Journeys

Saturday, January 25, 2014

I had coffee with a good friend of mine the other day. We talked about how our lives had been over the past few month; both of us are aspiring writers, and it's nice to know someone who is trying to achieve the same goal you are.

Journeys are both wonderful and strange. I'm finding this to be true, what with my nearing graduation and preparing for stepping foot in the real world. However, as much as I'm keeping my eye on my future, I'm keeping an eye on the present as well. I'm enjoying every single moment of being with my friends, studying to finish my degree in college, and spending time with family and loved ones at home.

The phrase I've been repeating to myself over the past month or so is this: "I don't know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future." God knows where I'm going, and I have to trust Him to lead me in that direction, and to give me the strength to achieve the goals and dreams that I can, and most of all His will for my life.

Customizing School Supplies

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Every semester, when I replace folders, notebooks, and the like, I really enjoy fixing them up and customizing them for each class. Using sharpies to decorate and generally make my school supplies unique is so much fun, and I really will get good use out of school supplies and items that I enjoy pulling out of my backpack on a day-to-day basis.

Also, since it's my senior year, and I visited a fabulous Japanese bookstore recently in Los Angeles, I really wanted to go all out with the cute factor alongside my more functional items.
So, with that, dear reader, here's how I customized my school supplies for this semester!

Folders



I generally organize my class folders by color, in schedule order, them in color order. This means my first class is red or pink, my second class is yellow, and so on. If I organize them this way, then it's a lot easier to grab a folder for a given class at a moment's notice. These folders are some basic ones that I picked up from Target.

I've also used this process with brightly patterned folders. As long as I can see the class name that I've drawn out, I'm fine.

Also, yes, I'm taking a class called "Doctor Who and Philosophy." I AM SO EXCITED.

Notebooks



I found these amazing notebooks at Kinokuniya in LA. They are SO adorable, and it'll be so much fun jotting quick notes in these. Some of my classes might be more computer-centric, while others might not allow technology at all. With these, I should be prepared for both situations.

Subjects I'm using these for, from left to right: Christianity in the West, Doctor Who and Philosophy, and Advanced Media Writing.


For classes I know might be more serious - based on the professor's lecture style or the subject material in general - I'm planning on using these notebooks. I used two of these last semester that I picked up in Seattle, and I LOVED them. They are smaller than standard size, but they are absolutely fabulous for basic note-taking and studying later.

These are the supplies I've customized. Besides these, I have the basic supplies like pens, pencil cases, highlighters, etc.

I hope you enjoyed seeing these. :) Here's hoping that they help my last semester in school go smoothly!


How [I] Instagram

Thursday, January 16, 2014

I enjoy Instagram a whole lot. I enjoy the process of not just snapping a photo, slapping on a filter, and posting it, but also using other apps to add color, words, and effects that I would not be able to use otherwise.

Here are the main apps I use to edit and post Instagram photos. I use an iPhone 5C, so you can find all of these apps in the App Store (and a few possibly on Android or Google Play/Windows).

1. Afterlight
I have used this app so much to obtain amazing filters. I would say it has at least double, if not triple the amount of filters. The filters are also easy to work with and feel softer than the preset filters on Instagram.




This app also contains an array of simple frames and cutouts, and also enables a user to crop an entire photo into a square shape with white bars at the sides (like a widescreen TV). There are apps that can do this separately, but I like that I can do so much within this one app. The fewer apps I use, the faster I can post an image.


2. A Beautiful Mess
I LOVE this one! Developed by the team of sisters behind the blog of the same name, this app is so cute and whimsical, and I love how much color the app brings to my feed.

The app has a few basic filters, but it's the best for frames, text, and prewritten phrases. The doodles are cute, too.

What I'll often do is start by editing the photo in Afterlight, then run the photo through either this app or the next app I'm about to mention.





3. Rhonda Designs
This app is also based off a blog, and it functions similarly to A Beautiful Mess, but there are a lot more options for fun quotes and fonts to freehand text. There are more filters, too.





4. Studio Design
If I'm ever feeling especially like a hipster on a given day, I'll use this app. I'll upload a photo either right off my camera roll or after running it through Afterlight, and then I'll either make my own design with the overlays OR remix a design I really love. The designs are so artsy and I love them, and I'll often come across really great scriptures or quotes to use.




I hope this list helped you out in some way. :) If you'd like to see more posts like this, or have Instagram editing-related questions, comment below!

California, I Love You.

Monday, January 13, 2014




Mom and I spent an excellent mother-daughter weekend in Los Angeles, and I absolutely loved it. We did so much and saw so much, and I really enjoyed it all.

