THE SECRET TO CLEAR SKIN

This blog post will be relevant to those who deal with skin problems like I do.

I just wanted to share with you about my struggle with acne. It frustrates me to no end that even in my early 30's I still have to deal with pimples, zits, whiteheads, what have you. Acne has been the thorn on my side (or face, I suppose) since adolescence. I've tried everything: topical creams, special cleansers, antibiotics, vitamins, and birth control pills. Sometimes they're effective initially but then things go back to their usual state of acne pandemonium.

But a couple months ago I accidentally discovered a regimen that's helped my skin tremendously. The best thing about it is that it doesn't cost anything! In September, I underwent laser eye surgery and so I couldn't let water near my face for a week in order to protect my eyes. That's right, I had to go a whole week without washing my face! I was really worried that this would cause a breakout of apocalyptic proportions. Plus, I couldn't wear makeup. So I went around with a bare face, and the only thing I could do to clean my face was wash it with a damp, warm washcloth at night. In the morning I didn't bother cleaning my face. To my surprise, not using soap on my face and not wearing makeup improved the condition of my skin very visibly. I think gently scrubbing my face with a warm, damp washcloth every night would exfoliate the dead skin cells, which prevented my pores from getting clogged.

So that's what works for me! I'm not saying this is the solution to everyone's skin problems. But I think face wash in general, even a gentle one like the one I use, dries out your face and causes acne. I've read that dry skin causes your oil glands to overproduce to compensate for the dryness. Oil is good for your face, but too much of it can clog your pores, causing acne. Actually, I read a tip years ago from a girl who had dealt with acne suggesting that in the morning you should just wash your face with water and that's it, since your face is already clean from the previous night's washing. I implemented this tip earlier this year and saw some improvements. But avoiding soap altogether has been the best solution for my skin problems.

The downside is that I don't wear make-up as often as I used to since if I do put it on then that means I have to wash it off with a facial cleanser. Sadly, I look really haggard without make-up. But it's so nice not to have pimples and whiteheads dotting my face. I do have occasional breakouts of course depending on my menstrual cycle, but I've seen a 90% reduction. Seriously.

So this is my simple skin care regimen for reducing acne breakouts: 
:: Avoid wearing make-up or wear it as infrequently as possible
:: At night, gently scrub your face with a warm, damp washcloth (avoid soap or any facial cleanser!); follow with toner and moisturizer
:: In the morning, either don't wash your face or only use water

HOME OFFICE MAKEOVER

This fall the Dude and I have been busy doing a major overhaul of our apartment. I painted the walls in our bedroom and living room. Furniture was re-arranged, purged, and acquired. Now the part of the apartment that looks the most different is my office.

My office has gone through a few reincarnations. It takes up a portion of the living room, and it's been placed in different corners of it throughout the last couple years. This and this is what it looked like just before. Now the office is completely furnished with IKEA products. I've accepted that when it comes to office furniture and accessories, IKEA is really one of the best options. Their office furniture is so modular that you can easily create a custom office for yourself. I'm quite pleased with the results.

It's definitely a luxury to have extra work space finally! And to have all my craft supplies in one place instead of in five different places around the apartment. 

I love having the rubber plant at the corner of the desk. It's nice to have plants near me while I work.







The red task lamp, which I found at an estate sale, is one of the very few non-IKEA furnishings.





My vintage toolbox collection.




I read one chapter from Don't Sweat The Small Stuff every day before I start work. It provides plenty of good advice, reminders, and much needed perspective. Mountie coaster - I used to have a thing for Mounties.

The plumbing pipe desk we built is now the dining table. It's replaced the last piece of furniture from the Dude's bachelor days - a kitchen table that got sold on craigslist. He pretends to be indignant about my systematically purging his furniture, but deep down he knows that good decor means happy wife means he's better off.

Isn't it ironic now that finally when the apartment is set up in the optimal way that works for us and is starting to look decent, we've decided it's time to move?

ACE HOTEL IN PALM SPRINGS

Although we stayed at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs just a few weeks ago, already it feels like a distant dream. It was nice to be back in the desert. I LOVE the desert. It's one of the things I miss the most about Southern California.

I've been wanting to check out the Ace Hotel ever since I learned about all it's design-y goodness. It used to be a Howard Johnson, and now it's the hippest hotel in Palm Springs. I thoroughly enjoyed the two nights we stayed there and wished we could have stayed an additional day. This was the first vacation the Dude and I took just the two of us since our honeymoon in 2009. All our vacations since have involved visiting family, which is fun but not very relaxing. I really needed to get away to somewhere where I could go and do absolutely nothing but lounge around.

I should mention that right before we arrived at the Ace, we spent the morning going through my stuff in storage that I hadn't seen since 2004. It was super stressful as we didn't have much time. It was also physically and emotionally draining as I threw away most of the crap I saved. By the time we got to the Ace, it looked like a veritable paradise. So my experience may have been a bit coloured due to the sheer exhaustion I was feeling when I arrived.



