New addition to our family! :)

Meet Geoffrey! :) We got him on July 25, 2015 !! He's full of so much energy and he smells like spoiled milk. He seriously tests my patience with his stubbornness, but I still love him either way. He snorts so much and makes so much noise, he's perfect ! He gets a long with Alfred really well and I wouldn't have it any other way! 

King Alfred & Prince Geoffrey! 

Ahh! Sorry!

I completely missed out on June, whoa! Okay, here's a run down of what happened last month and what's currently happening! :)



This is me, actually, I sit somewhere else now LOL. But this is me at work at around 8PM... my life has consisted many of these kind of nights and I love it so much. In other words, work has been amazing ever since the new position ^_^



I did the color run ! I also found out how I looked if I was pregnant cause look at that tutu, haha.



I invested in a new set up at home and so far it hasn't let me down.



I had visitors at work !



Alfred fought an infection on his feet, he's okay now :)



We got my dad a selfie stick and and ipad for Father's day



We went to go visit MAGGIE'S college...yes, Maggie.



Finally went to go see the movie Jay worked on, so proud of you baby!



Alfred celebrated 4th of July in the pool!



This is me taking a break after Townhall was a success!




Bought some super cute stuff at the fair!



I got all crafty...



And my baby project was born !

Life is so great and I am so thankful for all that has happened :) I'll check back in with a better update!

Oh yea...

I forgot to mention... 

I've been promoted from Jr. Graphic Designer to Graphic Designer, Internal Communications!!!

It's going to be a crazy crazy challenge, but I am so excited!!!!

Thank you to everyone who has supported me thus far!

Krislam Travels!

Hello world! It's been awhile!  I finally have some downtime to blog about my recent travel to Portland, Seattle & Chicago! It's only been two weeks since I've been back but it feels like it's already been a month, time flies! I'd like to preface this post with the fact that I haven't been outside of California other than Las Vegas (but, that doesn't count, haha). Oh, I've also been to the Philippines, but that's when I was a kid and I barely remember anything. Long story short, it's been awhile since I've traveled and this was a MUCH needed get away. 

First stop, Portland! My first impression of Portland was that it was FREEZING. Being from SoCal and having very little tolerance for cold weather, this was a huge shock for me. For the first couple of days, Jay and I stayed at the Sheraton in Downtown. I had quite the culture shock as their Downtown wasn't anywhere near as busy at DTLA and it was so eerie for me. The rest of the week we stayed at Jamie's place! She is Jay's friend from college who was kind enough to open her home to me and Jay! <3 

A few memorable things about Portland in bullet form!

• Food was pretty spot on! s/o to Natasha for recommending most of the places we ate at.
• There was so many freakin trees and the air felt so good to breathe in. 
• It rained 95% of the time we were there. 
• Hipster vibe was so real and again, on point. 
• NO TAX. 
• Beer at Deschutes was delicious (and I'm not usually a beer person.) 
• I went from wearing two layers of clothes to pretty much 6, not including the beanie and scarf. 
• Coffee? Yes. 
• Lots of walking, so much walking. 
• Downtown at night was so safe that it was eerie, if that's even possible. Not a soul in sight by 9PM. 
• Went to my first NBA playoffs game. I STOOD at the very top. Trail Blazers, lost, womp.
• Waffle Window, twice. Hahahaha. 
• Rode bikes around the river, crossed my first bridge on bike. It was a beautiful scenery!! Sad that we only had the bikes rented for an hour :( 
• Saturday Market which is like a farmers market was slightly underwhelming, but we had delicious garlic "fries".
• Jay bought THE LAST MacBook Pro in the state, yep. 
• Multnomah Falls. Oh. My. Goodness. I loved everything about it. Touched my first waterfall!
• Went into a lot of cute stores! But everything was so expensive :( 
• Oh and there was a running water fountain at almost every corner in Downtown, talk about not being in drought. Must be nice LOL. 
• We did all of the touristy things, Powells, Blue Star, ACE, you name it. 
• Rented a car! It was a cute white Sentra. I felt young again (shut up) cause I'm still not able to rent a car, woo! Haha. 
• People here are so nice. They drive at like 65 mph and everyone is...totally...okay with it. (mind...blown)

