Of the moment // 6.15.18
After a whirlwind two weeks of European travel, I am so thrilled to be home! I had the most incredible time catching up with good friends and checking out some new-to-me places in London and Paris, and exploring the stunningly beautiful country of Slovenia.
I’m looking forward to putting together some posts about my trip, so if there’s anything in particular you want to know about–let me know in the comments below!
Beauty
I remember reading this advice from Eva Chen and have kept in the back of my mind for a while: “When I was at ELLE magazine many moons ago, I wrote an article about what airplane air does to your skin (zero percent humidity = crazy dehydration = micro fissures in skin = baking makeup into your pores). Ever since then I cleanse right before getting on a plane and then apply tons of facial oil on the plane. If you forget to bring products, hang out at Kiehl’s or La Mer before you board and slather yourself with samples.” Although this doesn’t really work for most of my quick work travel (I’m usually already wearing makeup so I can go straight from airport to meetings), I put this to test on my allllll of my flights to and from and within Europe over the last two weeks. I slathered The Ordinary 100% Plant-Derived Squalene all over my face right before take-off, and I’ve got to say: my skin actually still looks pretty great, despite so much travel!
Eats
My best trick to beat jet lag: take a hot shower and immediately get on the local schedule! After an flight from Paris to New York City that landed in the late afternoon, I went to dinner with a girlfriend at Pok Pok. I’ve been to the Portland location before, and while the Brooklyn spot is in kind of a random neighborhood–it’s near the waterfront, but not close to any subways–it definitely did not disappoint. I’m obsessed with the salted plum vodka collins, although I will say that the dishes were definitely spicier than expected. At one point, I was crying and my mouth was burning and I ordered a beer just because I know it’s better to help with spicy food than water and I looked over at my friend who also had watery eyes and a red face and I laughed: “It looks like we are GOING THROUGH something together!” 
Reads
My favorite part of travel, especially long-haul flights and solo adventures: lots of time to read! I tore through some really excellent books on this trip. The Good Daughter was described on The Skimm as “The Good Wife meets Law & Order,” which is probably the best way to get me to read any book. Behold the Dreamers follows a Cameroonian couple searching for the American dream (and American papers) during the economic recession of 2008: it’s a hopeful yet realistic (and tinged with sadness) depiction of the immigrant experience. And in light of the news this week, The Leavers is a must-read: it follows the life of a young son of a Chinese nail salon worker who suddenly disappears in New York City.
Podcasts
I also took full advantage of all of my travel to catch up on all of my podcasts. I discovered two five-episode series that were definitely worth listening to. One was 30 for 30: Bikram: I’ve practiced traditional Bikram yoga, as well as hot vinyasa variations, so it was interesting to hear more about its origins. That said, it focuses mainly on the sexual misconduct allegations surrounding Bikram and the current state of the business. I also highly recommend the special series of The Daily: Charm City. It talks to a family who lost a son to violence in Baltimore and breaks down the history and cycle of how the city got to where it is today: namely, losing more young black men to gun violence than ever before.
Words
“One swallow does not make a summer, neither does one fine day; similarly one day or brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy.” -Aristotle
This weekend, I’m so happy to be back home in San Diego! No huge plans other than snuggling my pug, drinking coffee and eating sourdough egg sandwiches made by David and heading to the beach.
