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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a few short hours in austin

First of all, a MASSIVE thank you to my main (Texan) man Trent, who picked me up at the airport and was the most excellent tour guide, even though I was sticky and mildly sleep deprived. 

Picture it: two days before camp, in the middle of the busiest summer of my life, I get on a plane to Austin for a trip that will last about 27 hours. Great, you're caught up on my reality. I'm here for the spring meeting of the ONA Board, eating tacos and discussing structural frameworks. Ahead of an all-day meeting, I had a couple of precious hours to explore, and Trent made sure they didn't go wasted. Here's what we did:

1. Get a (cold) drink at Fleet: This cute lil industrial-style coffee shop probably fits like 25 people max, and makes a mean vanilla iced coffee. Very photogenic, and I would definitely recommend trying some of the non-tea items.

2. Drive dirrrrectly to Torchy's: TACOS. TEXAS. TORCHY'S. Is it a coincidence that all of these start with the letter "T"? Probably not.  I had a Wrangler and a Trailer Park (Trashy style) with chips and queso and a Mexican cola. 11/10 would recommend.

3. Wander around South Congress: We walked down the street, peeking in the artsy little stores and hijacking their air conditioning. Highlights included Russell's Boots, the "I love you so much" wall, and the self-identified homeless man selling macrame bracelets to benefit his dog. (I bought one. It's great.)

4.  Get (another) cold drink at Patika: A bigger spot than our first stop, it's a community gathering area, and serves lots of fresh local foods. I had a vanilla Italian soda with LOTS of ice, met Trent's mom, and the barista looked a bit like Jon Snow, so a fantastic use of time all around. 

5. Sit down to dinner at Lenoir: *FULL DISCLOSURE* I did not have to pay for this eye watering-ly expensive dinner, but it was so beautiful that I felt like it deserved to be here. Special mention: the wagyu steak I had that was perfectly, perfectly seared exactly the way I like it.

ANNNNNNNNNND TIME.

That's how I passed six hours in Austin,
gained approx. 573995 pounds,
and sweated out every ounce of liquid in my body.

xx Justina

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click click

Some of these probably look familiar to you. They're the most popular photos of me or taken by me over the last three months. But they have something else in common: they were all shot with a Fujifilm x-t10. 

Right before we left for Germany, Fujifilm reached out and offered me a bloggers dream for a European trip - a new camera to document the whole thing with. There's plenty of reviews for it all over the internet from people who understand the inner workings of a camera better than I do, but here's the lowdown on things I think are important.

I've never been a fancy operation, and honestly we shoot a lot on an iPhone, so this was a serious upgrade. The Fujifilm x-t10 is a little more sophisticated than I'm used to working with, and I was definitely a little skeptical of all its bells and whistles but man oh man have I fallen in love with this camera. It has the ease of use of my point-and-shoot cameras but the quality of image is beyond. I also found that it was really simple to adjust to whatever we were shooting. People? Done. Massive historical landmarks? Simple. Really low light? Covered. It's also wi-fi equipped which was perfect for when we're traveling, and is the one feature that truly kept my Instagram ALIVE. Jordan would also like it noted that it's not as bulky and heavy as most DSLRs, and is a lot easier to carry around all day than bigger cameras. (It's like I made him carry the backpack all month or something. heh.)

Overally, the x-t10 was the PERFECT camera for what we do: shoot fun photos of our adventures, overalls, and occasionally, our friends. It made everything look fantastic, and caught details I swear I can barely see with my eyes.

Overall score: 10/10 Justina Points.

(If I could go higher I would, 
but I don't make the rules around here)

x Justina

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outta pocket

sweater: primark
overalls: h&m
shoes: converse

Okay so unlike basically everyone else on earth, I didn't go to Coachella this year. But in my defense, I dress like this every day. 