Overall, Portland was a beautiful city. I really needed to step away from Los Angeles and just soak in some solace (and some rain, LOL.) Would I go back again? Yes of course. Any time soon? Maybe not. It seemed too calm for me (if that makes sense) that it was giving me anxiety. I'm so used to how busy LA is that it totally threw me off guard. Jay loves it though, but we're opposite people in that matter and I totally see him living there at some point in his life! But yes, I will go back and hit up all the foodie places again! (Rating: 6/10)

Seattle!! We only spent a day up in Seattle :( If I was going to plan this trip again I would have flown in Portland, stayed there for about 3 days and drive up to Seattle and fly out of there. Felt like we spent too much at Portland that we ran out of things to do, haha. Seattle was also beautiful!! More busy, which was good. Cold & windy. GREY'S ANATOMY, enough said. First impression of Seattle was me letting out a relieved sigh that I saw sky scrapers, LOL. 

A few memorable things about Seattle in bullet form!

• Rainy, rainy, rainy! Gloomy, gloomy, gloomy!
• Food was okay, but then again we didn't really hit up a lot of spots :/ womp! But I'm sure it's just as delicious here. 
• First Starbucks! It was a lot smaller than I had anticipated. 
• Pike Place! Super cute place, love places that support small business. 
• Speaking of which, a cup of fresh lobster, correction...a SMALL cup of fresh lobster legs, $14. Mhm, haha.
• Construction caused a 5 min drive into a 30-40 min one to the Space Needle -.- 
• Space Needle!!!! GREY'S ANATOMY. MC DREAMY. 
• The view from the space needle was ridiculously beautiful and it wasn't as scary since there was so much keeping you from falling over. 
• Lots of walking here too, although we stayed within a small area of the city cause we were tired. 
• Shout out to Jay for being such an amazing trooper and driving to and from. We took a nap in the middle of the day to recharge, haha. 
• Chihuly Garden and Glass, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. 
• The drive back included lots of singing and McFlurries.

Overall, Seattle was my favorite between it and Portland. I definitely want to come back at some point and visit more touristy spots. I missed the infamous gum wall, but it's okay! There will be next time. Loving Jay more and more cause he was able to tolerate a whole week of me being hangry and cold. LOL.  (Rating: 7/10)

Within 48 hours I was in LA and back on a plane to IL! ERMERGHERD, CHICAGO!!! I will be the first to say that I love this city, very much and I definitely see myself living here or staying for an extended period of time. First impression of Chicago was...HOLY CRAP, the weather. The weather? Don't even get me started. I flew into Chicago thinking it was going to be freezing. So here I am with like 4 layers on (thinking I was short of layers), I step out of the airport and it was like 75 but pouring. 0_0 I didn't know what to do. Then the following days were 50 degrees, raining and the wind was literally knives jabbing into your body. (I might be a little over dramatic, but I'm also from SoCal, so deal.) THEN...the next day is was 85, and I got sun burned. THEN... back down to 50. Oy. Apart from that, I went to Chicago on a business trip! I attended the HOW Conference!!!!!!!!!!!!! I went with my co-worker, Lisette who is literally my other half at the office and I loved spending so much time with her and exploring Chicago...and freezing...and getting fat :) 

A few memorable things about Chicago in bullet form!

