your sculpture through hardening your masterpiece in the oven. You can make figurines, paper weights, pendants, and all sorts of fun things, without having to worry about it getting squished into deformity.

My boyfriend made this cute Gameboy guy with headphones. Up close, it's so detailed and fun and nostalgic.

I made this little guy for him, which is also my first oven bake clay work. It only took me thirty minutes to sculpt the entire turtle, and about 45 minutes baking time.

Troy the Turtle (yup) without paint.

Here's how you can make your own oven bake clay masterpiece!

1. Choose your brand. Personally, I haven't had the opportunity to try as many brands to say which one is the best, but the most popular one is Sculpey.

2. Choose your work surface, and protect it. Unbaked clay may ruin the surface of furniture, so make sure you protect your area with a clay mat. Some artists say that glass surfaces work well with oven bake clay, but I tried working on my glass coffee table and it didn't work as well as I hoped. I just used baking parchment, and found that it also worked perfectly. I could also easily transfer it to the baking sheet when I'm ready.

3. Condition your clay. This is probably the most important step in oven bake clay sculpting. When you condition your clay, you simply work your clay by squishing it until it's smooth and pliable. This will prevent cracking once your clay has been baked.

4. Sculpt. It's time to make your creations! You can use different tools to make details, like pins or even pre-made clay patterns.

5. Bake. Although baking instructions differ for each brand, the standard is to preheat your oven to 275F, and, depending on the type of clay, it should bake for 15 minutes for every quarter inch of the sculpture.

6. Cool completely. Oven bake clay gets really, really hot, so be careful. Cool completely before displaying, painting, or sanding.

7. You're done! Water based acrylics work really well with oven bake clay. By this time, you can either paint or do finishing touches with sand paper.

There are a lot of oven bake clay tutorials on YouTube, but SoCraftTastic has to be my favorite. She's young and fun and so good at what she does.

I'm making mushroom pendants next!



Have you given your inner creative child a high five recently? Tell me about it and leave a comment! Cheers!

Also, welcome to my new blog project! Don't forget to check out my welcome post!