I'm just getting ready for the day.
Today is Sunday.
It's the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so if you guys celebrated Thanksgiving, I hope it was a good one.
We obviously stayed in the city and we actually spent Thanksgiving Day with one of Avery's colleagues and his family, which was super nice.
Friday was actually Avery's birthday.
He took the day off from work and we went to lunch together.
We went to his favorite coffee shop.
We went for a walk and then that night I took him out to dinner for his birthday.
So we just had a really nice day together, and it's fun because our birthdays are within a week of each other.
So it just kind of feels like a birthday season for us, you know?
Also with the Thanksgiving holiday.
Either my birthday or his birthday always falls right around Thanksgiving, just before or after, or even on the holiday.
So um, it's also just nice that things are a little bit slower and you can really take the time and enjoy your birthday.
Today we're getting our christmas tree which is part of the reason why i started this vlog because i wanted to take you guys along and kind of decorate the tree together.
Avery's at the gym right now, and so i'm just getting ready because i want to get a cute photo with the tree, and then i'm going to meet him after his workout and we're going to go to whole foods and just pick up one of the Christmas trees that they have there.
They always bring out the little trees which are just perfect for a New York apartment.
Oh my god this is so funny.
Avery's ears must be burning because he just sent me a screenshot of an ornament that he just purchased.
Every year he gets an ornament that represents our year for the tree, and I totally forgot about it until right now.
But, if you guys remember, earlier this year we took a trip to California and we drove up the coast and had a wedding there and we visited some of his friends there.
Anyway, one of the things that we did on that trip is we drove through big sur and he just sent me a screenshot of a big sur ornament that he ordered for a tree.
I would have to pull out our ornaments and see what we have left and if we need to sorry, if we need to buy anything.
I was going to wait to share this with you because before the end of the year i want to just do, like my 2024 favorites, a roundup of all the things that I've tried and loved this year, but I just cannot wait to share this with you.
You guys know, I've kind of been on a skincare journey in terms of replacing a lot of the products that I have for cleaner, non-toxic products, and it's actually led me to trying a number of Korean skincare products and, being in New York, I'm just so lucky that you have access to all that stuff.
There's actually a little skincare store not too far from me that sells all the like top Korean skincare products.
And so one of the products that I got is this sunscreen.
And I'll try and link it below.
I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find a link, but I just have to say that this is the best sunscreen I've ever used in my life.
It's SPF 50.
The consistency is white, but like you can see, I just put it on.
It is glowy, but not too glowy.
It's not greasy or anything.
Obviously it doesn't leave a white cast.
And I am just completely obsessed with this product.
It's also quite hydrating.
So if you have dry skin or your skin tends to get dry in the winter, like mine, I feel like this is a really good addition.
And yeah, I just couldn't wait to share this with you.
But anyway, I'm going to quickly do some makeup and then we're going to get the treat.
Let's think about this for a second.
So I have this bow.
Trying to find all of our ornaments.
I have a bunch of boxes here on the ground that I've been too lazy to throw away.
I think, let's see, I think everything is in this box here.
Some of Avery's golfing stuff too.
It's so funny to think that I haven't thought about any of these ornaments for the past year.
This is one of our little ornaments.
It has a crab. and it resembles our trip to Seattle last year where Avery's uncle took me crabbing.
I went crabbing for the first time.
So funny.
Then we have this martini glass.
This was also one from last year, because it was the year that I started drinking martinis and Avery was already loving martinis, and so This is yet another thing for us to bond over.
Our Christmas lights.
I think this was from our first Christmas together, which was in Canada with my family.
So cute.
And then I guess we just have these right now, which is weird, because I thought we had a box of these little mini ornaments in gold, green and red, but I guess we don't have those anymore.
Okay, well, we'll start with that for now.
Maybe at Whole Foods they have some other ornaments that we can add to the tree and just kinda go from there.
Okay, I did manage to do a little bit of Black Friday shopping.
Nothing too crazy, I just had a list of a couple things that I really needed.
One of them being tops.
I feel like I don't have enough tops just for everyday, or things that are easy but still nice to wear to dinner.
So one of the things that I got is this top from Reformation and this is the brown color.
I also ended up ordering the black because I just love the fit so much.
I think the neckline is really chic.
And the fit is perfect.
So just a really nice fabric.
It's a mix of cotton and spandex.
So I'll have this link down below.
And then I also got this belt from Aritzia.
This is a brown belt.
This is one of those things that I had on my list for a while.
I just love the buckle.
I think it's so cool.
And I wanted to get it in brown because I already have a black belt with a gold buckle and also a black one with a silver buckle.
So I wanted to switch it up.
And I've been loving playing around with belts lately.