• I was tired for the majority of the trip cause of the quick turn around, ay! 
• Got sick from the flight, ugh... slept a lot on the first day, haha. 
• Our cab driver almost killed us with his stupid ass driving skills and later called me a name under his breath because I only topped him $1. Ugh. Uber forever. Welcome to Chicago much?
• ONLY walking and Uber. We didn't have a car, so we did a lot of walking, which is good cause we ate a lot. 
• Met up with Kathy and Crystal! 
• PIZZA ON THE FIRST NIGHT, yes. Lou Malnati's DEEP DISH! Yum! Although, I prefer te thin crust!
• HOW conference was literally the epitome of my trip there. I learned so much and met so many talented and like minded people and I had the time of my life there. My brain was ready to explode at some point with all the information I was taking in. I also met Michael Bierut and nearly lost my shit. I would never trade my experience at the HOW conference with anything in the world, I highly recommend that every designer saves up or gets their job to fly them out there. Thank you JF for supporting the arts! 
• THE BEAN!! I don't know what is so special about this bean (I have yet to read about it) but... I jumped in front of it. I did a lot of jumping. I also ruined my shoes :/ but its okay! Totally worth it!
• The buildings are so beautiful !! the streets are so clean... I could cry. 
• Portillo hotdogs!! It was, and don't kill me, okay. Sorry Chicago, I get it, you're like famous for hotdogs, but LA style is where its at LOL. 
• I spent $30 on breakfast, like an idiot. 
• I bought so many freakin books, I don't know when I'm going to have the time to read them all, but I'll make it a thing. 
• Met up with Natasha <3 had pizza at Giordano's OH MY GOD SO GOOD. Much better than Malnati's...sorry. 
• John Hancock Tower where I felt vertigo staring into the horizon, but totally worth it. Also it was 96 floors up, eek! 
• Did I mention it was cold? Lisette and I were basically frozen the entire trip. 
• We went to the Skydeck! Willis Tower... 103 floors and totally worth the fear of the platform possibly cracking beneath me and completely falling apart. 
• The architecture tour was everything and it only made me realize how weak sauce LA is with our sky scraper.
• I saw the Michael Jordan statue! That was an adventure. But I did it for my dad! <3
• Met up with Hamsa and Alysia! EEK, FIREBALL. Enough said. 
• WAFFLES CAFE. Yes :) 
• Navy Pier... IT WAS FREEZING. I couldn't feel my fingers, my nose, my eyeballs, my teeth, my everything. 
• It was also foggy...to the point where you couldn't see the base of the skyscapers. 
• Also, how is Chicago built? Cause I felt like the city was on 3 different levels. 
• And the drivers? More aggressive than LA, yea I said it. 

Overall, Chicago was hands down my favorite city. I could definitely see myself being there for awhile. There was just so much to take in...ugh. Closing my eyes wishing I was there again. Mmm :) I really want to bring my family here (or well, anywhere really.) Jay too and Jourel, that would love it! (Rating 9.9/10) -.1 cause of the knife-stabbing-wind that I may never get used to. 

So there you have it! A rather "quick" run down of my trip. I left out a lot of details, but I can seriously go on forever and I don't want to bore future self or anyone that actually takes the time to read this. I can't wait to travel more! Ugh, I didn't realize how much I needed to be away from work and LA, but this was an amazing experience and a wonderful get away!

Until next time, world! :)

P.S. Took these photos on my phone and wrote on top of them using a brush pen!

- Krislam

I'm Back!

I’m back from my trip and have so much exciting news to share, but first, I need to unpack and get my life back to normal xD 

I’m happy about this photo not because I look super toned (which I’m not, nowhere quite near it) but because I’ve been struggling with my weight and bloating since I’ve been on medication and now that I’m COMPLETELY off everything my body is back to normal and I feel healthier as ever. No more bloating!!!!!! Flat and happy tummy! 

I can’t quite give up my carbs and sweets because I love food too much, but I’ve learned to eat it in moderation & try to get myself at the gym at least 4x a week. 

I feel great and I’m super duper happy with my body :) The last 2 months of hard work is finally showing and I’m excited to see where I’ll be in the following 2 months. 

Bye bye medication bloating body! 

Also, I’ve been 2 months strong with Zumba and it’s literally changed my life! 

Traveling, FINALLY! :)

#dynamicduoPDX | 7 Day Getaway with Jay

HOW Conference | Compliments of JF 

 These weeks couldn't get here any faster!!!!

One (Official) Year

Jay and I celebrated our 1 Year two weeks ago! We celebrated a week later since we were busy with family things! I say "official" cause TECHNICALLY, we've been dating for 2 years non-stop, but I mean eh, officially it's been 1 year :) 

1 amazingly-fantastic-filled-with-love-and-food year and I enjoyed every second of it!

