Tinker Thursday || DIY: Create Your Own Happiness

Hello friends! It's Tinker Thursday again! I'm finally done with my first summer course and boy was it a doozy. I'm still attempting to catch up on sleep so hopefully these next few weeks do the trick. I'll be starting up again in about a month, so I'm definitely going to take advantage of this time off. 

This week, I decided to change it up a little and bend my own rules. As mentioned in my introductory post, if you can "do-it-yourself", it's fair game for Tinker Thursday. I'm going to continue with the theme of "Choosing Happiness" from Monica's Motivational Monday last week, and offer my tips and suggestions to creating your own happiness. 

Smile and Laugh

Yes. My first tip for creating your own happiness is to smile. We've all heard of the benefits of smiling: it releases endorphins which can help us feel happy and less stressed, an increase in endorphins decreases cortisol, etc etc. Laughing helps release emotions that you might have built up, whether good or bad. I know when I'm stressed out, I find myself laughing and I instantly feel better, even if it's just temporary. I can go on and on about the importance of smiling and laughing, but the most important reason (at least, in my opinion) is because it's contagious. What's better than seeing someone else smile or hearing someone else laugh because of pure happiness? 

Breathe

I know, yet another tip that should seem pretty obvious, right? I can't tell you how many times I found myself so stressed and tense that I nearly forgot to breathe. When things are starting to feel a bit overwhelming, step back and take a few deep breaths. Oftentimes, I take a deep breath and just yell as I exhale. It feels really nice to let those emotions out. 

Think of a Wonderful Thought! (alternatively titled, "Look on the Bright Side") 

Not only is this a quote from Peter Pan, but I remind myself of this every time I am in a slump and just feeling very negative about things. It takes a lot of effort to turn something negative into a positive, but it can be done. Wouldn't you rather be thinking about things that make you smile or feel good? 

Unfortunately, we can't always find a way to twist a certain negative situation or feeling into something more positive. Most of the time this is done in retrospect, but at least from then on you'll have a positive correlation to that memory!

In the event of trying to avoid making this a "how to de-stress" post, I'm going to fire off a few more suggestions:

Make your all-time favorite meal/comfort food. You know how good it feels to sit down and eat your absolute favorite meal. Think about how much more satisfying said meal would be if you made it yourself? You'd be enjoying the fruits of your labor and feeling good about your culinary skills. 

Talk to a friend or family member you haven't spoken to in a while. If you're close to that person, chances are you'll have a lot to catch up on. Share the latest news in your life. Talk about plans you might have in the near future. Make plans together! It's always nice to see a familiar face and spend quality time together. 

Binge watch your favorite TV show(s). My Hulu subscription keeps renewing and I currently don't have any new shows to watch. I've re-started Parks and Recreation from the first season, and in case you were wondering, yes, it's still pretty funny. Watch a show you know will make you laugh or feel good. Binge watching is always so satisfying, until you run out of episodes to watch. But hopefully by then, you'll be feeling happy enough to do something else. 

Put on your favorite playlist and dance like no one is watching! Sing to your heart's content, and simply just have fun with it! Slide around your hardwood floors aka Risky Business, sing into your soup ladle, and jump around (safely, of course). You'll get your blood pumping and get a nice cardio workout out of it as well. 

Think of a new project or challenge you've been wanting to do... and just do it. Want to learn how to knit? Purchase a ball of yarn and knitting needles at Michael's (with one of their coupons, of course). Want to bake a cake? Let's head on over to the grocery store and get what we need. Find a new workout regimen that looks promising? Put on your workout gear and go for it! You'll feel so wonderful knowing you started AND finished something you've been meaning to try. And if you're wondering, you can do it and I believe in you 150%!

Take advantage of free events in your local community (especially during the summer)! I know San Diego has a ton of things to do for little to no cost. We have a handful of beaches and wonderful hiking grounds. Balboa Park is an amazing place to just hang out and you can check out their many museums. Residents receive free admission to a select group of museums every Tuesday. Be sure to check your local community for any fun events that might be going on. San Diegans, be sure to check out the San Diego Reader. This past week in particular highlighted "Fun Things to Do: From Beach to Backcountry". 

I could go on and on with more suggestions, but everything will eventually start sounding the same. The key takeaway from today's post is to figure out what makes you happy. We all have at least one thing that never fails to put a smile on our face. Whether it's cooking or dancing or even cleaning the house, find something that brings you joy. You know yourself better than anyone else, so think of these tips and suggestions as just that: suggestions. There is no set list of "this is what you need to do to be happy". 

It's important to remember that it's okay to put your happiness as a priority. It's essential for your overall, long-term health, and it just feels way better than being sad all the time, right? :)

Take care, and I'll see you in two weeks!

xo, rox

Motivational Monday || Memorial Day Inspiration

This holiday weekend, many americans took to the roads for nice little (and hopefully relaxing) getaways; I certainly was no exception. It had felt like ages since the last time I embarked on a weekend getaway and the fact that I had Monday off from work, gave me a great excuse to visit northern California for a few days. Besides a beautifully scenic route up highway 101, northern California is also home to some of my favorite people, my twin niece and nephew!

