July 2019 - maljoylove

My Current Favorites

Posted on July 28, 2019 by maljoylove

I have always believed that routine is the core of discipline and success. I have been adding more go-to behaviors into my daily lifestyle to help establish a routine piece-by-piece. Here are a few of my basic favorites that I count on to get through the day!

My current wardrobe– similar to the style I indicated in a few fashion-related posts, I have been sticking with a solid color blouse, neutral pants, and a cardigan. It’s a convenient way to stay clean, casual, and comfortable. I can dress it down in jeans, or dress it up with accessories!
My favorite makeup– In keeping with my style, my makeup is neutral, clean, but pretty! I put on foundation (Fenty, of course) and blush (NARS Orgasm) on my face, as well as a few applications of mascara. I always use Anastasia BH eyebrow pencil on my eyebrows. I’ve found that eyebrows are key to framing my face (and looking awake!). I use a sparkly eyeshadow on the whole of my eyelid, in a shade that is a few hues golder than my natural skin tone. To add a bit more dimension, I put a near rose-gold color in my crease. This creates a natural looking smoky-eye. I top it all off with a NARS lip pencil (I’ve been basically going back and forth between Dolce Vita and Do Me, Baby), with a layer of chapstick beneath the color.
Workout routine– I have been flipping back and forth, keeping a balance of cardio and strength training. When I can afford to take more time, I’ll do a strength training routine and a 45-minute treadmill walk. If I have less than an hour (depending on working from home, a day off of work, or working in the office), I’ll flip between a strength training session or a treadmill run. I’ve been sticking to two rest days, but I think that I might adjust that to one rest day for the next three months, and bring it back to two rest days after the wedding. Every little adjustment counts!
Go-to snacks — I will now, and forever, sing the praises of Halo Top. It’s been my post-dinner treat almost every day for months! Knowing I can have a little sweetness at the end of dinner makes it easier to ignore the call of vending machine Reeses Cups. On an even healthier level, I have been enjoying parmesan cheese and Pink Lady apples! I find that all three are filling, low-calorie snacks that are good for my body and my soul. Seriously, next time you go to the supermarket, get some Pink Lady apples!
Early bedtime — I’ve been trying to get into the bedroom by 9 PM. By starting my routine then, I’m certainly in bed by 10 PM, and more often, asleep by 10 PM. Seven hours of sleep seems to hit me just right!
Face mask — I love a sheet mask as much as the next person, but lately, I’ve been going gold. Spa-scription has a gold wash off mask that makes me feel like a queen. It washes off after fifteen minutes, so I have time to finish the rest of my bed-time routine. All that’s left after rinsing the mask off is to apply my serum (vitamin-C filled for a glowing complexion), an under-eye gel, and chapstick. Boom! Bedtime for me.
Favorite meal — A huge money and time saver at dinner? Rotisserie chicken! Gone are my days of buying raw chicken, behold a full bird that can be the base of chicken tacos, chicken and couscous, and BBQ sandwiches. Aaron’s parents bought a rotisserie chicken to use for enchiladas and Aaron’s birthday dinner, as opposed to cooking it themselves. It added flavor and saved lots of time. Healthy and filling for sure!

Adding go-tos saves time and increases efficiency in my schedule. It feels good to add structure, bit-by-bit! This time next year I will be a well-oiled machine of discipline. It’s all part of the “fake it till you make it” lifestyle. The more billionaire habits I have, the sooner I’ll be a billionaire. Right? That’s how it works, right?

So, We’ve Established my Wanderlust

Posted on July 21, 2019 by maljoylove

I’m always on the go! This time last weekend I was taking off from New York and headed back to Orlando for my 8AM workday Monday. Since then, I’ve been booked on another trip back in September, and there are now tentative (leaning towards affirmative, in my head) for another trip in November. Between that, Miami in September, Vermont in October, and my Italian sojourn in November, I’ll barely have time to be at home!

I haven’t met a person who doesn’t have at least some affinity for traveling. Sure, plenty of people have their grudges against airports, and we all have SOME “the person I sat next to on my flight was weird” story, but nothing beats a nice hotel with fresh, clean bed sheets.

