so it's been a year now

Well, today is the day. It's been one year since everything changed. Mostly for the better.

so here we are

photos by bailey mingo //@bailey mingo

whewwww child that was a break, wasn't it? 

It's not you, it's me. It's always me. I'm the one signing up for too many classes, spending too much time watching Netflix, and running low on good reasons to write these posts. But I'm going to keep doing it anyway, because I like hanging out with you guys. Plus, unlike my Italian, I don't think I've completely lost the touch just yet. I do think I'll be going in a new direction with the blog - but let's be honest, there wasn't that much direction here to start with. I'm the creative equivalent of a preschool finger painting, multi-colored and with bits of cheerios stuck on. 

 Living in Los Angeles has been life changing - not just because I now add 2 hours to my estimated driving times, or because a smoothie can run you $15, but because for the first time ever my surroundings match my goals. It definitely isn't always easy, and sometimes it's laughably difficult, but I'm so proud of Jordan and I for making it work. It has definitely pushed me to be more aware of my actions, and how I spend my energy. I've become better at saying "no" to things I don't think will serve me, and saying "yes", even if there isn't a whole plan (that was honestly way harder for me). I do a lot of things that *marie kondo smiling peacefully* spark joy for me, and I've seen a massive improvement in how I engage with the world around me. 

Honestly, that's what brought me back to my couch tonight, logging into this blog for the first time in five months to write real words. Over the last eight years, this little piece of the internet has brought me so many good moments, and we aren't even close to the end yet. Moving forward, I'll still be wearing cute outfits, bright eyeshadows, and a loud mouth, but I'm also going to extend on my advice column, talk about pop culture (better than that one time I tried it in 2013), and let you guys in on the bigger parts of my life happening *points into the distance* out there. 

Stick around, this is going to be fun.

x Justina 

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dusty days

 jacket: american eagle
shirt: wrangler

I love the desert. I always have - something about the wide open space and how resolutely old everything is. Joshua Tree is one of those rare places where we can get as close as possible to earth untouched by humans, and it's a good place to just chill out and recenter. On Sunday we packed up some pastries and hit the road to Pioneertown, an abandoned film set that looks exactly like many of the abandoned actual towns dotted over more northern areas in California (you know - where there's water sometimes). The town itself is very cute - I 10/10 fully recommend the petting the goats (Mitzi, Topanga, and Sam) on the porch of the fiber shop and playing with Emma the Pitbull who lives in the Pioneertown General Store.  There's also loads of photo ops, so put on your boots.

It was nice to get out of the city, breathe in large quantities of naturally produced dirt, and look at some prolific cacti. I think sometimes it becomes very difficult to slow down, especially when you're in college and working and trying to maintain the facade of being a functional human being. Lately "self-care" has become this thing that we're really comfortable talking about, but I don't think we always have the ability to implement the practices we wish we could. We try shortcuts - meditation apps, "soundscape" podcasts, lights that change color and change your mood - but there's no replacement for just rolling down your window and looking at some really old mountains that don't care if you met your deadline, or if you bought some shoes you shouldn't have, or that someone from highschool is moving to the same city as you. It's a calm that can't be replicated, and really doesn't need to be. 

In the immortal words of Ron Swanson: "I think it's pointless for a human to paint scenes of nature when they can go outside and stand in it."


Yee-haw.


x Justina 

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hey what's up hello

Well, that was it, my biennial drop off the face of this blog. It's crazy, because so many blog-gable things happened, but by the time I processed they were over. Now's the moment thought, we're back on air. Here's what happened on the previous episode of "Justina's Life":

1. I GOT A TATTOO. It's a lil 4-H clover. No matter where I go in this world, I'll have grown up in that program and it seemed fitting to me that it would be permanently represented on the outside the way it is on the inside.

2. I QUIT MY JOB. It was absolutely devastating. I know most people aren't attached to their jobs, but the women (and men) I worked with at LUSH taught me so much, not just about soap and bathbombs, but about being a grown-up person, and I will forever love them for that.

3. I MOVED TO LA. I know, I know, I finally did it.  (If you want to see my apartment, click here.) The confetti has settled, but I still wake up every day and am shook that we actually did it. I transferred to Cal State Fullerton and got a new job, and am now on a deep dive in LA blogger + influencer culture. (But that's a whole other blog post.)

There are other little things - I bought a cow skin rug, went back to Austin again, changed my major, got a Disneyland Annual Pass - but that's all you really needed to know to get caught up.

In a week, I'll be 21. In two months, this blog will be 8 years old. It's incredible to think that what started as a (okay, I'll admit it now) minute rebellion by my 13 year old self ended up shaping my entire life path. Almost as incredible as the fact that you're still reading it. Thanks for that.