I think it's such a great... way to elevate your outfit really quickly.
It's also kind of an inexpensive way to just make your outfit look a little bit more fun and interesting, especially when you're someone like me who loves to just wear basic black brown, neutral colors.
A belt can really add something to the fit.
So yeah, I'll make sure to link both of these pieces in the description box.
I think she's so cute.
I'm tempted to buy different ornaments, but honestly, she's so tiny.
And I think by the time they get here, it's going to be halfway through December.
It's not even worth it.
So next year we'll do an ornament refresh.
Maybe we'll get a bigger tree next year too.
Who knows?
I just sat here for a minute waiting for my camera to focus.
And now...
Like 2025 might be the year of a new camera, honestly.
Do you guys remember when I got this camera?
I don't remember exactly what year it was.
It could have been either 2018 or 2019, but it's been a while.
She's held on for quite a while, but the focus isn't doing so good anymore.
Anyway, it's Friday today.
It's just after 12.
I had a call with mentor just now, which was really nice.
I've been really leaning into talking to people that i trust this year and kind of like building a a small circle of my own trusted advisors this year, and it's been really nice for me because i think historically i'm really someone who keeps a lot of things close to their chest and just kind of likes doing things on their own.
But i've really come to see the value in talking to people who have experience in life and have built successful things for themselves, but also talking to people who are in industries that you're in.
And so, yeah, we just talked on the phone for like an hour, which was great.
I'm in an interesting place right now and maybe I'll share a little bit about it, but part of me feels like I have so much more clarity around what I want to do and what I want to focus my energy on than I even had earlier this year.
But then the other part of me is like how do I do this so that it makes sense and it's worth my time?
And I feel like I've been at a crossroads for a little while about one aspect of my life and my career.
And I have ideas on how to kind of push that forward and pivot that so it's more aligned with who I am right now and what I wanna actually be focusing on.
But it's tough, and it's hard to put your energy into something that you don't know is going to work out.
It's hard to, how do I better phrase this?
One of the things that I want to do in the new year is actually focus my energy on less things.
Because I think this year was really a lot about trying new things and just kind of gaining clarity around certain things in my life and certain things that I put my energy into now.
And for a while now I've been feeling like one of these aspects doesn't really align with me so much anymore.
But there's still like an attachment to it and there's still opportunity there.
I think I just need to kind of change it to fit to who I am a little bit more.
And trying to figure out how to do that without adding more work to my plate, without taking my focus off of other areas.
To like start this new thing is really hard for me.
I think ultimately I know what I need to do.
I know what I want to do, but the logistics involved, and like all of the little nuances that are involved with these things, make me question my decisions.
And so that's kind of something that I'm trying to...
I shouldn't sit on the corner of the couch.
Something that I'm trying to just kind of talk through with other people and figure out on my own too, because ultimately it's me who's gonna have to make these kind of changes.
Anyway, that's kind of what my morning's been looking like.
I put up some polls on the community page for my channel.
If you go to my channel, you can see posts and you'll see two polls there.
I would love, if you haven't already, to check those polls out and vote for what you want to see in the new year.
And i actually have a question for you guys.
I have two questions.
One is one is more about you and one is more about this channel.
If you like my videos, what is it about them that you like?
Is it the actual vlogging aspect?
Is it the conversations that I have with you?
Is it the things that I show you?
Here we go, the focus again.
I would love to know more about that.
And so if you have the time to leave me a comment and just let me know, that would be amazing.
And the other thing which is more about you guys is I would love to know what kind of year this has been for you.
How...
Do you feel that this year went for you?
Do you think it was an easy year?
Do you think it was a challenging year?
If it was challenging, was it more personally challenging or was it challenging in terms of career?
I think i just want to know more about you guys and i want to know um, where you're at in your lives like, what are the things that you're going through, what are the things that you are having a hard time with?
Yeah, maybe we can use some of that for content in the new year.
I know i keep changing my hairstyle, but it's because okay, so we ordered i ordered rosemary oil for my scalp.
I don't know if you guys have heard about this, but it's supposed to help with um, like hair loss a little bit, and I don't know if I'm dealing with hair loss specifically.
I think I just am gradually thinning hair towards my hairline and here you guys can probably see, And so one of my girlfriends was raving to me about it.
She's like, I do it a couple nights a week.
And so I caved and I ordered it for myself.
I can link this for you.
I just got this off of Amazon.
I really like this one because it comes with a little...
I always do this and I never know what to call it, but it comes with this lid.
It comes with an original lid, but then you can put on this top and then you can just put it in your scalp with this on top.
It really helps.
You just have to be careful because this actually squeezes out more oil than you need.
So I'm still trying to figure it out, but I got that.