I’ve been so many places in my life, and there’s still so many I want to go to at some point. Here’s a few places that top my list of where I want to go next (excluding spots on my Europe trip in November):

Paris. I’ve already been twice, but I only got a taste of everything. I took a picture in front of the Notre Dame, but I didn’t go inside of it. It’s a city of fashion, food, and art, and I truly only had about three days total for both trips. I want to enjoy a croissant inside a quiet corner cafe on a rainy morning. Is my Audrey Hepburn showing?
Australia. If reincarnation is a thing, I truly hope I am borne again as a blue-eyed blonde surfer from Melbourne. I would love to spend my mornings on the beach, only to take my surfboard out to catch waves until the sunset. I’ve never been to Australia but my inner-nature girl craves shark diving off the Great Barrier Reef and climbing mountains to get to waterfalls. I think I’d spend two or three days exploring Sydney, then just find a new beach or mountain to explore every other day before getting swallowed whole by a large snake or spider.
Bali. Every influencer is doing yoga in the jungle, eating acai bowls out of coconuts and enjoying salt-soaked serenity in Ubud. But retreats cost like five thousand dollars and the average Balinese citizen doesn’t have much and apparently doing that “healing in nature” thing doesn’t really help them. I still want to go, but I think I’ll wait until I can do it the way I want, and then matching the overall price of the trip into a charitable donation to an organization that will help their economy. Or maybe they LIKE their simplistic non-Tesla lifestyle? I don’t know, I haven’t thought it through.
Norway/Sweden/Finland. I want to do a whole Nordic fjord trip, travelling fjords through ice cap villages. I would love to see the Northern Lights!

Similarly…
Iceland! This narrowly missed the “honeymoon” choice. I want to visit the Blue Lagoon so much. There’s so much “neature” in Iceland. Very aesthetic.
Scotland. This one was another strong contender for the honeymoon! Aaron got to visit Scotland last year as his first foray into Europe with his family, and I’d love one of our next trips to be a return for him and a virgin voyage for me. I’ve done Ireland, England and Wales, but I missed Scotland. I’d love to visit Belfast, Glasgow and Edinburgh, but I really want to visit the Scottish Isles, too. It’s real “Desktop background” beauty.
Whistler. I was fortunate enough to go on a handful of ski trips when I was younger, but it was always in Colorado or Utah. They were great trips, but I’d love to go to Canada for my first “grown-up” ski trip. I want to visit all of Canada too! I’ve been to Vancouver once before briefly (too young to really remember), and I went to a concert in Montreal five years ago. I’ve still got plenty to see!
Stowe. Did I say ski trip? Did I say that I went to the University of Vermont but never went skiing? Embarrassing, I know. I went to Stowe to investigate the potential for hosting my wedding, but while it ended up not as my choice, it made me so happy to even walk the canvas. I could picture the smell of smoky air that would come from post-ski fire pits, where people would take off their skis and enjoy a hearty bowl of chili before heading back out to the slopes or heading back to their lodge for a dip in the hot tub. That’s what I remember most about my ski trips as a kid! Stowe is one of the best spots in the US to ski, so I better go get proof for myself!
Austin. I did a layover in Dallas for three hours once when I was little, but that’s the extent of my time in Texas. Aaron’s family is from Texas (and he was born and raised to the age of six in San Antonio), and they have fond memories of Tejano music and Big Red. Austin now has a great music scene, art, and some of the best barbecue you’ll ever have. Get me a cowboy hat and a nice horse to tend to, stat!
Switzerland. Picturesque mountains and Swiss chocolate. I don’t think I’d require much else in life to be happy, honestly!

I know I’ll get to all of these places one day. Who knows, maybe in ten years I can say I’ve been to all of these places! I’ve already seen so much of the world, and I’m so grateful. This list has barely scratched the surface, I haven’t even included my desire to see bio-luminescence! All I need is the money and the time.

And maybe a new pair of snow boots. Allons-y!

All images are from Instagram/Pinterest.