It's good to be back.

x Justina 



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good genes

photos by benjamin 

jeans: american eagle

I have a stack of jeans in my room that is commonly referred to as "the jeans pile". It's full of not-quite-high waists, steathily stitched holes in knees, and fake pockets. I'm basically always in pursuit of the perfect pair of jeans for my no-butt, extra long self. Many have tried, most end up in the jeans pile. As a girl who grew up believing in the magic of the traveling pants, I've basically been disappointed my entire youth. But American Eagle finally came through for me: I was just looking in the wrong decade.

THESE MOM JEANS ARE IT ON A STICK.
(Me, I am the stick.)

Real denim, deep pockets, and a waist that - wait for it - doesn't need a belt.

Just let that sink in.

No. Belt.

For those of you blessed with pants that stay on your body through the forces of gravity, let me jsut ut this in perspective: I have to wear a belt with skinny jeans. That is how bad the waist-gap is.

So lets just all take a moment and remember that
the 90's weren't all itchy body glitters. 

x Justina 


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starter pack

Okay, I know it's not cool but I am a creature of habit. It has to be admitted.  I will try anything once, but I like the things I like. That means I am literally the worst person to shop for ever.

(This has been pointed out to me multiple times (a day) by everyone who is trying to love me and give me a birthday present. That's right, it's that time of year again - October 2nd, I'm turning 20.
 Which is totally crazy in it's own way because that means you guys have been hanging out with me for seven. years. But that's another blog post.)

Unfortunately for my friends and family, I am a. indecisive and b. like to get second- third- fourth- opinions on everything. BUT I'M NOT ALONE. I know you have a friend like me. We're everywhere, ruining dinner plans and changing outfits three times a day. So I made a Justina Starter Pack - all the things needed to properly equip your everyday Justina.

1. Fjallraven Kanken Backpack //
I carry around too much stuff to put in a nice purse and also I'm in college so

2. Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb //
Okay so I don't have this yet bc shipping is slow but it was blessed by our lord and
 savior Rihanna herself, so I'm sure it incredible.

3. 32oz Hydroflask //
I am from California and I was born dehydrated. I carry this bottle around the way normal people carry around their firstborn child.

4. Revolution Strobe Highlighter //
This highlighter costs $6 for a $6 million dollar glow and I am here for it.
(Note from Justina's boyfriend: it breaks if you drop it.)

5. ban.DO standard planner //
I bought this because it came with stickers and that intrigued me. It now holds all my secrets.

6. INSTAX SQ10 //
Square instant photos. What a revolutionary idea. *Wink*
(No but this one is digital and has filters INSIDE IT and is basically my favorite piece of retro tech.)

7. American Eagle Mom Jeans //
THESE ARE MY FAVORITE JEANS OF ALL TIME. I WEAR THEM EVERY SINGLE DAY, AND THEY WILL BE GETTING THEIR OWN BLOG POST SOON.

8. Baby G-Shock BA110BE - 4A (whew) //
It's pink, pretty, and practically indestructible. Plus it tells me how late I already am to wherever I should already be.

9. MeUndies Monthly Subscription //
All I want out of my grown-up life is to be a MeUndies model. Since that hasn't happened yet,
I'll just settle for dancing around my house sans pants in the comfiest undies known to man.

10. Mantra Bands //
Speak it into existence, and if you're too tired, let your wrists do it for you.

11. ban.DO sticker book vol.3 //
If you're gonna get the planner, you're gonna want more stickers.
Trust me.

12. TOMS sunglasses //
I know some places experience the mythical season of Winter, but here we're permanently stuck in season one of Game of Thrones - they just keep telling us it's coming with no real proof.
Sunnies stay on deck.

13. Sebago Docksides //
The frat bros are onto something. These shoes are mad comfortable, and have a slightly more polished look than the average flip flops (erlack)


There you have it.
Pile all those things on top of each other, throw some coffee at it,
and you'll have a pretty decent replica of me.

x Justina

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what're you saying

bracelets // mantra bands 

"I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious." - michael scott

I'm a big believer in the power of words. I think the way you vocalize your life has a huge impact on how you experience it. I like positive affirmations, and overused quotes, and having personal mantras. I also like gold jewelry that makes a lot of noise. I've had a couple of Mantra bands throughout the last couple of years, but this is my favorite stack. They're reminders, accessories, and make a very satisfying clank every time I wave my arms.

+ You're My Person.
I have a lot of very important people in my life, and this reminds me that as much as they're my person, I'm theirs too. I don't have a big crew, but we roll deep, and I will never stop appreciating them.

+  It Is What It Is
My dad says this all the time, and as frustrating as it is sometimes, he's right. I'm a type A straight laced perfectionist, and I always want everything to work exactly as I planned. I am also stressed 99% of the time.

