Flutterhabit recently dropped their #2 and #1 lashes in the Weightless Collection, so of course, I bought both of them on the same day.   Here's a comparison of the two styles; I like both of these looks but the #3 is definitely more dramatic.  It is interesting; I've been watching photos on the FH Facebook page, and the lashes look so different on everyone.  The #2 lashes are supposed to be a variation of the Sweethearts, but I feel like they look like a variation of one of the first styles I ever tried, The Winks! Let's see how many days I get with this new style!  

William and I met three years ago (July 27, 2019).  When we met, it was before COVID was a thing.  And since then, we've experienced all aspects of the pandemic together, including being quarantined together at home on our third year anniversary yesterday.  His quarantine is over, and I have ONE MORE DAY!  We had a lot of fun moments this year, too, from celebrating the holidays, drives up to Julian to drink wine and pet wolves, and of course, our summer events that I've shared here.  We also got to dress up for Dinner in White (September) and for a Gala Event at Petco.   Here's to outstanding health and lots of happiness as we dance into our fourth year together.

Early 2020.  I was filling the role of a Public Information Officer in the Hospital Command Center at our Hillcrest hospital. UC San Diego Health was caring for COVID-positive patients who had recently been flown in from Wuhan, and I was helping write communications to keep our team members up on the latest developments, like what kind of PPE to wear and more.  I would alternate 8-hour shifts with my colleagues, one of many people packed around a conference room table. I remember the unbelievable moment when we went from 4 to 7 positive patients, waiting for COVID test results to arrive from the CDC in Atlanta, the U.S. Marshalls coming to pick up people who had been discharged, and sharing food with the hospitalists and translators who were providing in-person care for the people just a few floors away from me.   You know the rest of the story or at least your own version of it.   I didn't get COVID in 2020.  Or 2021. But I did test positive for it on July 18, ...

I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed by a rising college sophomore about my career path.  If you know me, you'll know that my path had many twists and turns (kind of like the books I like to read but infinitely more positive!).  She was bright and articulate, and it was a fun experience for me, so I decided to extend the experience to William during one of our evening walks!  I re-asked several of the questions to William because I thought it was a great topic.  It was fun to see where our answers overlapped, especially in the area that we are both lifelong learners and both mentioned being open to new opportunities.   The Questions Question: What is something that you think is necessary to be successful in your field?  Rachel: "Besides having the basic skill set to do the work, I think it's important to have a good attitude and to be willing to take on new projects and learn something new.  There are many skills that can be taught to someo...

This weekend, we didn't have show tickets, so we decided to go out for sushi on Saturday night.   We both got our hair cut this week, so I'm making a note in case I forget when my hair starts getting super long.  In 8 weeks, my stylist said my hair grew a full inch, so I credit genetics and my daily dose of Great Lakes Collagen prescribed by my nutritionist.  I've noticed recently that my nails are also growing fast; I like to wear the press-on nails or nail stickers, and you can definitely see the growth at the bottom of my nails.  William worked on the yoga dome for several hours on Saturday.  The boards are cut and now he's painting them white.  I wondered if he'd had enough food at the sushi restaurant, and he contemplated desert but then he said what he really wanted was a cucumber, lol.   So, we walked down to Frazier Farms to buy him one.   The lighting was good on the walk, so we grabbed a few selfies, where you can also see our freshly cu...

  A new summer series between Rachel (R) and William (W).   R: My nutrition coach challenged her clients to stop complaining for 24 hours and to put a dollar in a jar for every complaint.  Do you think we could do this challenge?  W: I don't think we complain that much.  R: I think we complain all all the time.  But I guess we'd have to define what constitutes a complaint.  Is it a complaint if you just think it in your head?  W: No, I think you have to say it.  R: How do we know the difference between a fact and a complaint?  W: I think it has to do with the tone.  R: You mean, "it's 100 degrees outside, what a hot day" versus "OMG, it's so hot, I can't stannnnndddd it."  W: Ben Bergeron (CrossFit coach and author) says no complaining, no whining, no excuses.  We should listen to one of his podcasts and see how he defines it.  R: OK, so Ben says that complaining is being negative without any input about how to fix th...