Want some trip highlights, dear reader? You got it!

French General





The main reason why we even went on this trip was for an event hosted by French General, a textile and bead shop in Glendale, called, "Art of Craft." This event is hosted by the owners of the shop. Having been to this event with my mom last year, I absolutely loved the community and passion that these ladies have for their craft. I even surprised myself with what I learned how to do - weave a cushion, smock fabric, and other such things.

I really enjoy doing things with French General because it gives me the chance to bond with my mom and take part in being creative together. :)

You can find French General at http://frenchgeneral.com.
They also have a blog, too; they have more information on the craft classes they offer: http://frenchgeneral.blogspot.com

The Grove

One place I'd been dying to go to over the past few months is The Grove, which is an amazing outdoor mall in the heart of LA. The reason why I wanted to go to this particular mall was primarily because of a little store by the name of Topshop.

Topshop only has four stores in the country, and the Los Angeles location is the fourth. I believe it is also one of the only locations on the West Coast - you probably would have to make a trip to Canada if you wanted anything from there just north of LA. To say I was excited was an understatement, since I'd loved visiting Topshop locations in the UK.

Yes, I purchased fabulous things, and yes, I want to go back. :D

Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Flea Market

Mom had been telling me amazing things about the Rose Bowl Flea Market for the past few months. It's held in the parking lots outside the Rose Bowl stadium - famous for the Tournament of Roses and Rose Bowl football game each January - and it is massive.

This was actually my first real flea market experience. I have been thrift store shopping before, but I'd never experienced spontaneous pricing ("Oh, you like those posters? I'll give you the rest of the stack free of charge!") and sheer volume of vendors and merchandise like I experienced there.




I picked up some amazing skull bracelets from a seller who was actually leaving for Thailand soon. They are a little outside my usual style, but I had seen similar bracelets at Urban Outfitters and DIY versions on YouTube, so I decided to go for them. I'm SO glad I did, too.





Another bonus of visiting the flea market was actually getting to see the Rose Bowl stadium itself. I'm from the south, so college football is kind of a big thing where I'm from. Though I'm not as interested in watching sports on television, I love attending live games and seeing stadiums in person. Thinking about being in the empty stadium and how famous it is gives me chills in a good way.




Little Tokyo

This district of downtown LA is one of my personal favorites. I have been interested in anime on some level or another since I was a tween, and I love Little Tokyo for its authenticity and overall fun.

If you are looking for ramen, I recommend Orochon Ramen on first. It's up on the third floor of the main area, and oh my gracious the ramen is amazing. I got ramen with a miso base, medium spice, and extra boiled egg.

After our ramen, we hit Kinokuniya, one of my all-time favorite bookstores. They sell authentic Japanese paper products, books, toys, and the like, and it is awesome. They sell SO many different stationery items, too, and I actually purchased some school supplies for next semester! (Keep an eye out for a school supply video, and I'll be featuring the items I bought)


I am not sponsored by any of the companies or organizations mentioned in this post. All opinions and recommendations are my own.







Disneyworld Highlights

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Over the last few days, my family and I have been spending some time down in Walt Disney World in Orlando. Dad really wanted to come down for his birthday, and seriously...who doesn't want to go to Disneyworld in January?

It was surprisingly cold early this week, but we found all kinds of ways to have fun in spite of the crazy temperatures. We just bundled up.

So, without further ado...here are the top 5 highlights from this here trip.

5. Amazing food, especially Mickey waffles. ;)

4. Getting to see the Christmas decorations before they all were taken down.

 

3. Visiting the other hotels.

 

2. Cinderella's Castle.

 

1. Celebrating Dad's birthday. :)

 

Honorable Mention: this hat. (It's a Boo from Super Mario Bros!)

 

If I may [re-]introduce myself...

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Introducing myself on a blog - and introducing a new blog in general - feels weird after not having done so for a few years. I have been a regular on Tumblr for quite some time, but I've used blogger for college projects with some success.
So, why the switch?
I'm currently 22 years old and about to finish my undergraduate degree at college. It's my dream to become a published author. :) However, while I finish school and set foot into the real world, I want to blog seriously. I want to keep all of my ventures - travel, fashion, photography, and the like - in one place, as opposed to having a bunch of little blogs to manage, like I did on Tumblr. I also want to keep in better touch with friends and family through this blog, since they will be able to comment on posts here.
I'll still keep my Tumblr, just because it's fun to reblog things. :D But I'll give this here blogger space a shot, and see where this takes me.
That being said...my name is Savannah, and welcome to [Savannah] in Wonderland!