Here are a few things we did! (Some of my photos are in my camera, so until then, I'll upload what I have) 

We had a "Dynamic Duo" adventure day! We started off at La Mill to enjoy some breakfast with Alfred. Shortly after, we went to the dog park so we can let Alfred have some fun (and to tire him out since we'll be gone all day). Then we put on our nice clothes and headed over to The Huntington Library in San Marino! We had so much fun! I have to admit that we were both ill prepared for the trip, oops, my bad. I understood that it was a museum and some parts were outdoors, but I didn't know that it was freakin' huge...and that it would be a tiny little hike. Needless to say, I wish I was wearing sneakers and Jay was wishing he wasn't carrying all his photo/art gear. LOL. After the library, we went to Copa Vida, a coffee shop we often visit in Pasadena so that we can work a little since we're both busy bee's, Jay especially. For dinner, we were supposed to go eat somewhere, but instead we went to my cousins house for his farewell party. So I was able to enjoy a day with Jay, Alfred AND my family!

Here's 1 of 2 gifts I gave him. It's an exploding box with a letter in the middle. Each panel was dedicated to each month that had past our last year — it was cheesey and lame, but I loved making it and Jay loved it too! Part 2 was a leather bracelet from Fossil. Jay looks so good with leather bracelets on and when his old one was basically deteriorating I knew I had to buy him a new one. 

Here's what Jay bought me :) I'm going to copy and paste my IG post since it's really elaborate and I'm too lazy to write it out again. 

Main Ingredients for Dynamic Love: 

1. Shared Passion of Graphic Design 2. Imogen Heap (my project that caught his attention to call me in for an interview, if it wasn’t for that project we never would have met.) 3. Starbucks Runs! (We used to make tons of Starbucks runs)4 & 5: Happy Hour Drinks from Octopus (a place we all used to go to after work) 6. An Alfred! 7. A carrot. (Long ago, we went to get food and instead of getting a number while we waited we got a plastic carrot…and so…how he found this carrot is beyond me but this literally almost made me cry.)

He. Is. So. Cheesey.

Jay's first rose was falling apart so I had to give it a permanent home. I started to create a shadow box but felt like something was missing. Lo and behold, when I got the carrot, I knew it was the PERFECT finishing piece. Now the rose has the perfect home! 

We decided to eat dinner on a separate day since we were so busy with adventure day and family bonding. We spent our Sunday working on freelance and sporadically cleaning up the house. When we finally got to a stopping point, which was at 9PM, we decided to walk over the Umami. The food was, eh, I knew I should have stuck to my usual order, but I wanted to try something new. I wasn't too fond of my turkey burger and our fries had TOO much cheese (yes, that is possible ahaha) Nonetheless, we're totally going back because I made a delicious concoction with the sauces that went great with the french fries SANS cheese.

So yea, that is it! We kept it pretty casual. We're going to Portland in June, so we wanted to save our money for that trip! :)

Happy 1 Year Joomar :) 

I love you.

Playing Model Pt. 2

I don't know why I keep doing this to myself, but I volunteered to be a part of our fashion show yesterday for our new apparel launch! I get camera shy and freeze at the sight of a crowd (and, if my real women denim shoot was any indication of how awkward I get, then...well...) yet I still did it...and I loved it :)

And basically, this is how it went down...

So they had Glam Squad (yes, that's their actual name) come in and "glam" us up with hair and makeup. I, of course, requested to have big messy hair and in the midst of teasing my now lion's mane, I took a photo cause it was so big. Hair turned out great, minus the fact my bangs were be soooooo stubborn and kept separating (you'll see it in the photos later). Makeup, eh... my artist didn't seem like she wanted to be there ._. and she didn't want to give me extra eyeliner, or well, it seemed like she would of bit my head off if I asked for extra. Sigh, it's okay though.

We were allowed to style ourselves this time around which made me happy cause I felt very comfortable walking around in this outfit. I was told that it was very "me" so hooray! I was going for the more casual-conservative look, anything else would have been to glam-fab for me, haha.

Here's the final look! We don't have a full length mirror so my shoes aren't showing :( but I was wearing flat booties, cause let's be honest, I'd fall if I had to wear heels. 

There was about 20 of us total and we all looked great and did an amazing job!!! :) #nailedit #werk

Here's me after the show with my cheesey cheese, big-gapped bangs & small eyes smile LOL. I HATE that my bangs did that.. I knew I should have brushed them out, but I was afraid to ruin what the stylist did. They probably showed up like this in the actual runway photos. Siiiiiiigh. Oh well, it's okay :) I had fun and that's all that matters.

