Halloween: Sea Nymph

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays simply because I can be whomever or whatever I want to be... I've wanted to be a mermaid for the last few years; however, dealing with a tail seemed like it would be a big hassle... so I decided to be the next best thing, a sea nymph!

During a concert in San Francisco that I attended in August, I bought a starfish headband from a merchant and knew that this was the year that I was going to try to make it happen. As luck had it, my friend gave me a turquoise corset and the I headed out to some of my favorite stores (Charlotte Rouse and Forever 21) to look for accessories.  I originally thought about buying jewelry with sea creatures, such as sea horses, an octopus, or sea turtles, but I found some pieces with pearls that I knew would give me a more sophisticated "under-the-sea" look. I went online to a party favor website and found some fish netting to give my lower half a more scale-like appearance and also ordered a cute pencil skirt... I had a pair of braided silver sandals in my closet and bought some eye shadows with rich pigments at Hot Topic, along with a pair of fish net stockings that came in handy, but were not worn with the costume.

After I had all of the pieces for my costume, I did some investigating online and found this awesome make-up tutorial:

Here are some photos of how my attempt at the make-up turned out:

 

...and just in case you wanted to know more about sea nymphs or nereids.

Snail Mail FTW

Life can get so hectic and busy... it's always nice to find something in my mailbox and to see that someone took the time out of their busy schedule to handwrite a note to tell me they were thinking of me, to inform me of some exciting news, or to give me a few words of encouragement when they know I am going through a hard time.

Recently, I have been making the effort to find the time to write more postcards and send greeting cards and thank-you notes. Luckily, I live in an area that is relatively close to many tourist areas... Big Sur, Monterey, Pebble Beach, Salinas, San Francisco, and Yosemite, just to name a few... I love browsing the racks of postcards and seeing which ones jump out at me. They say things such as, "Send me to your mom!" or "Wouldn't your Godparents love to hang me on the fridge?" On my recent trip to Yosemite, I made certain to visit the gift shops to buy postcards to send to both family and friends.

"Go Green" Stamps

I even enjoy picking out which stamps I will use. On my last trip to the post office, I bought some really cute and educational "Go Green" stamps that each have a tip on how to easily make small changes in your daily life to have a positive impact on the environment. The Post Office has a wide variety of stamps for almost every occasion and finding stamps that were related to my interests and hobbies makes the act of sending cards that much more special to me!

The other day I was talking with a friend and through our conversation, I found out that she was unaware that the post office sells stamps that are specifically priced for postcards. Currently, First Class stamps are priced at 44 cents per stamp for standard envelopes and large postcards, but stamps for regular sized post cards are currently priced at 29 cents.

Although it is more environmentally conscious to live in a paperless world, it's nice to receive something tangible from someone we love... especially when they are located over 2,000 miles away! On average, I would say that I check my e-mail about a dozen times a day... However, e-mails seem so impersonal anymore. My mom sends me a weekly TGIF message electronically, but it's always more enjoyable to find a postcard or greeting card from her in my mailbox. I'll admit it's disappointing to find an empty mailbox most days, but when I get onto my tippy-toes, peer into my mailbox and finally see something there... it makes all those other days seem insignificant!

Smile!

I think that my smile is one of my best attributes and another is my ability to make others smile. A smile can take a bad situation and make it seem better and even if it may seem insignificant, it may make the difference... 

Smiles have so many meanings. They are signs that people are happy, nervous, flirty, devilish... and the best smiles come from your heart, when you are so happy that your heart beams with so much joy that it has to escape past your teeth and through your eyes...

When I was younger, I would always go to summer camp and after meals we would sing camp songs, and the one called Magic has always stuck with me:

Now my childhood's far behind, I've learned to my surprise

The magic did not fade away, it wears a new disguise

A child, a friend, a smile, a song, the courage to stand tall

And love's the greatest magic of them all.

To me, a smile truly is magic... 

Created at Face Your Manga

"Today, give a stranger one of your smiles.  It might be the only sunshine he sees all day." ~Quoted in P.S. I Love You

Live Your Life... Now!

A few weeks ago, I was asked by a friend if I wanted to go to Yosemite National Park. At first, I was a little apprehensive, thinking about the cost and logistics. I have lived in California for well over a year now and once I found out I'd be living here I made a list of things that I wanted to do before I leave. I have put off a number of these trips and activities thinking that I will do them in due time. However, it dawned on me that evening that if I didn't go, I would just keep waiting and never end up going to Yosemite while stationed in the state of California. So, the next morning, I jumped at the opportunity and we began making plans for our trip to Mariposa and decided to spend a whole day exploring the park.

How epic is this?

Needless to say, it was an excellent trip... if we stayed home, we would have had a horrible weekend stuck inside due to all of the rain, but because we drove inland a few hours, we experienced Yosemite on one of the most beautiful days I have seen in a long time!

We got some beautiful pictures and made some great memories! I have always loved hiking and the environment, so while we were in the park, we took a the opportunity to a little bit of a conservation project and picked up trash along the trails throughout the day.

If you've been planning to do something that means a lot to you, you should find a weekend and make it happen!

I am member of Leave No Trace and make yearly donations to their organization.