My Favorite Movies — Reevaluating

Posted on July 12, 2019October 2, 2020 by maljoylove

I have kept a list of my favorite movies and my favorite songs on my phone since I was 18, in case anyone ever asked. I was going into college and I thought “What’s your major?” was the stupidest question I ever heard. I didn’t have one picked out yet, and thought that no one would want to talk about their bio classes or their math formulas. Do those things really set souls on fire? As well, even if it’s a bit more of a selfish thought, would I really connect with someone about that sort of thing?

At any rate, I recently watched “Almost Famous” for the first time in a while, and I have always said that Almost Famous is my favorite movie.

Ten years later, it still is. I know the average feminist would say that parts of it are degrading to women, but the average feminist would say that Harry Potter isn’t feminist because of the Bechdel test even though every modern feminist was molded and shaped by Hermione Granger.

Political tea aside, “Almost Famous” is perfectly written, perfectly acted, and has one of the greatest soundtracks to any movie.

That said, I want to take a look at my other nine favorites, and see if they don’t need reevaluating. Let’s deep dive!

NOTE: No animated Disney exists on the top ten. They have a league of their own. It’s deserved.

2. Psycho — This movie truly triggered my fascination with the macabre, after reading “The Face on the Milk Carton” and watching (and being terrified by) an episode of “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” where the perp was a cult leader. The camera work, the plot twist reveal, and maybe the nostalgia of it all , knowing it was the first “slasher” movie and all, it’s still one of my favorites. I haven’t watched it in a while though, and I think I should.

3. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off — There’s probably at least five Buzzfeed videos talking about how Ferris is a bad person or a bad friend or a sociopath or something similar. Some people think Jake Paul is a sociopath, but cutting class to go to a museum, eating at a fancy restaurant, being in a parade and then destroying a car is a pretty low key Team 10 vlog. I think the reason why John Hughes’s coming-of-age films are so classic are because they were honest. There’s nothing cliched about Cameron and Sloane talking about their futures. Ferris’s antics may be a hyperactive version of that ONE friend, but we all have that manic fun kid who acts impulsively, lives his life to the fullest, and often does it all with a smile on his face and a song in his big dumb heart. And that “Twist and Shout” rendition can’t be beat.

4– The Breakfast Club. Damn John, back at it again with the relatable teen angst. I think, like Ferris Bueller, it’s an accurate way to depict what it’s like to be in a high school. I think it should be required viewing for everyone. I dont think that would be a cure all for bullying, but I think (hope) it would encourage everyone to recognize that we all have our own struggles that no one knows. In the words of the epic dance sequence, “We are not alone.”

5 — Forrest Gump. This movie is perfect and beautiful and American modern cinema at its finest. Alan Silvestri’s music inspired me so much that when I think of the motifs of the soundtrack, I’m instantly brought back to being a young eighth grader, sitting on the dock of my Appalachian summer camp, wishing the guy I liked would notice me. It idealizes some tough times in America but it’s pure at its core.

6 — The Devil Wears Prada. THIS. FREAKING. MOVIE. It is the millenial’s “Working Girl,” as we struggle through trying to make it in a world we dont understand under the heels of a “dragon lady”. True fans know that Miranda was not the true villain.

7 — Casablanca. I was going through a classic movie binge when I made this list, and its always stuck with me. Fantastic one-liners and a tough love story.

8 — The Parent Trap. This movie introduced me to London and The Beatles. I love this movie and will watch it almost every time it’s on tv.

9 — Inglorious Basterds. Hans Landa is without question one of the greatest villains in cinematic history. The writing, the acting, and yes, my Semite wish fulfillment of killing Nazis, make this a no-brainer. I will forever request whipped cream with my strudel.

10 — My Week with Marilyn. I love Marilyn Monroe. She was beautiful, smart, compassionate, and the world didnt give her enough time. This story of how one man saw beyond the pretty, aloof icon, into the real human who just wanted to be loved, is a lovely period piece that I would watch every week.

Truthfully, my list doesn’t need to be changed THAT much. If anything, I would remove one of the John Hughes movies or Casablanca and replace it with Black Swan. I think Black Swan is compelling, captivating, and brilliant. It belongs in my top 10. As well, Girl, Interrupted has been floating in my top 20 for years and I thought it should be higher on the list.