Oh, and yes, I was able to keep the clothes :) I love the jacket so much! I'm wearing it today...and will be wearing the full outfit tomorrow for a birthday party. Haha.

Yay for working at such an incredible place!!!

Small Quick Update

A few things... 

- I'm sleepy, but we can all tell by the photo. 

- I'm sleepy because I kicked ass at the gym. 

- I'm at the gym almost 4x a week (on a good week) with at least 1-2 days dedicated to a gym class. 

- Of all the times I've attempted to lose weight and make myself feel better, this has been the most successful one. 

- I'm starting to see tiny little results ! Still tiny, but better than nothing. 

- My diet is under control more than ever. Hooray for having the willpower to say no to delicious greasy food that my forever-thin boyfriend gets to eat LOL. 

On top of that... 

- I've been kicking ass at work, or well, I like to think I am. 

- I've been working closely with the CEO on a lot of our internal communications projects. 

- Michelle and I are making steady progress on her e-book

- I've been practicing calligraphy a crap ton, I really want to dedicate more time to it though

Overall... 

I'm exhausted, but really happy :) 

Just thought I'd check in real quick since it's been a cool minute. I know this was kind of everywhere, but it's like not even 10am yet. My brain is still off x]

Also, my hair is growing back... yay!

<3

Two Things

1. Presentation for our CEO = Success
2. Got a workstation upgrade = Happy Designer


3 projects on the way :)

Say Cheese!

Once upon a time, I temporarily became a model at work for our new 2015  Winter Collection - Real Women Style. It’s live on the site now! I had tons of fun, considering the fact that I was nervous beyond all reason :p

Top: Leah Heel, Lace Ruffle Hem Dress
Left: Pleated Skirt, Kamryn Heel

You can find these products and more at JustFab.com

Here's what it looks like live on site! 

2014 Reflection

Here we are again!! 2014, oh, what…a year. It started off pretty great. Actually, strike that. I started off with strep throat, LOL. But it start off pretty grand…but it quickly turned a little dull towards the end. I would say 2014 was the year of self reflect (lots of self reflect). I spent a lot of my time this year looking at the future and worrying about what’s going to happen to me. I allowed my fears get the better of me to the point where I had to become medicated for my PTSD. I spent almost my entire year on anti-depressants, and while it did seem like it was doing it’s job the side effects were really hard on me. Getting on them was really hard and currently getting off of them is just as hard if not harder. I decided to get off the meds when I noticed an increase to my weight…that and it just wasn’t good for me. I don’t want to have to take medicine every day because of my fears until I’m however old. So I’m looking forward to emotional and physical changes in 2015. I’m really excited for this new year to come, so thank 2014 for all the life experiences. Bring it on, 2015!

Here is my annual "[Year] in Review ! Here is a look back at 2013 :) 

1. A few things you will never forget in 2014

January 

• I started the year with strep throat 
• LION KING ON BROADWAY!! 
• I got new glasses that I now (December 2014) have to wear 
• Happy 6 months to me at JF! 
• Falling in love… 
• Lots of hiking trips 

February 

• More adventures 
• Philharmonic at Disney Concert Hall 
• More hikes, duh 
• Valentines day and Sugar Fish! 
• Lance’s birthday, LOL. 

March

• Maggie’s dance performance! 
• Visited Mr. Dahms 
• Reunited with the girls! 
• March 15, 2014 - You’re my boyfriend :) 
• DISNEYLAND!! With Jay and the bestfriend + boyfriend. So much fun! 

April 

• More hiking!! 
• I CUT MY HAIR SHORT!!! 
• FabSoles are in! 
• San Francisco adventure! 
• Tito Rashid’s family comes to the US! 

May 

• Let’s talk about flat tires -.- 
• Roc Race, yes! Met Jay's parents, eek!
• Pocky obession, that was a thing. 
• Also, waffles. 
• Camping. Oh gosh. I can’t even haha. 
• Arrivederci for Jay ! 
• Officially on anti depressants. 

June 

• Photoshoot with Martin, got the shot! - 
• Got my macbook 
• Maggie started driving. No. 
• Made my first animation on AE 
• I GOT BRACES. LOL. 