On Saturday night, we went to see Uptown Nights at the Rady Shell.  I've already written about how I love dance music with a good beat, and my second favorite kind of music is jazz.   My favorite jazz singer is Ella Fitzgerald, and yes, I even like her slow-er songs like Summertime and Night and Day.  There's just something about the music and the lyrics that is sassy and inspirational...they tell a story and the story is never boring.  Her music, and the music from this era, has been used/modified/adopted in countless movies, and I think there's something translational about it.   I really enjoyed this concert and found it quite entertaining, however, it wasn't a jump out of your seats and dance for two hours event.   The evening was beautiful, with a light wind coming off the bay, and Carmen Bradley put on an incredible performance in her sparkly dresses that matched the lights of the Shell.   Also, William and I noted that we have started to recogni...

 I am still enjoying the new FlutterHabit Weightless lashes.  I put on a new set on July 4 and wore them all week, just taking them off and replacing them with a new set today, July 9.  I normally only wear lashes for 1-2 days because they tend to fall off quickly due to my daily hot yoga sessions and combination skin.  Lash Tips  I've found that a good way to get longevity with the lashes is to lightly apply a thin layer of their "Made for This" glue to my natural lashes and a 3D bubble of the same glue to the spine of the lashes.   Looking down into a mirror is the easiest way for me to place these correctly on my lash line.  The lashes should be placed close to your natural lash line.  Be careful if you have cats or dogs that like to sit in your make-up area.  My lashes seem to attract cat hair, and it's actually quite painful to have a cat hair wind up glued into your lash application and dangling into your eye.   Here's a look at ho...

We had an amazing July Fourth weekend, including a picnic at a favorite local park, shopping for new clothes for William, and a fun day in downtown San Diego, where we had coffee at Seaport Village, listened to live music, enjoyed an amazing dinner at Ray's overlooking the bay, danced to songs from a DJ and Kool and the Gang, and watched fireworks from the Rady Shell.  Highlights: Danceability of the Kool and the Gang concert: 5/5  I walked 15,000 steps on this day and burned almost 3,000 steps  The DJ before Kool was awesome and played one of our favorite songs, September! 

Since I started wearing DIY lash extensions, there's been an explosion of lashes onto the market.  The most well-known lash company is probably Lashify, and they do have a great product, however, it is pricier than many other options that I think are just as good.   Lilac Street Versus FlutterHabit  Two of my favorite other companies for lashes are Lilac Street and FlutterHabit.  Lilac Street has more options and they are all on a nice, lightweight band.  The price is as low as $4 per pair.  FlutterHabit only has a few styles ($5-$6 a pair), and until recently, I couldn't sleep in their lashes because of the heavy weight.  The one drawback for FH for me is that you do have to prep the lashes before wearing them.  Lilac Street offers 10 lash pieces (all the same size) in a package, and FH sells pre-made maps with lashes of different sizes.  Weightless #3  The new FH lash is called weightless #3, and I really like it. Apart from the lash p...

One of my interests is the Enneagram, which is a framework for understanding your core motivations and the motivations of others. I've seriously considered getting certified to help others understand their Enneagram type, and I've learned through my own explorations that it is something that is quite nuanced and layered, with different teachers believing their own unique spin on how different types engage with the world, with others and with themselves.   Still, there's enough common threads to make the Enneagram at least a fun conversation if not a useful tool in the hands of the right people. Enneagram with Abbey YouTuber Abbey Howe, from Enneagram with Abbey, has created some fun E. content where she reaches out to her Instagram community and asks them for input into how they might react in a certain situation.   A recent series was about how do the different types find a peaceful moment, and I enjoyed hearing where the types overlap and how they diverge as well as thin...

The summer season is officially here.  We kicked off late June and early July by celebrating William's dad's birthday in Los Angeles and spending time with family.   I am thinking that my summer blog will cover June, July, August and September, and if I want to continue blogging this fall, I'll consider October, November and December to be my holiday blog time period, since it kicks off with my birthday and wraps up with New Year's Eve.   Last weekend, we also attended the Boys II Men concert, our second summer event at the Rady Shell.  The funny thing about this concert is that I knew that this group is acapella, but I didn't know that they would be playing with the symphony.   For some reason, I also thought that this group was more rap/hip-hop and less ballad/slow emotional love song oriented.   If you know me, you know that my favorite songs have a high danceability score and a good beat, so it wasn't exactly what I expected.  I think I will rememb...