Needless to say, I spent a lot of time by the pool. I'm not normally the lounge-by-the-pool-all-day kind of gal, but that's all I wanted to do while we were there because I was feeling weary and it was too damn hot to do anything else.

Now I'll shut up for a bit and let the pictures do the talking.







I was absolutely in love with the side table on the right.











I really dug the light fixtures, particularly their industrial look.



Next time I'd like to stay in a room with a private patio. You get your own fireplace!



The hotel lobby. I really wanted to take the leather chair home.



The famous plumbing pipe shelving unit. It inspired this internet sensation, which prompted a slew of others to make their own version. When I saw it, it felt like I had reached a pilgrimage destination.



King's Highway restaurant on the hotel property. It used to be a Denny's. Gosh, I love the paint-dipped legs of those Bentwood chairs.

The first night we ate at the restaurant it just happened that it was Sissy Bingo night. The hostess, Linda Gerard, would belt out a song occasionally while calling out the bingo balls. My favourite song was "Who Do You Have to Fuck to Get in a Movie." Linda is in her 70s, but given her energy you wouldn't know it.



Love the tile work.



The Dude was cracking me up with his silly antics. Again, love the pendant lamps. Whoever designed the property really paid attention to lighting.

The food served at King's Highway was absolutely delicious. Most of their food is local and organic. And they have the BEST, DAMN coffee EVER - Sumptown Coffee. If it weren't for my bladder condition, I would have stolen more than just a few sips from the Dude.



One thing I really appreciated about the Ace is that they have an entertainment offerering almost every night. Our second night we attended a karaoke event in the Amigo Room, which is a cozy dark little bar. It was so much fun. I can't wait to stay at the Ace again as I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. And I hope to visit all their other locations, two of which are in the Pacific Northwest!

My photo collection of the Ace can be found here.

CALIFORNIA DESIGN AT LACMA

We barely squeaked in some time to see LACMA's California Design exhibit during our trip to L.A. I mainly wanted to see it in order to check out the Eames' living room recreated inside the museum. All the contents of the living room were temporarily moved out of their Case Study house in order to do some renovations. The New York Times wrote an article on this project.

Unfortunately, taking photos of the Eames living room replica was not allowed. But it was a sight to behold. To my surprise, the living room featured a mash-up of various styles. It was more eclectic and cluttered than I imagined it would be. It was definitely modern in style, but I was also struck by how  warm and cozy the space seemed.

I did manage to get these pictures, which I took with my phone so please excuse the crappy quality. There was so much modern furniture to behold and drool over.

These lamps were to die for. Wish I could have whisked them off to our apartment!

The exhibit was not just about furniture or interior decor. It featured fashion and other areas of design. I really wish I could have lingered and soaked up the inspiration that was all around. We could only spare 45 minutes in there as we were between meetings with friends. California Design runs until June 3, 2012, so if you're in the area and appreciate good design, then go check it out!

CALIFORNIA LOVE!

Our trip down to Los Angeles was fast and furious as usual. I always enjoy going back to the place I grew up. It seems that I never have enough time to see all my relatives and friends. This time around the Dude and I were in Los Angeles proper for only two days so we were over-ambitious in our effort to see as many people as we could. The rest of the time we spent in the desert, in Palm Springs.

The catalyst for the trip was my best friend's son's first birthday. It was celebrated in the traditional Korean way and there was a huge spread of festive, symbolic food set out on the head table.



One thing I always look forward to when visiting SoCal is the food! I become a glutton and try to eat as much as I can of all the foods I miss.

My favourite bakery is Europane in Pasadena. We went there twice in one day! They have the best egg salad sandwich ever. And their lemon bar is divine. We also went to Fred 62 in Los Feliz for breakfast, and I ordered the Bearded Mr. Frenchy, which is french toast coated in cornflakes. Decadently delicious.





I took the Dude out to see a couple of L.A. landmarks: The Griffith Observatory and Randy's Donuts, both which have been used as backdrops in multiple films. The Dude, being a total nerd, really enjoyed the Observatory. I, on the other hand, enjoyed the views in spite of it being a very hazy day. We stopped by Randy's Donuts on the way to the airport; I couldn't leave L.A. without indulging in at least one donut (it's one of the foods I miss the most). It was the first time I had a donut from Randy's, and it was okay. I've had better elsewhere. I mainly wanted to take a picture there.

Of course, I had to do some design research during our trip. We checked out the California Design exhibit at LACMA ever so briefly (which I'll blog about later). And we stayed at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, which is known for their very cool decor (I'll also devote a separate blog post on it).