+ You Got This
This is the big one: we've got this. Everything will get done, everyone will be where they're supposed to be, and this is gonna be fine. 

Do you have a personal mantra or saying? Do you just hum "Hakuna Matata" to yourself every morning? Tell me about it. Better yet, wear it.

But do not tell your mother I condoned tattoos.

x Justina 


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flower power

 

 photos by jordan

I love fresh flowers, especially sunflowers. Unfortunately, in the dry heat, Sunflowers dry up very quickly, so our plans for photos in a sunflower field did too. But Jordan had a plan. About 45 minutes away from my house there's a zinnea field taken care of by an older couple. They let anyone who'd like come and pick as many flowers as they'd like, just to brighten up the world a lil bit. You also have to really want it, because 10am temperatures in my part of California can be above 100 degrees. But out we went, into the direct sunlight, to find some flowers for our mason jars. It was absolutely beautiful. There aren't a lot of very simply beautiful things left that aren't wrapped with a fence, or a toll, or a ticket booth. We stomped in the muddy beds and came home with carefully chosen bouquets of bright orange and red zinneas, mostly un-wilted.

Jordan also got a sunburn,
but it complimented the flowers I put in his hair. 

x Justina



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spin me up

dress : modcloth
ring : modcloth
shoes : converse

Last week, I went out for a spin at the California State Fair. It was the Thursday before it officially opened, so I was free to roam among the ferris wheels as I pleased. Empty, and without all the people, the fair looks it's 50 years. But to be fair, so does this dress, and it's fresh in from Modcloth. It's weird how some places are so much made up of the people in them. 

Over my 10 years in 4-H, I spent a considerable amount of time wandering the fairgrounds, and I never got over the smells, the people, or the immense amounts of chili cheese fries available to me. It's a place where everyone fits in somewhere, even though it's populated by an incredible cast of individuals. I've decorated cakes, shoveled horse poop, and surprisingly, sold market animals. I've developed a love of overalls, lost a sense of smell, and built an integral part of my identity. I also learned that pockets are to be valued wherever they can be found. (This dress has two of them, and they're DEEP.) 

Speaking of this dress: As someone who routinely participates in return policies when things don't fit, I appreciate that Modcloth has a really cool thing where they show how their clothes look on a diverse group of humans, so you can get a better idea of what it'd look like on You, not "____ who is a 5'11, 108 pound Elf from a far away land." When this dress arrived, it fit perfectly. YAY ACCURATE SIZING.

I'm going back to the fair this week, this time with all my friends, and thousands of other people,
and try to not melt while we're eating our deep fried food.

x Justina

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why don't you just brush it?

TWO POSTS IN TWO DAYS OH MY 

To have natural curly hair is to have a cabinet full of failed hair treatments, all promising moisture and definition and bounce and a pot full of gold. It builds a kind of cynicism that one should really not feel in an aisle full of plastic bottles. But that means that when something works, I absolutely lose it. 

I've been slowly integrating Devacurl products into my life ever since I saw Nesrin's hair makeover, and oooooh boy has it been fun. It's also been effective to the point where when they sent me a box with their new Matcha Butter Hair Treatment, I didn't even question it. I just slathered it straight on.

MY HAIR LOOKS DAMN GOOD. And it smells even better. But here's the real clincher: I didn't have to put my hair in braids or twists or any of the other protective styles I usually do straight out of the shower. I just...let it dry. To those of you with nice, easy, friendly hair that can dry in an hour and just look the way it's meant to, this probably doesn't sound revolutionary. But to those of you with natural curls? You get what I'm saying.

The treatment isn't on sale yet, 

but you can sign up to be on the pre-launch list so you can get it right away +

 get your curls on some next level buttery goodness.

I'm off to find a fan to stand in front of. 

x Justina

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where to next?

  my new traveling sweatshirt: mnkr

I love airports. Especially empty ones, with only one or two lone people waiting for their best friend to get off a plane from somewhere far away. I like the feeling of being in a rushed limbo. In an airport, you're not quite here or there. You're just in-between.

I was raised by two people who love to travel, and have, between the two of them, been around quite a bit of the world. As a kid, I was obsessed with travel and cooking shows, and took my Rosetta Stone much more seriously than I did math. Consequentially, I speak three different languages fluently, but still can't do algebra properly. It wasn't about fun beach trips with my family either. (No, I've never been to Hawaii.) I was never taught that travel was something one did "for vacation" or "when you're older". It was more of a "go when you can, wherever you want". And so I did. I realize that to many this sounds or looks really flippant and privileged, but that's because I'm skipping over the hundreds of hours of working minimum-wage retail I put in to pay for the whole thing. It's a fun life, not an easy one.

