i'm workin' on it!

so for the past 3 weeks or so i've been "working out" 2-3 times a week, mostly just running/walking on the treadmill and doing squats and stuff. this is my awkward attempt to take better care of myself haha. i didn't really work to lose the weight that i previously lost, and after all the stress of winter taking it's toll, i hit a "plateau" of sorts and actually started gaining a little weight again (oh nooes!!!).

so here's my goal: to lose at least 1 pound a week. i know this doesn't really seem like a lot, but with all the food i make both at home and at school (1 whole cake every week?! are you kidding me?!!) it's still going to be a challenge for me. besides, i'm not too sure about how much results i should expect after only working out 2 or 3 times a week. plus, my mom keeps buying ice cream! what the hell, mom?! i'm not going to be "dieting" exactly, mostly just reducing my portion sizes and trying to eat more fruits and vegetables. everything in moderation.

i'm really hoping that all that running will help me lose weight instead of just helping me gain muscle, which is what it looks like it's doing right now (my calf muscles are HUGE).

1 lb a week means that by the end of june i should lose at least 16 lbs. not too bad, right?

today for dinner i made breaded baked tilapia fillets and a spinach and romaine salad with radishes, bell peppers, tomatoes, green onions, and a spicy avocado dressing. mmm :p

summer breeze, makes me feel fine...

the past few weeks have been kind of slow, but it seems so fast when i realize that school starts in a couple of weeks :l also, my birthday is this weekend! 19! woot...? i've decided that i'm not gonna have a party/get-together thing this time around; the little fambam and i are just gonna eat lunch somewhere and i guess i'll bake something haha :)

as for me making stuff, recently i've been going to a lot of thrift stores around the area and found some pretty neato things like bags, tops, and shoes (mmmm...), but so far i've only made 1 thing out of that stuff. a few days ago i made an awesome cropped navy vest out of a dress i bought at a thrift store in La Mirada, but sorry, no actual pics this time :/ for a visual though (and to make the blog look more interesting), i'll give you somewhat of a mental picture of what it looks like:

it looks like kind of a cross between these 2 vests

so if you could just use a little imagination, you can probably picture what it looks like :D

also, i've been trying to find some nice (and cheap) shoes on ebay, so hopefully my sister will win those bids for meee... a couple weeks ago i got a pair of vintage Doc Martens which i have been drooling over for a while now, especially since it wasn't $180! woot! can't wait for fall to come just so i have a reason to wear them (boots just seem to be a no-no in this hot weather).

resuming challenge!!! haha

woot! so the sunburn is pretty much gone, and now it's safe to take pics haha. i'm just gonna gather all the stuff i didn't update on into one big post. this is in chronological order, of MOST of the stuff i made, because i actually made other stuff but those were... uhhh.... well, i don't wanna call them "failures," but that's pretty much what they were. again, excuse the crappy pics :/

baby pink maxi dress with gold straps. i don't know wtf i was thinking when i made this, since obvviously i have NOWHERE to wear it to. i just wanted something pretty!!! and it really is pretty in person... also, sorry for visible bra straps...

baby pink jersey tank with rosettes. this one was kinda tricky cuz the entire top was made from the scraps of fabric that were left over from the pink maxi dress. but i actually did it! woot!! also, it's kinda hard to see but there's a drawstring at the waist, and that's why there's the tie.

close-up of the rosettes. i was surprised at how nice they came out. this top is really comfy :)

floral mini dress made from a HUGE mumu-like dress that i found at the thrift store. in retrospect, i suppose i should wear something underneath like tights cuz it's really short.

here's a pic of it without the flash, so you can see that it's a really flowy dress. and the print is soo pretty!! i was kinda going for a vintage-y feel :)

yellow twist vest. you can't really tell from the picture, but at the bottom of the vest there's supposed to be kinda a twisty thing going on haha. this one didn't come out as good as i hoped it would but i still think it's worthy of posting! i didn't really come up with this one either... i saw a tutorial online on how to make one, and it looked really cute, so i thought, why not. ugh. whatever!

as for this week, i still haven't come up with anything!! i've been doing a lot of little things here and there, but not really "making" anything. and it's already thursday!! need to think of something quick.

lately, i've been trying to keep myself busy by doing the most random shit around the house. for example, today i tried polishing my leather high-heels with a banana peel, cuz i read online that it's supposed to be good for leather, and it actually worked! haha i was pretty surprised by the outcome... the only problem i guess with this is the shoes smelled kinda like banana afterward? but as long as they look nice haha. yesterday i took the time to rearrange my makeup brushes in a more organized way. so what does this all mean? I AM FREAKING BORED AT HOME. to the point where i feel it is necessary to do all this random shit. sighh... school starts at the end of august, and i'm really excited about it, but at the same time i'm kinda loathing it :/

we'll see what happens :)

interruption

i realize that i missed last week's entry... but i promise i did have something to post!!! i made a dress, but i never got around to taking pics of it, and since i have a INTENSE sunburn right now, i don't think it would be a good idea to take pics of my red and burn-y skin... just so you know how painful it is, it hurts just putting on a shirt (i got burnt on my back, chest, and upper legs).

i'm gonna put a hold on posting up pics of the clothes i make for a week or so, just until the flaming red reduces into a crispy brown... i'll still be making clothes because i know for sure i won't be leaving the house too much while i'm like this, but i'll probably just gather them all into one post later on.