All jokes aside, for the last couple of weeks I was so busy that I definitely started to slack off in the outfit department. I definitely have a ~uniform~ and it makes it really easy for me to get dressed quickly, without thinking about how my clothes make me feel. Noooooot the healthiest form of self-care. In an effort to reverse it before I got in too deep, I've started actually checking the weather and trying to at least lay out clothes the night before like a Responsible Adult™. I mean, true, the short dress I had planned for today didn't work out with the whole "surprise hail storm" thing, but I ADAPTED okay

 I've literally been in overalls since the day this blog was born, and I don't anticipate changing my ways anytime soon.

You really can't beat the pouch pocket
(or all the things you can fit in it, thus reducing the need to carry a purse)

x Justina




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girls girls girls

Okay I am the least domestic person I know, but I was proud of this.

When I was in Germany, I started watching a lot of Parks and Rec, and it made me miss my girl friends, as Leslie Knope does. So I sent out a spontaneous e-vite to my friends (and then texted them all about it) for a girls night in...and promptly forgot about it. In all the excitement of coming home, it became just another sticker on a day that seemed pretty far away, as far as my schedule was concerned. But then it was two days away, and I needed a Party Plan, stat. As most desperate women do, I turned to Pinterest. After a lot of harried pinning, I HAD A LIST. In an effort to save you my panic attack, here's how it went down:

1. A craft is KEY. We made floral letters like these, and all the supplies only cost me around $15 with a nifty Michaels coupon and a raid on the floral section at Dollar Tree. 

2. I have a tendency to overfeed people, (see: the Super Bowl Mac n Cheese fiasco of 2018) and since there were just four of us, wanted to keep the menu small. I set up a popcorn bar, made some cupcakes, and also (not pictured, because my camera died) made some virgin gorgeous mai-tais. 

3. Basic elementary school knowledge tells you that you must have a movie, so we watched this mini-doc on Bella Thorne, and then The Princess Diaries 2 (clearly the superior one).

4. If you know me, you know there was a dress code. I told everyone to come in their comfy clothes, be it pyjamas or leggings or whatever.  This is where the guest list comes in, because you need to have a ~safe space~. You've got to really trust a woman to wear pyjamas in her house.

Needless to say, we had a laugh. As you get older, there's a lot less opportunities to just hang out in someones house without boys or drinking or whatever. The social pressure to go out is very real, and honestly, it's exhausting. I think we can all agree that it's much more fun to sit on your couch. Or maybe not, I don't know, I've never sat on your couch.

If you need a party in a pinch, here's a link to my board. 

May you go forth and party with your girls.

x Justina




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think pink

top: primark

jeans: topshop

clogs: troentorp

look who's back in the sunshine

25 hours and an aggressive case of jet lag later, I'm hoooooome. I've spent the last two days tearing around town in my Jeep, enjoying the 75 degree blue skies, and clopping about in my new Troentorp clogs. I never remember how much I hate leaving my house until I do for, you know, a week or four. 

This top is the last thing I bought at my beloved Primark before we left Europe. It's part of my effort to wear ~real shirts~ every once in a while, instead of my usual graphic tee or massive sweater. I wasn't sure how I felt about the pattern,  but am pleasantly surprised by the ice cream man vibes it give me. Plus it's got massive sleeves, which is pretty nifty for hiding the massive amount of hair bands I wear looped around my wrists like a 6th grader during the silly bandz era. 

x Justina

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(amster)dam good time

I can't believe I've never been to Amsterdam. 

First of all, the entire city smells like warm waffles. (and another, more controlled substance that I've grown used to in California) Secondly, it's adorable. Almost every building I saw was tilted at a frightening angle, but everyone else seemed cool with it, so I think that's just what they're like. And last, but best of all, are the people. Everywhere you look, there are very tall, friendly, happy Dutch people celebrating living in an incredibly diverse and expensive city filled with sidewalks and efficient public transport.

