SELF Team San Francisco & AVON 39 - The Walk to End Breast Cancer

April 24, 2015

I bet you can name one person you know who has been affected in some way by cancer. This is a serious and sad disease that is real in almost all of our lives. I personally lost my grandmother to breast cancer, and was also diagnosed with a form of Melanoma that I was able to treat and overcome in 2004. These are the most recent stats from the American Cancer Society:

Over 40,290 women will die from breast cancer in 2015


Wow. Without enough research funding in this field, it is with philanthropic efforts that we are able to help battle this issue, even if in very small ways. Right now we're recruiting walkers to join us in the Avon 39 Walk to End Breast Cancer, which is a nation-wide fund raising effort, where we will raise money, get in shape, and finally cover 39 miles over just two days. 


Anyone can participate, and don't worry if you're not in walking shape yet - training starts in May and the race will happen in July. If you'd like to walk, help fundraise, or just make a fast and easy donation without walking, you can checkout the team site here:

Julia's SELF Team Page


We've partnered up with SELF magazine who will also be supporting our team with training schedules, tee-shirts and more!




When starting any new cardio program, it's important to have quality, supportive shoes. I've equipped myself with these running shoes from Brookes which have extra support for joints and are amazingly comfortable - its like walking on pillows... You can find them on the Brooks.com page here.


Of course, what makes the San Francisco team unique is a little extra wearable tech gear. How many steps will 39 miles get you? ;) This smart watch from Garmin has all the bells and whistles:

  • Advanced GPS-enabled running watch with high-resolution color display
  • Tracks time, distance and calories!
  • Garmin Connect Mobile app allows real-time updates, automatic uploading of run data and social media sharing via bluetooth
  • Water resistant 

So get ready, get serious, and let's gear up for a walk for the cure. This is no easy endeavor, but with all of your support this is one step to start saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Hope to see you on my team.

XO Julia

Thanks for reading! All photos taken by local photographer, Andrew Zhou whom I'd highly recommend for all of your photography needs. Follow his Instagram hereFind my live updates on Instagram and TwitterThese opinions are all my own and may contain affiliate links. 

Lazy Weekend Style...also Preliminary Thoughts about the Apple Watch.

April 17, 2015

Happy Friday! Not a clue what to wear this weekend that is both comfortable and stylish?

Right now I'm a big fan of a single piece romper. The best thing about a romper is true for any single piece clothing item. Rompers are easy. You slip them on, throw on a few accessories, and bam. No matching or pairing or worrying about how a surplus of layers will go together, instead, it's fastest way to look and feel stylish enough for almost any occasion. (This one even has giant pockets that can fit any size phone.)


I picked accessories that matched my coffee and milk. I might call this color toffee.


Sunny days also call for easy hair and your favorite sunglasses.


Any light, simple accessories can be tossed on with a white romper, but what about a giant, wearable device like the Apple Watch? When a phone fits neatly into the pockets, or into a handbag - light and out of sight until needed, I'm racking my mind to think how a giant rectangle on my wrist could enhance this outfit?


There is room on my wrist for a watch below an arm band like this one...so I'll just have to wait and see. I'm on the fence.


Let me back up this skeptical point of view by explaining my 'wearable wrist accessory bag'. This is the bag where all my new devices go to die after I've played with them for about a month or two. It's like a sad electronic graveyard. Out of all the smart watches and fitness bands that I've owned, the watches were the most annoying.

Smart watches are too big, heavy, and hot underneath the display screen...I've also found them completely useless especially when they ping you with a notification that you can't respond to immediately, because the only practical way to reply is with your smart phone :/ . Anyways, I might still get one eventually, play with it for a month or two,  then send it off to the wearable accessory graveyard.

Instead of an Apple Watch, I might recommend stocking up on giant scarves that double as wind breakers when the breeze comes up.



Have a great weekend everyone.

XO Julia


Fly Me to the Moon

April 15, 2015

Yuri's night is a global celebration of humanity's achievements in space, with hundreds of parties and events held around the world each April.

"Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it!"  
— Yuri Gagarin, 1st human in space.

Image by California Academy of the Arts and Sciences
In San Francisco, Yuri's space night is held at California's Academy for the Arts and Sciences. Space Cowboys spun in the DJ booth, spacey drinks like green absinth and something called a Space Goddess were served, and the space was filled with new findings and plans for future space travel.

Space Goddess cocktails
I found it only appropriate to wear something that reminded me not only of futuristic Space Travel, but the isolated dome we were all locked into. This dress was inspired by Jenny Agutter's little number in Logan's Run.


It is a silky shirtdress from Urban Outfitters and paired with an oversized trench coat. The pictures didn't turn out as well as we'd hoped with the harsh lighting, so I've posted a few from the site as well. I accessorized with a gray coated stone necklace from J.Crew, (shopping links below at the bottom of the post).



Seeking Inspiration

April 10, 2015

As we are now well into Spring, I am seeking renewal and inspiration for creative outlets. I'm feeling an energy that is brought in by the warm pollen-filled wind, and with it a series of new and on-going projects that have me feeling excited.

I know I've put many a quote by Henry David Thoreau into my posts, but that is because perspectives on Transcendentalism always lead the way into adventure and serendipity. This one is my favorite:

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

Thoreau ventures into the woods, I venture into art galleries and museums. How soon do we come close to death before we realize that we never understand life? I think the more you know yourself, and embrace the oddities, the more you can understand life. It was exactly this type of thinking that led me through the De Young, and also into this outfit.




The shoes are a reminder to stop and smell the flowers. They also match almost everything in my closet with all of the color options.


A Runcible Phone: the Nonsense Name for a No Nonsense Device

April 6, 2015

The word "Runcible" is a nonsense adjective invented by the English poet, Edward Lear. Here is an excerpt from "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat" to help set the stage:
The company Monohm Inc. is taking a new spin on this children's classic by creating a new device called "Runcible", that will surely stand out amongst the sea of rectangular smart phones this coming year.
Pictured below is this cleverly unique device with various wood backings and a camera directly in the center. Running on a Mozilla Platform, the features are very limited, however I was told by the Founder, President & CPO George Ariolla, that this was an intentional decision.
Product-wise, holding one in your hand is a lot like holding a macaroon cookie. The shape and weight is about equal, light and beautifully delicious. I'm curious how the marketing strategy will play out, but I'm hoping it's something like....Meet Runcible. The phone cookie that is too beautiful to eat.
Macaroon cookie photo by Nad's Bakery
While the actual working device is still in prototyping phases, here is a glimpse at the flat screen on the front, shiny and perfectly symmetrical.
It makes sense that the founder of this company was searching for a way to simplify the mobile phone. As a family man, George recognizes his children's constant need for phone apps, which really mimics our own behavior. The device, which is somewhere in between a wearable and a smartphone does not host apps. 
The Runcible phone does not run apps, but you can text, make calls and take photos. Isn't that all a family needs? The device aims to deter a constant attention to the phone, and encourage a simple lifestyle that brings our attention back to one another.
A glimpse at the upcoming interface reveals that you can still track your Twitter and Instagram counts, but the primary purpose is as watch and camera, not a distraction.
Swelling bubbles are the notification, not a blinking light
Runcible could make for a fine accessory - perhaps this will become a great work companion, something that will be the non-phone for the times when you should be paying more attention to the task at hand, rather than the constant notification feeds. Or it could be as simple as a smart pocket watch or makeup compact!
Let me know what you think.
-XO Julia
...They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
   Which they ate with a runcible spoon...  












Thanks for reading! Find my live updates on Instagram and TwitterThese opinions are all my own, and may contain affiliate links. 



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