July 

• Served jury duty for the first time. 
• ANIME EXPO 
• Parent’s 25th anniversary 
• Coffee shop adventures continue 
• Going into this whole minimalist look, tried. 
• Unoffically move into Jay’s place WE HAVE AN ALFREDS!!!!! 

August 

• JORDAN GETS MARRIED :) 
• 1 year at JF 
• Fall Out Boy Concert 
• Waffle shirt + 1 purchaser  
• Jourel’s surprise birthday dinner! 
• POLB project 

September 

• Bye bye 323 Officially moved in with Jay 
• One Direction concert Maggie’s homecoming 
• We cut my hair, even shorter! 
• I learned how to watch football! Go Chargers! 
• Play with the cintiq! 
• Beach with Alfreds! 

October

• 23RD BIRTHDAY!!! OMGOD, BEST BIRTHDAY! 
• Ball-less Alfred, LOL. 
• Disney company trip! 
• Lisette’s bachelorette party! 
• Halloween!! Egg ! 

November 

• Comikaze ! 
• Designer Con 
• Falling so incredibly in love with Alfred 
• Hellooooo iPhone 6, FINALLY. 
• Mom’s birthday!! :) 
• Crepe adventure with fam bam 
• CTN! AHHHHHHHH 
• Hello Dark Lipstick ;] 

December 

• Marketing ugly sweater day! 
• Cut my hair even shorter! 
• Jourel & Manuel’s Nutcracker Play 
• Alfred continues to learn new tricks 
• JF Holiday Party! (Realized just how much weight I’ve gained) 
• RWD shoot (ugh, so nervous :[ ) 
• Bye bye 2301! Hello 800 Apollo :) 
• I got another waffle maker, thanks Hamsa! 
• Medicine withdrawal :( 
• JAY’S 30TH SURPRISE PARTY!! 
• Christmas Christmas Christmas!
• NYE :) 

2. Relationships

Joomar! My Joomar. I’m going to ahead and say this for the 100th time, but my goodness how far we’ve gone. Literally feels just like yesterday that I just met him…now we’re living together and have the cutest little pup. (OH, and we became official March 15, 2014 :) ) It’s crazy what they say, only time will tell. Jay and I had a lot of ups and downs this year, not with each other, we’re a strong couple, but with our own lives. Jay resigned from Hypothesis and is now pursuing his dreams as a freelancer. I’m not going to get into his life, since it’s well, his life and personal. But for me, as we all know, the struggle with anti-depressants and my PTSD was my most difficult challenge this year and Jay has never left my side and I love him so much for that. We always make time for each other and go on adventures even through our hard times. I love him so much, I’m so excited to see where we go as a couple and separately in 2015. We have a lot planned out for our future and now we’re just one step closer to it with 2014 in the bag. I’m so happy and very thankful to have him in my life, it would be so boring without him :( I hope and pray that our love grows stronger than ever and that we share an enormous amount of happiness, adventures & coffee dates in 2015. Enjoying coffee just wouldn’t be the same without him. 

3. The Best Day

Sunday, July 27, 2014. Jay and I welcomed our little guy, Alfred, into our lives! He brings us so much joy. It was Jay’s first dog and my like 100000th one, but I was really excited that Jay finally got a pup! It seemed like the perfect time to get a pup due to Jay’s recent resignation from Hypothesis. He’s home practically every day so Alfred doesn’t get bored. However, should the time come when Jay gets a full time again I’m going to get sad because we’re going to have to leave him alone, agh, sad face. But we are thinking of doggy day care, we’ll see. In the meantime, my two boys stay at home making me incredibly envious of their time together. Boo. Alfred is now 8 months old, we got him when he was just 2 months weighing in at only 11 lbs. Now he is a whopping 18 lbs. almost 20! He’ll be 1 soon and I can’t wait till be celebrate that day -- there’s going to be dog cake :) I’m very thankful and happy to have Alfred in our lives, he brings such a big smile to our faces and no matter how old he gets he’s still going to be a puppy in my eyes. 