Even though the entire city is filled with tourists, it never feels ~touristy~ in the way many other cities in Europe do. They museums are small, but excellently set up to control crowds, and are all centrally located so it's convenient to visit them all in one day. Which we definitely did. The Van Gogh museum was a stunning testament to just how important family can be, no matter how talented an individual. The MOCA had this wild Roy Lichtenstein/Banksy exhibit that takes over every corner of a gorgeous old house (bonus points for a student discount on tickets!!). The Rijksmuseum is definitely the largest and most overwhelming museum I've ever been in, but has an unrivaled Old Masters collection that I geeked out over. Basically, 10/10 for all.

A word (or several) must be said about the food. Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of the "munchie" variety, but there is also a massive variety of ethnic cuisines to choose from, especially as you get out of tourist areas. We ate a 17 course Indonesian rijsttafel at Aneka Rasa, and lived to tell a very delicious tale. I also ate, and dripped, a lot of waffles with Nutella all over the city, and it was worth it every time.

Last but definitely most important: DO NOT WALK IN FRONT OF THE BIKES. They will not stop, not even when they run you over in the street. A child might attempt to veer off, but the adults will not even lean on their brakes. If you insist on crossing in front of them, you do so at your own risk. Personally, I like the way I look without tire tracks across my face.

x Justina


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what a lucky girl

mosebacke rain jacket : stutterheim 

shirt : american eagle 

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Obviously, I love to eat, but I also love spending a day thinking about how lucky I am. I am very blessed in a lot of ways, and even though I try to remember that every day, it's not always easy when it's midnight and I still have half my math homework to get through. This is a day for me to say thank you, and to get on my (new, very snazzy, impeccably waterproof) raincoat, and go for a walk with my family. To tell my partner why he's my favorite, and to remind all my friends that I love them. To pet my dog, and clean my house, and invite more people over for dinner. To be happy, and pass it on.  

Thank you for hanging out with me,

 and for making this little piece of the internet the best place to be. 

Happy thanksgiving!

x Justina 

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market day

photos by jordan

shirt: charlotte russe

jeans: aeo

California is a fruit basket. 

No, I'm not talking about people from LA. We just really have a ton of fruit. and vegetables. and bread. and juice. looooots of juice. All of that adds up into some pretty fantastic farmers markets. 

One of my personal favorites is the one on Saturday mornings in Davis. From the still half-drunk college students to the frozen apple juice, it's just really cute. There's tons of dogs, and a woman who makes biriani, and lots of fresh flowers for me to sniff. But this weekend, I had a more important mission: PERSIMMONS. They're my absolute favorite fruit, and I wait for MONTHS for them to show up at the market, at which point I promptly buy them by the pound. There's an art to the whole thing, and I'm not going to divulge any of my secrets because I don't want any competition.

I keep waiting for some sort of sign (other than the presence of PSLs) that it's ~actually autumn~, but it's been 20 years, and California has barely turned a leaf.

x Justina 

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twenty years later...

me in 2013, on my 16th birthday

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY. I'm officially twenty years old, which, *SPOILER ALERT* means I'm not a teenager anymore. That's just...strange. I've been a -teen for seven years, and all of a sudden it just happened and the earth kept revolving and ...

*dramatic pause*

OK.


(I'm one of those annoying people who thinks age is an arbitrary concept, but I do realize the gravity of this moment, so I want to use it to send a single idea.)

My teenage years would not make for a great YA novel. I was never that angsty, mainly just hangry. I didn't have an identity crisis. I never got invited anywhere so I never had a "partying phase". I needed my mom's help to dye my hair purple. I was homeschooled and never took the SAT.  But I did get to do a lot of cool stuff. At 13 I started this blog, at 14 I was in Teen Vogue, at 15 I stood up for Barbie, and at 16 I graduated high school. At 17 I moved to Germany, when I was 18 I gave up my dreams of being a Disney Channel star, and this last year I got on a helicopter and spoke to crowds and finally learned how to thread eyebrows.

BIG PICTURE: Young people have an extraordinary capacity for greatness if people stop using their age as a barrier. 

So no, as of today I will no longer be an "extraordinary/incredible/talented/fill-in-your-preferred-adjective teen" - but I'm exactly who 13 year old me wanted to be.

5'8, green streaks,
and still talking to myself on the internet.  

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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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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