on a lighter note, i actually didn't burn my arms this time!! i have to say yay, because every time i've had sunburn before, the only part i ever really burnt was my arms and shoulders, which always led to a horrific farmer's tan. also, i'm gonna look on the brighter side and just tell myself that burnt legs = tan legs later on. yayyy :)

challenge post #2

i'm finally getting around to posting my entry for this week, one hour before the week is over! whew!

this week i did a painting, as i finally got some paints to work with! yay!! pretty much all i got was primary colors, so i guess from now on i'll be mixing/blending all my colors myself... anywhoo! on to the painting!!

this one is entitled "Lost." if you look at the following pictures, i think it's pretty obvious why. it's a pretty small painting in person, as i'm probably not skilled enough to do something on a large scale...

view of the entire painting...

close-up of the little star. look at his expression.

i used acrylic on cardboard, cuz canvas is so overrated :) i wanted to do something a little cutesy, but with a little meaning to it. sometimes i think we all feel like that little star...

anyway, this week has been pretty eventful, at least in comparison to some of my more lazier summer days. thursday i went with elaine, jackie, and sarah to disneyland, cuz apparently jackie works there now!!! it was fun, and we ended up spending the entire day there, until midnight. friday i went with a couple cousins to the beach, which was WAY too packed, i'm guessing cuz it's 4th of july weekend. soo packed in fact, that people around us were actually arguing over their claim on the bonfire pits... today is the 4th of july, so the fam bam and i trekked over to suzanne park to watch the fireworks show, which was kinda nice. i wish the fireworks were a little closer though... ohh well. yesterday morning i sent in my application to sally beauty supply, the location near the michaels on colima. here's hoping i get the job! getting rejected from 7 different places would be kind of a downer. other than that, there's not much going on in my life...

happy 4th of july you guys! have a good one :D

challenge post #1

but before i get to that, what is UP with all the celebrities dying?!! sorry. i'm watching the news right now and they said michael jackson died today. but not too long before that, farrah fawcett died. and not too long before THAT, ed mcmahon died. hopefully this won't be a continuing trend...

ANYWAY, back to the challenge. yay for keeping up! yesterday i made a hot pink tank top with knit details. enjoy!
excuse the obvious bra straps. i was too lazy to change to a strapless. also, excuse the unflattering pictures... bad lighting+sis taking pics= awkward looking pics
backsies! you can't really tell, but there's supposed to be a braid at the top of the straps and the bottom part is just supposed to be kinda dangling there...

on the bed. the straps look like a hot mess...

knit detail at middle of tank. i cut up strips of the cloth and knit them together. i needed really thick knitting needles to knit it, so i used two of those thick highlighter markers as needles. yay for improvising!
this is the dress that i mentioned two posts ago that was meant for clubbing... i promise it looks better in person!!!
another angle
pleating detail :)
on the bed again.

two posts ago i also mentioned a painting, but all of that is being put on hiatus right now because my sister still has to find her paints... right now all she can find is white, which doesn't help too much all on its own.

anywho, more to come soon!! two days ago i went to fashion district with the sis and the cousin and i didn't get too much fabric, but i did get some... hopefully i'll get some use out of them :]

ALSO, another random blurb. i HATE registering for classes! today i registered for classes online, and the ONE class that i really wanted to get into i couldn't!! again!!! i registered for 5 classes so far, and it's STILL only 12 units!!!! why are they so stingy with the units?!!? i'm still gonna try and waitlist for that class that i didn't get into, that way it fills up most of my week. hopefully it'll all work out :/

summer challenge!!!

seeing as how i'm only a couple weeks into summer vacation and i'm ALREADY bored, i've come up with a little "summer challenge" for myself that i will try to keep you guys posted on in this blogger. so here goes...

the challenge is to make as many things as possible, but complete at least ONE thing every week. by "make," i mean sewing clothing, making accessories, painting a picture, baking something, etc. you get the idea.

rules:

1. finish at least 1 thing every week
2. a "finished" item needs to be something i'm satisfied with, i.e. it can't be some useless piece of shit that i whip up in an hour and pass off as something i "like"
3. each item requires at least 1/2 hour of planning (which won't be too difficult because i usually take a long time just thinking about what to make...)
4. each item has to LOOK like i tried. people need to be able to tell that i put some kind of effort into it (depth of thought would be nice!)
   
5. each item must display SOME kind of originality (for example, if i sew a dress, i shouldn't be able to find an exact copy of it in some store or online or something...)
6. post each completed item on blogger!!!
   

goal: other than to just keep me busy, the goal of this challenge is to expand my creative abilities and to use up whatever materials i have, in a "creative" way. i want to show some kind of productivity for this summer instead of just staying at home being a lazy couch potato. by doing this, maybe i'll even come up with a tattoo design i like cuz at the moment i keep changing my mind...

anyWHAYYYS as i'm typing this i'm kinda working on a piece that i started an hour or so ago, so hopefully i'll have that finished and posted soon (yay for painting!!!). also, some time next week i'm heading off to fashion district, so hopefully i'll get some good cloth there and whip up some clothing and whatnot cuz my stash right now is looking pretty lame. :p

also, just to keep you guys posted, so far this summer i've made 1 top (that i'm kinda not so satisfied with) and 1 dress that i'd say looks pretty cool, although i have yet to wear it out in public (as it was intended for clubbing, but i have yet to do that as well haha). someday i'll find a semi-formal event to wear it to, then BAAM. i'll wear it. hahahaha :)

ps, another semi-challenge that i'm working on is to just not re-gain any the weight that i lost during the school year, cuz that would just suck. suck many tiny monkey balls. pshh. those monkeys would LOVE that. gross.