4. The Worst Day

Monday, September 15, 2014.  The day that I bid adieu to studio 323. It was a very bittersweet feeling, but a long time coming. I was very sad to say goodbye since it was my first apartment and I experienced so many life changing experiences, but given the circumstances it was pretty much time to go. I spent my last two months at Jay’s place that 323 became more like storage, so like I said, time to go! That same month I officially moved in with Jay and Michelle. Yes, Jay, my boyfriend. I am living with my boyfriend, that was a thing. I know for a fact that studio 323 isn’t going to be my last studio (granted, I’m living in one right now) but one to call my own. So farewell for now my giant windows and hardwood floors… farewell. And of course, thank you for all the learning experiences that came with living in a 1 bedroom studio with 3-4 people at a time. It was definitely an eye opener, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I’m excited to see where I’m off to next August 2015. Let me rephrase, excited but absolutely terrified, we shall see!

5. The Most Memorable Day 

You know, off the top of my head I really can’t think of a specific date. The only thing that comes to mind is Jay. I have to be fair and I’m sure I mentioned this somewhere else in the blog (note: writing this on different days and not in order) but 2014 was definitely a year filled with learning how to get over fears and to find control in my thoughts. My PTSD really came at me in full swing, so whenever things got bad Jay was always there for me. So honestly any day that wasn’t so great was always memorable because I knew that I was taken care of and was a step forward to becoming a better me. 

6. Your Best Friends 

MAGGIES GOING TO COLLEGE NEXT YEAR. Yea, my little sister is currently in her last year of highschool. A FREAKIN, SENIOR. She applied to 6 colleges all of which are nearby, except for SDSU. But holy crap, my little sister is going to college. Oh. AND SHE’S ALREADY DRIVING. Yea, ugh, I can’t even. And she has a boyfriend. She’s practically an adult and I can’t remember when she decided to wake up one day and be all grown up. Ah, my baby sister… I’m so terrified as her protective older sister but so beyond excited for her future. She has a great head on her shoulders and a giant beating brain so I have confidence she’ll be amazing. I can’t wait to see where you end up going to college, I’ll be proud no matter where you go big brain boshy. 

Jaybird. I think we can both agree that 2014 was definitely a little more mellow for the two of us. I think we deserved it though, seeing that 2013 was a train wreck, LOL. Jourel and I definitely bonded more this year than the previous years. Couldn’t quite say we saw each other a lot, but we definitely have a great number of after-work-stuck-in-traffic phone calls in the bag. We also had several double dates this year, which was always fun even though it’s hard be who we normally would be in front of our boyfriends and not come off too nice in front of each other. Does that make sense? No? It’s okay, we get it. Jourel turned 23 this year too and it was H I L A R I O U S. I’m not sorry for setting up a surprise for you >:] I’m a little sorry that you and your boyfriend fought a little, but it was totally worth it…right? Right? Maybe. Anyways, Jaybird, I love him to pieces and I’m looking forward to seeing what 2015 has in store for him. Sounds like he has a lot planned for his career and that excites me like no other. I’ll always be there for you Jaybird! Now let’s make 2015 our bitch! 

7. The Funnest Getaway 

April 18, 2014. Dynamic Duo adventure to San Francisco! It was a really quick getaway for the weekend and it was really fun. We drove up early morning on Friday and came back home Sunday just in time for WonderCon. Yep, we went to a convention after all that running around up North. We’re nerds okay?! We did a lot of touristy things up in Norcal mainly because it was Jay’s first time so I wanted to make sure that we hit all the spots. I wrote a full detailed blog here. I had a lot of fun and it’s definitely on our to-do list again, but next time we’re going to try and stay longer and visit the non-touristy spots. In 2015 we have Portland lined up for us!! Hopefully some time in March? Possibly spend our 1 year there? Maybe? We’ll see! 