What is easy is living in Germany for three months (I'm sure many of you remember that chapter), eating pretzels every day. Or driving to Joshua Tree in the middle of the night, and seeing the sun set over the desert. Or climbing up 10 million year old basalt rocks and nearly falling into the Irish Sea. I've run through the halls of the Met, the Albert and Victoria, and the Smithsonian's. I've been on Ferris Wheels in London, Vienna, and in two months, Las Vegas. I've gone on adventures that scared me to the bone (hello, Carrick-a-Rede) and taken the people I love to places that felt like home (high tea in a castle, anyone?). The world has so many cool things, and even though my bank account despises it, I feel obliged to see them all.

So no,
 I don't get air-sick.

x Justina

ps. ALL AIRPORTS IN THE WORLD HAVE THESE CHAIRS, RIGHT? I got really curious about where they come from. If you're interested in weird design things like I am, click here. 


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let's talk business

As the blog and audience have started to grow lately, I've had more questions about the way I work with brands, how I do business, and what's important to me. I've been asked to talk about my "real life" as though I can somehow manage to multi-task lives. Guys, I can't even cook and read a book at the same time (or cook at all, but that's besides the point). But I realize that there's always a little mystery surrounding a girl on the internet, and I think it's important to to talk about it. 

The brands I work with are an ethical cornerstone to me for a reason: they don't own my soul, and they've never asked to. I make sure I love something before I even think about telling you guys about it, even if that means sending awkward breakup texts. I always reserve the right to be like "ehhhhh better not".

If I do get paid for something, same rules apply, plus actual trade laws that require me to tell you I got paid, which I don't have a problem with. I'm a college student, textbooks are expensive, and you should all know I eat top ramen like five meals a week.  I get to do cool stuff by the grace of my job, not my bank account.

That kind of real life stuff can't be filtered through VSCO, but it's just as important. I never want to fall in with that group of internet people who are suntanned and smiling in the feed, but sad and angry in their house, and so being down with you guys from the start was always my agenda.

Speaking of: did y'all also forget that I had a face under these glasses? I did.

x Justina

ps. oscars are this weekend, come hang out with me on twitter aight

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going out

Boots + backpack: TOMS
jeans: dstld
jacket: colombia? north face? something outdoors-y


SOMETIMES YOU GOTTA GET OUTSIDE. Listen to the REI posters.

I'll be the first to admit that I am far from an outdoorswoman, which is a shame because I live in such a beautiful state full of The Great Outdoors, but every once in a while, I need some non-filtered sunlight. Yesterday, Jordan and I loaded up on a massive breakfast, and hopped in the car to go see some big trees at the (very confusingly named) Big Trees State Park. Admittedly, going on a three hour drive with nothing but four cans of grapefruit LaCroix and a vague idea of what the weather might be like was not the safest move, but it was the fastest. Upon arrival, we discovered that there was not only snow, but copious amounts of water to sqiush around in Jordans shoes. My feet, for once, were dressed appropriately in my TOMS Summit boots. Because it ~doesn't rain here~, I hadn't had a chance to test out their waterproof ability until suddenly I was knee deep in it.

Speaking of being knee-high: these trees are huge. I've lived in California my whole life, and seen some truly majestic displays of nature, but our trees never fail to blow me away. Some of the ones in this park are over a thousand years old. Isn't that crazy? At best, my life will be 1/10th of what theirs is right now. It's both a terrifying and peaceful thought to realize that this tree doesn't care about geography grades, or finishing research abstracts, or getting to work on time. It just keeps growing and cleaning the air and dropping branches on unsuspecting tourists every once in a while.

So here's the point: ditch the planner, get in the car, and go see some trees now, 
before our President starts saying nature is fake science. 

x Justina 



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tip toes

flats: thandos
jeans: ami clubwear
tshirt: primark
jacket: element eden

THERE ARE PILES OF LEAVES EVERYWHERE. I'm going to just slip underneath them and pretend my country isn't falling to absolute shambles.

Gonna be real - my TOMs are usually the only flat-flats in my wardrobe, and I only wear them when I'm moving so fast you won't notice that I'm two inches shorter than usual. I like to be tall and intimidating, which is hard because I am short and not very scary at all. (Unless you ask children).

But these ballet flats are something else. They're squishy, came in their own pouch, and fold up into tiny little balls when you're not wearing them so you can toss them in your bag, and not think about them again until you've climbed your twelth flight of stairs for the day and your feet feel like they're gonna fall off. Not that anything like that ever happens to me. Definitely not this morning. 

Thandos are designed in Nigeria by J.G. and Taffi, who are literal ~power couple goals~. They're big on improving their community through smart commerce, which is something I am not only 100% here for, but think everyone should learn more about. They also make really comfy limited edition shoes, which is what's really important here.

Side note:
do not throw leaves at your photographer unless you have made
absolutely unequivocally definity postively sure
 that there are no rocks/squirrel poops in them.

x Justina

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