1 — Almost Famous

2 — Psycho

3 — The Breakfast Club

4 — Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

5 — Inglorious Basterds

6 — My Week with Marilyn

7 — Black Swan

8 — The Parent Trap

9 — The Devil Wears Prada

10 — Girl, Interrupted

I like my updated list, eight years later! I’m writing this from a plane, after having another terrible migraine yesterday. I will probably need to adjust formatting later.

And maybe this list again. I’m watching “Us,” for the third time since it came out in theaters. I think it’s my favorite movie of this year… and maybe more.

How Long Has it Been

Posted on July 7, 2019 by maljoylove

My last post was on my 25th birthday. I’ve been 25 for almost a month. I haven’t written in almost a month.

Last week was my bridal shower, which went beautifully. I was surrounded by wonderful people and given lovely gifts for Aaron and I to fill our home. I am most excited about my new juicer and a honey pot shaped like an apple. Aaron is most excited for the espresso machine and counter-top herb garden. It was all light and feminine and I feel truly blessed.

This weekend, Aaron’s parents discussed the potential of us moving out of our current home to a house/townhome they’d buy to live in after we had been there for a year. Aaron was excited to decrease his commute and monthly rent. I was horrified at the idea of moving to the boonies and having a longer commute.

Aaron’s parents explained it as a deadline– be ready for our next career moves by the time they want to move in; we can move in whenever we want and pay less rent than we do now on our current house. I had mentally put myself on a deadline, but this makes it real. Sooner or later, I’m gonna have to walk the walk. I’m going to have to… do something to advance my career.

Me ignoring my responsibilities.

As a first step in making better decisions, I’m going to write every Sunday and Thursday.

Today let’s cover things I’m obsessed with right now!

TV SHOW: VEEP. I cannot believe I didn’t watch this show as it aired live, but I’m relieved I didn’t, because I’ve been binge watching like mad for the past week. It certainly allows me to relieve my own hostility between each character’s sharp insults. Selina Meyer is a terrible person and I would love to vote for her.

BOOK/CURRENT EVENTS: “Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup” by John Carreyrou. It’s the story of Elizabeth Holmes and the quick rise and even quicker collapse of Theranos. Elizabeth dropped out of Stanford to build a company that would completely revolutionize the health industry, eliminating the need for tubes of blood to make a diagnosis in exchange for a tiny finger prick put into an automatic blood analysis machine. She was backed by the nation’s ultimate economic, health, and military bigwhigs… and it was all a lie.

Elizabeth Holmes’ Fortune cover made her a star. Stars tend to burn bright… but they burn out, too.

MOVIE OBSESSION: I had been waiting to see “Midsommar” since I saw the first trailer about four months ago. It came out July 3 but I went to a 7PM screening the night before because I couldn’t wait. It was two and a half captivating hours. It’s been compared to “The Wicker Man” for being another example of cinematic folk horror, but I’m comparing it to “The Shining” in that both films succeed because they are so creepy. The whole movie has you on the edge of your seat because of how unsettling it is. There’s gore, uncomfortable nudity, and (unlike “The Shining”), a shocking opening scene that hits you RIGHT before the opening credits. The average viewer was chilled out of the ocean after seeing “Jaws,” and I guarantee “Midsommar” will make you second guess your next trip to the Nordic region.

This movie is beautiful and confusing. People in unstable relationships beware.

Last one:

BEAUTY PRODUCT: “Orgasm” blush by NARS. My cousin told me to get it YEARS ago, calling it an “essential”. At the time, I agreed! Then contouring became all the rage and I was terrible at applying blush so I ended up never using it again. My mom had it in her cosmetic shelf and I threw some on before my bridal shower, and it truly gave me a youthful glow. I bought it again the other day and I cannot wait to use it! I’m hoping it’ll wake up my complexion more so I look more alert during the work day.

These are a few of my favorite things!

CALL TODAY:

Month: July 2019

My Current Favorites

So, We’ve Established my Wanderlust

My Favorite Movies — Reevaluating

How Long Has it Been