8. Your Birthday 

I turned 23 this year. Yep, twenty-three. 2. 3. With braces, yeah, with braces. This was by far my best birthday, hands down. I wrote a whole entire blog on my birthday that you can find here. But in a nutshell, there was love from my family, Jay, friends, the office and there was waffles, tons of waffles. I felt really loved with all the people that showed up at my birthday party. That’s all I really wanted, is to see the people that I love and care for under one roof having a good time and that’s exactly what I got!! There was even a Photo Booth that made it 100x better, hooray for Pinterest. It’s only 2 months into 23 and so far it’s been kinda EH, but I have almost 75% of 2015 to live it to the fullest, so let’s see what’s in store. I know one thing for sure, 24 will be brace face no mo! :D 

9. The End of Last School Year/The Beginning of This One

While I am sad that I have nothing to report this year, I do have news to share that FIDM has opened a Bachelors in Graphic Design program that should launch September next year !! :) So there is definitely hope in this section, I’m crossing my fingers that I get into the program. In the meantime, I’m also happy to report that this was a pretty great year for me in terms of work. I learned A LOT this year. I juggled freelance and in-house up until November when I decided to take a break from freelance. With freelance, I learned so many things with all my projects. But what I learned the most is that I had to slow down. My art director kept telling me to take a break and to not work so hard, I was so stubborn that I didn’t want to listen. It wasn’t up until one night after a long day at work I broke down and cried because all I wanted to do was rest up, but I had to find the energy to power through a project. That’s when I knew, I had to find balance. I also noticed that when I stopped freelancing my attention to my work at the office improved by 100000000%. (Not to say that I wasn’t focused, but my mind was always distracted and I was always tired.) When our company introduced our new creative director, he brought on a completely new look and discipline  and since then I’ve learned new ways to look at design and how to execute. Work has pretty much been the only thing keeping me busy and grounded, without it I have no idea what I’d do! Hopefully next year I’ll be able to check in with news about being in school, if not, then I hope I’m still kicking ass at work :)  OH OH I also want to mention that I participated this year in FIDMs 24th Annual Career Connections (See photo above!) 

10. New Year Resolutions 

Pulling this directly from my Moleskine! Top 20 New Years Resolutions:

1. Focus less in what you can't handle & focus more on what you can handle.
2. Eat healthier. Be healthier more than ever before.
3. Be nicer to people...
4. Get into school, if not, educate yourself online as you have been but MORE!
5. Focus more on you than freelance projects (unless a really great opportunity comes up, thennnnnnnn, you know... LOL) 
6. Save. Money. Please. Get a hold of your spending habits. 
7. Dress better. Simple = better. 
8. Get better at drawing. 
9. Fix that posture! 
10. Travel. Somewhere. Anywhere. 
11. Continue to keep parents in your life as much as possible. 
12. Write and read more :) 
13. Be kind to Jay and love x1000000 more... be nice! 
14. Cook more and learn new dishes. 
15. Think more optimistically!
16. Dance more. Sing more. 
17. Let's get rid of "Jr." in your title, yes?
18. See more friends this year and hang out more often. 
19. Start your days earlier. Wake up earlier! 
20. Be kind to yourself... 

Overall, the important thing to remember is to try and stay happy no matter what the circumstances are. Be nicer to other people and love more. Don't let your fears get to you okay? Push through it and become stronger. Stay inspired. Stay motivated. Stay in love. Go get 'em Future Krislam! 

Good Riddance 2014, as always, it's been a pleasure! ♥  

Changes!

As of December 17, 2014 I officially made the decision to be anti-depressant free and while it’s really only been 5 days, it’s been 5 incredible hard days. I haven’t gone cold turkey. I have a medical regiment that I am following and my mid January I should be completely rid of medication :) The withdrawal process is probably the worst thing through this entire journey with PTSD (minus getting really chubby). Think of spinning in an office chair really fast for about 5 minutes, and now think of that feeling you get when you finally get off.. that’s me, for about 24/7…on top of that I constantly feel there’s a rock sitting on top of my eye. Gah! My thoughts are everywhere and I am become extremely exhausted from even the most mundane tasks.

A lot of people don’t take my illness seriously, so I let them be, but for the like 4 people in my life that do take it seriously, I am very thankful to them. Especially Jay. I feel like such a terrible girl friend for choosing his birthday week to make the decision, but it was better to start now while I have vacation for the holidays than to do it next year and start the year off with sick days and going home early.

I am so excited to be medication free, I just gotta hang in there.

Update later!

On Set!

Today was the first time I experienced being in front of a camera on set for an actual fashion collection! Eeeek!

I won't spill too much details now, but I'll be back when we launch the collection in January 2015. Otherwise, future Krislam I hope you know that you were SO NERVOUS TODAY... LOL. Talk about camera shy.

:)