Having the chance to spend some quality auntie-time with these kiddos (whom I like to call "keeblers") is something that I truly value and cherish. At one point on Saturday, after brunch, my sisters, brother, sister in-law and keeblers decided to take a stroll through one of the quaint San Jose neighborhoods. This part of town is home to many little shoppes, boutiques, eateries, and seems to be a place that many families' like taking strolls through, just like us. We even found an old school candy shoppe full of goodies from the olden days and the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory playing in the back. While in the cute little shoppe, I got to thinking about what it must have been like, growing up during the years when Chick-O-Sticks and Candy buttons were popular. And then somehow I began to think about the holiday, which brought me to San Jose in the first place-- Memorial Day.

Many think that Memorial Day is a day to honor those who served in our country's armed forces (past and present). But in actuality, Memorial Day is a day in which we remember and honor those military men and women who have fallen in service to our country. While in the candy shoppe, I thought about the many children throughout the years (who might've enjoyed some of the sweets found in this nostalgic candy shoppe) that might've lived through the wars in our nation's history; those same wars that took so many mothers and fathers before their time. It was here that I began to reflect on what this holiday meant to me.

As a Mexican-American, I understand and am grateful that I live a life that is afforded many freedoms because of the struggles endured by many men and women who serve my country. I am reminded that there are men and women who paid the ultimate price so that I could participate in a society where I can work, vote, be independent, and basically be whatever I want to be. So as I sat to put together today's blog post, I stumbled upon this amazing quote from Thomas Campbell that says: The patriot's blood is the seed of Freedom's tree.

Now, if this doesn't convey the essence of Memorial Day, then I don't know what will! The brave men and women who have served and paid the ultimate price are true examples of bravery and service. It is their actions that have planted a seed of gratitude and indebtedness in many of our hearts; a gratitude grows as each year passes that we are able to enjoy our freedom. This Memorial Day I invite you to take a minute to reflect on the sacrifices paid by a few, so that freedom could be enjoyed by many.

Happy Memorial Day! 

Monica

Trendy Tuesday || Billboard Music Awards

Where our favorite celebrities gather to celebrate music, something we all share a love for.

Where Niall gives a thank you speech only for Liam to chime in at the end and give credit to their brother, Zayn. So presh, I actually died.

Now, while the whole idea of the award show is to pay tribute to artists and their music, we all know the kinds of lengths attendees went to to choose the "perfect outfit" for the Billboard Music Awards.

So let's talk fashion.

Honestly, I was really into the simplicity some people chose to sport on the red carpet. For example, Meghan Trainor. Her Badgley Mischka emerald green sequined dress had me so pleased, I couldn't get enough. When her performance with John Legend came around, she added a black top over her dress, giving the illusion that she was sporting a cropped sweater with a beautiful emerald green sequined skirt.

Then we have Jennifer Lopez, who I honestly don't think will ever age the rest of her life. She looked gorgeous, no surprise there. I love how she rocked a Charbel Zoe dress with mesh right in the good-good area, I know you know what I mean, and she STILL made it look classy and elegant. You go J-Lo.

Now the fashion police inside me wants to come out to play. Hailee Steinfeld, star of Pitch Perfect 2. Great girl, I was pleased with her performance in the movie. So pleased, I saw it twice. While her voice is very pretty and nice to listen to, I was a little disappointed in her outfit. Wearing a Givenchy dress, you would think it would be amazing and I think it could have been amazing if she ditched the black crew socks, the belt and chose a different hairstyle. Weird neckline too. Still love you, girl.

Sooo, I gotta get to class now. But I look forward to discussing more fashion with you lovelies soon!

Sharmaine

Motivational Monday || Try

"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try." - Unkown

The biggest failure is the one you don't make. Human beings learn from trial and error. I'm not talking about school. I mean you could fail at school and that would suck. And then you would have bad grades, so you kinda want to try to mitigate that by studying. 

No, I'm talking about doing things actively. Like interacting with people. You never know how to interact with people unless you start interacting with them. Learning how to communicate in more than just words. In body language and vocal inflections and all that jazz which you can only get through interpersonal communication. The kind of skill that you can only attain by practice and which only will help you make the social stud or studette. 

I'm talking about going to the gym and going in with the intent to wreck a personal record and coming up short. Then what do you do? Train to be able to go past that personal record. Then go after the next one. Set yourself up to win. When you fail, it's only a temporary set back. Failures are temporary. Your victories will last. Either way, they help push you to do more. To go farther. 

But none of this will happen unless you say, "I'm going to do that thing." "I'm going to try that." No one ever learned a new language by not trying to speak it. No one ever bench pressed 500 lbs by only staring at the weight. No one ever ran a marathon by being watching the runners. No one ever got the person of their dreams by staring at them from across the room. 

It takes a conscious decision to say, "I'm going to try." And the goal is to remain strong in your failures and show yourself that life won't end because you choked when you were asking out the hottie at the bar. You'll push past. And get the next hottie. Because you'll never succeed at something unless you try to do it first. 

Do yourself a favor and decide to try. 

Boom. Inspiration.