And then I also got this hair scalp massaging brush.
This is to help stimulate growth in the scalp.
So anyway, I tried it last night for the first time because I knew I was going to wash my hair.
And I actually like it.
It feels good.
It doesn't really, you know, it doesn't tingle or anything.
It's just a natural oil.
But because it's close to my scalp, you really have to wash it out well.
And I think I maybe could have shampooed my hair twice.
So I'm trying to figure out how to make it not look too greasy.
Anyway, I was telling you that I ordered a handful of things from Black Friday and that I needed some tops.
And they just came in yesterday.
So I figured maybe we could try those on quickly before I go to Pilates.
This might be a little bit hard to see because I'm wearing black leggings, but this is that same top from Reformation that I was wearing in brown at the start of this vlog, in black.
And I'm definitely gonna end up keeping this.
This is a sports bra.
So it has a crossbody and it comes out.
But you can actually wear this with a regular bra.
You just kind of have to push the straps a little bit further on your shoulder.
But I love this.
I love the fit.
And I really love the neckline.
It just... It's kind of a flattering shape for your neck too.
Sometimes when things are up too high, I feel like my head looks bigger.
Maybe that's just me.
But yeah, I really like this neckline.
And for the Black Friday price, it was actually...
Pretty good deal for a solid, like, black long-sleeve top that I would wear all the time.
Okay, you guys are going to be like, this is just another plain black top.
But I was actually really excited about these.
One, because the Black Friday price point is really good, and I just need some good basic tops.
Just to wear to castings, to wear under blazers.
And so I got this in white and in black.
It's just really chic.
Simple.
The only thing that I'm noticing is it kind of comes up a little bit here in the front.
But I think it's also because I maybe have my arm up right now.
But overall, solid.
10 out of 10.
Just going to keep my hair in the front.
I love this.
It's like the perfect basic white tank.
I'm really, really happy with these.
I know you guys are probably going to go look at the price point and think like why do i need to spend 50 something dollars for a tank top?
And i totally get it.
I wish we didn't have to do that.
You can go to azara and get something like this for 20 bucks.
But what i've realized at this point and you can go back to videos from a couple years ago and i'll be like i only spent you know this and this money on tank tops i've realized that it's actually worth it to spend the sixty dollars now and have a tank top that if I take care of it and I wash it properly, it's gonna last me for two, three years.
Then have to buy t-shirts twice a year because they're cheap, they don't wash well, they shrink.
And they just don't look elevated enough for me to wear it to the agency or to a casting, or just in my everyday life.
Yeah, you guys know I'm all about saving money and being smart about spending money on clothes.
But for things like this, things that you're going to be wearing all the time and you have to look good in them, it's worth it to spend the extra 20 30.
Okay, this one is unfortunately going back to the store.
I kind of had a feeling already that this...
This just wasn't going to be very flattering.
It's too open for me.
And it also like gapes weirdly here.
All right, well that's it.
I did order a pair of jeans also, but those just don't fit.
And I think even if I get them tailored, I'm not going to love them.
So they're going back to the store.
Maybe we'll return those later today.
Just showered quickly, did some editing and I realized that I actually haven't had lunch yet, which is so weird for me.
It's 3.45.
This is so unlike me.
I honestly am one of those people who never forgets to eat, but I guess I just haven't really been that hungry today.
We also had breakfast kind of late, so maybe that's why.
You know what I think?
I'm just gonna use rest of the salad.
It's honestly not that much, but i have half of an avocado and i also have some chicken that i made yesterday.
I'm gonna do the tiniest bit of olive oil just to give it a little something.
The movie that we're going to starts at 5 30 i think.
It's only a two hour movie, so We're probably gonna get dinner after, so I'll probably eat a little bit more.
Okay, I'm heading out for the night.
I'm gonna drop off these Reformation returns, and then I'm gonna head out to the movies.
I'm probably not gonna bring my camera, but I'll bring my phone and just take some clips and I'll see you guys tomorrow.
Okay, it's the next day.
Guys, Moana 2 was such a cute movie.
Haven't seen a movie like that in a really long time, but it was so fun and I actually never saw the first one, so you don't even really need to watch the first one if you just wanna go and see it in theaters.
You're not really missing much, but it was so cute and I didn't vlog this.
But we ended up going to Shake Shack after and then I came home and I just had to chill the rest of the night.
But I'm actually gonna end this vlog off here because Avery's going to take the rest of the day off and we're going to spend the day together.
So I'm going to enjoy that off camera.
I love you guys so much.
Thank you for watching.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
Don't forget to check out the polls in the community section.
Let me know what you think.
If you guys have any other requests or questions or anything, just leave me a comment and I'll see you in the next one.
