My 6 Month Missions

Despite my blog being about design and fashion, I also try to merge in my personal life sometimes. Lately I have had a lot of things I want to get on my mental “To Do” list. But haven’t done anything concrete about it. I figure if I write about it, post it online and make myself accountable, it will happen a lot of faster. Plus, it’s always great to have goals. So, here are mine!

• Buy a sewing machine
• Learn how to sew a dress
• Run the SF half Marathon – 13.2 miles
• Focus less on freelance and more on music
• Release my fashion app in the App Store

I used to sew a lot in high school. I would modify my clothes often and miss how relaxing it was. I think its good to have a sewing machine in general, but want to know how to use it for more complicated patterns.

I’m running the SF half marathon in July, I am so excited. Finally a big race that will be a huge check in my list.

I love freelance, I have been fortunate to have great clients. Although I think that it’s  time to focus less on working for others and get some of my own personal things accomplished. I’ll be my own client for once!

My fashion app has been in development for about 3 months now. Still a lot of UI and engineering to be done but it’s nice that it’s finally an actual usable app on a device. There is a lot more to go, but I just need to get it done.

What are your goals for the next 6 months? I think it’s great to set both short and long term goals. It keeps life interesting and makes me even more motivated.

Wharf Delight

The weather was gorgeous today. Not warm but pretty with the sun. I took a quick trip down to the end of the Wharf, since it’s not that many blocks away from my apartment. Yet I still took a bus because it was so cold and windy. The wharf was beautiful, many runners and tourists were out taking photos and children were playing in the water. One little girl got completely drenched by a wave. She screamed and seemed like she was going to cry then started laughing. It reminded me of what how free and awesome it is to be a kid. Even when you get soaked by a wave children still laugh after the shock. I think that even as adults when something unexpected and unpleasant happens to us, we have to find a way to laugh through it.

I am still learning all the ways of photography, since there is so much to learn. Half my shots were blurry due to me not focusing well and not holding my arms closer to my body. It’s a huge learning curve, but the process its a lot of fun. I am so used to using a medium like Photoshop and Illustrator to create something. So using a camera to create photos is a challenge and almost therapeutic for me.

Malibu Shots

It was a lovely weekend in LA and Derek and I spent all day Sunday in Malibu. We visited Pepperdine (Derek studied there for a summer) and looked at the incredible views from the top of the hill. At first I was super confused as to why Derek was insisting on taking me to look at a college campus. But once we started driving up the hill it was apparent why it was so hyped up, it was breath taking. The view from the top of the university to even the layout of the campus was stunning. Needless to say we had a ton of fun, enjoyed great seafood, took photos and played in the sea.

Floral top from Forever 21 & cream wrap sweater from H&M

We were taking more serious shots here. But certainly have a ton of cheesy ones too!

View from Pepperdine University

Sandals from Forever 21

More to come later!

My Design Enemy: Myself

It’s almost like design has become stagnate to me. I look around and see all these talented designers, artists and I look at myself and feel that I am not growing. That everyone is swirling around with me with talent and knowledge yet I feel I know nothing. I start thinking to myself: when was the last time I really made something I loved? Not simply enjoying the design process, but also enjoyed the end result. I am my worst critic and I feel like I need to improve both in self esteem and have that urge to improve. For me it’s almost like seeing incredible talent stumps me. Instead of it making me feel more motivated, it makes me shrug back and think “I could never make that”. It’s a bad way of looking at things and I am working so hard to improve such a negative outlook. I fight with my inner self all the time. My mind is constantly at war with my heart. I know that I am a talented creative in my heart, but my mind chimes in and starts to discourage me. It’s almost as if my heart is the dreamer and my mind only thinks logically and cannot be creative. I am still young in my career and have so much room to grow. Yet I have seen myself grow so quickly since I’ve moved to SF. So I do know that I can make things happen. But sometimes I truly do struggle with myself. So what do I do about it?

• I fight it. After moping around for a day or two, I get out of my slump and ask people I admire on how they create things. I am only going to get better with practice and by learning from the best.
• I suck it up. Getting over myself and looking forward is so hard to do!
• I think about my dreams. Focusing on the future and my ambitions gets me out of the pity party rut and keeps me moving forward.
• I surround myself with people who encourage me. I hang out with people who encourage me. I avoid those people who try to bring me down on every little thing that I do. I spend my time with people who have the same dreams and ambitions as me and lead a healthy and beautiful life. Being surrounded by people like this makes me want to live a life like that and lead by example.
• I start my own projects. I have one project in the works right now that I have been enjoying working on. It’s been slow moving but I hope to release it this summer. Fingers crossed! Hint: Fashion & iOS

I’m far from perfect. I make mistakes everyday. But life is about battling inner demons and learning to grow and get better at the challenges that I face. I love life and I love people. Conquering this inner enemy will pull me closer to the dreams and missions that I have in my life.

What do you struggle with when designing? Do you find yourself battling the inner negative voice that says what you can’t do? If so, how do you rise above it?

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Awaking the Dreamers

I’m awake again. It’s 1 am on a Saturday night and while I could have gone out, I’m here writing out my ideas. Half of the ideas I ever write down end up getting canned for one reason or another. But I feel that anyone that has ever had a great idea for a company or an app, started with many small ideas. It’s almost like each idea gets greater and better and then one day it’s going to explode. I can feel it, this momentum building up inside my gut. There is something in me that has this desire to build and do something great. I wish I could explain it to you, but I just know it’s there. I feel it hovering over me constantly. I know I am destined for something so much bigger than myself, but what is it? My whole life I’ve wanted to be apart of things that are bigger than me. That’s why I really enjoy working in a larger startup, it’s why I love spending time with people of such a high caliber who are smarter and more talented. When I spend time with greatness I aspire to do great things.

A lof of my thought process is asking myself “How can I make people’s lives around me easier? What can I do to improve their caliber of life and what can I give?”

Is it a product, company, application or charity? These are questions I am always asking myself. I want to help improve the quality of peoples lives. Weather it’s finding people jobs in SF through connections, taking a friend out for coffee, or really sitting down with someone and mentoring them in design.

As my birthday rolls around, I start thinking to myself how I want the next year of my life to impact people. This positive impact, that changes lives and gives people the motivation to live their life to the fullest. To dream bigger than they ever have before to keep running when people say to stop. I’ve always had this notion and this self awareness of life and time. I know I am so young, but for me I can already feel time running out, that there is so much that needs to be accomplished in life, yet we truly have a ticking clock among us. Time is moving quickly, and the world is moving even faster.

I know it’s coming, I just don’t know what it is yet. It’s the calm before the storm. I know for myself that I need to make the right decisions in my life that will lead me to that place. To be cautious of my steps and to protect my work and ideas. I am sure many of you feel the same way. I believe the reason we wake up everyday with motivation is because each of us knows we are destined for something great that each of us was made for. The hard part is just learning to wait and grow and also have the ability to take the blood and sweat that will happen in the process. So many people feel the urge to be a “Mover” but they get half way up the hill, something happens, they get hit by a rock falling from the top and they never climb back up. Great things will not happen on a first or even a second treck up the hill. They will happen when the person refuses to give up and lives their life to complete their destiny and fulfill what they were created for.