It goes without saying, but we definitely enjoyed the toasty sunny climate in SoCal - a nice break from rainy, gloomy Vancouver. However, a downside was that the dry atmosphere made my vision more blurry than usual so the poor Dude, who hates driving, had to steer through L.A.'s perilous streets and freeways. We managed to return to Vancouver in one piece...and with our marriage intact.

SHOP UPDATE: GOING ON VACATION

Halloween is going to be here before you know it. Currently there are a couple of Halloween themed items in the LAX TO YVR shop. I only have one Halloween streamer left! And I'm participating in another giveaway this month! You can check out the details over at the Rikrak studio blog.

Also, both my shops will be closed October 14-19 as we'll be traveling down to Southern California. I'm especially looking forward to getting a bit of R&R in Palm Springs. I haven't been there in ages! Our family used to go there regularly when I was a kid. Can't wait to be in the desert again.

In other news, I've been very busy renovating our living room for the last month. I finally finished painting it in Benjamin Moore Simply White. I love this shade of white. It looks so clean and bright. We're also gradually acquiring new furniture for the space. Most of it is from IKEA, which I feel conflicted about, but whatevs. I'll get over it. Most of it is for my office space anyway. The last major  piece of furniture we have to get is a loveseat. We're seriously considering one from EQ3, but I've read so many negative reviews that I'm scared to purchase anything from that store. We shall see.

My vision is still not 100% after the laser eye surgery I got last month. Hence, I'm not blogging as much as I'd like because staring at a computer screen really irritates my eyes. I've been dealing with a perpetual headache ever since the surgery due to straining my eyes constantly, so it's really affected my productivity and energy level. Hopefully, my vision will be less blurry VERY SOON.

I'm going to try to take some decent pictures during our trip (in spite of my vision) so I can share with you all the great things I love about SoCal.

MY FAVOURITE PLACES TO EAT IN VANCOUVER

There are four restaurants in Vancouver that I love to go to regularly. The food is consistently good whenever I dine at any of these establishments.

 1. Bob Likes Thai Food. The best Thai restaurant in the city. I always order the chicken fried rice. It's one of my favourite comfort foods.

 2. Lin. The Shanghai juice pork dumplings are a must. Hands down the best Chinese restaurant in the westside. The wait staff is not very attentive, but the food is so damn good that I put up with the bad service.

 3. Salade de Fruits. When I had the pear tart for dessert, it was, ahem, an orgasmic experience (see photo above). The menu is all in French, but the servers are very helpful in translating and making recommendations. Warning: cash only.

 4. La Taqueria. Finally a joint that serves up decent tacos. And all their meat is free-range to boot. I'm so happy that they opened a second location on Cambie and Broadway, which is a lot more accessible for me.

STUFF I BUY FROM ETSY

Every morning when I open the kitchen cabinet to grab a mug, I'm greeted by Lionel Richie. When I first saw this mug from Lenny Mud I knew I had to have it. I'm not even a fan of Lionel Richie. I don't know any of his music. But I just could not resist this mug for some reason. I also bought the Mr. Tea mug from the same shop because I used to be a huge A-Team fan.

This is the song "Hello" that inspired the mug.



I plan to sing it the next time we go to karaoke.

SHOP UPDATE

Over the last little while, I've been gradually adding a new line of hand-painted alphabet letters to the LAX TO YVR shop. These new letters feature a stencil style serif font.

I'll also soon be adding a couple of new felt garlands. I just sewed them up yesterday and need to photograph them.

For the month of September, I'm a sponsor on the My Girl Thursday blog. You should check out Thursday's fun blog! As part of the sponsorship I'm offering 10% off everything (before shipping) in my shop until the end of September. Just use coupon code MGTSEPT11 at checkout. The other great sponsors on Thursday's blog are also offering discount coupons. Retail therapy, anyone?

In other news, I'm getting laser eye surgery today! So I'll be taking a break from blogging until I recover from the procedure. I'm a bit nervous, but I'm looking forward to taking time off and resting post-surgery.

THE BLACK WALL

Yes, I finally did it! I painted the black accent wall I've been fantasizing about for months on end. The black wall happened where the red accent wall used to be in the living room. The paint I used is Behr "Cracked Pepper."





The red was a lovely colour but it made our living room feel a little too "cozy." The black wall recedes into the background so it makes things feel a bit more spacious. The black wall is actually not really black. It's a dark grey that looks navy blue when it's very bright and charcoal grey when it's very dark. I wish it were a bit darker actually, but I'm sure that if I went for a dark shade I would probably wish it were lighter.



Anyway, it's très très exciting to have a black wall finally.

This week I'm starting to paint the rest of the living room in Benjamin Moore "Simply White." I'm hoping it will reflect light better than the current drab renter's white. Also, I'm excited to use a paint brand other than Behr. My goal is to finish painting the living room by the end of October.