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This Week: books I’ve read and our Lunar New Year dinner

February 6, 2022February 23, 2022by jenninspirationLeave a Comment

I hope everyone had an amazing Lunar New Year! We didn’t do much but went out to eat in Downtown Honolulu. We were supposed to go eat at a dim sum restaurant but it was so busy. We ended up dining at Olay’s Thai Lao Cuisine a few blocks away. Their dining area is usually outside. It’s gorgeous and spacious. It wasn’t busy however the service was quite slow. We ordered a LOT from the menu and asked for medium spicy on most of our dishes. I really recommend going here if you’re craving for Thai Lao food; they also have an option to make it either style.

papaya salad, beef jerky, laotian sausage, pork rinds — Laotian Salad Platter (Tum Tahd)

pickled pork, stuffed chicken wings — Pickled Pork (Som Soon), Stuffed Chicken Wings

food spread, lunar new year dinner, laotian dinner, salad, fried riced, udon soup, papaya salad, sticky rice — Our food spread includes Chicken Udon Soup (Khao Piek Sen)

Since I’ve been spending less time on Instagram, I started to read more and be in the moment with my family. I finished a few books that’s trending in the book community. I read It Ends with Us and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

They are both romantic, contemporary fiction however I believe it should include a trigger warning label because it talks about domestic and mental abuse. I give it about a five star rating, but here is my honest review on the following books:

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.5/5)
- Before you pick up this book, it has a lot of trigger warnings that made me want to close the book up but I made it past through. I love how Lily prevailed through the pain, heartbreak, and suffering. But from a parent’s perspective, suffering is optional. She made a choice to break the abusive cycle and prevented her daughter from going through what Lily and Ryle experienced together as a couple. I felt like it was a groundbreaker for Lily to start a new chapter in her life, than constantly repeating the many abusive patterns that her own mom lived through. I love every “naked truth” that both Lily and Ryle had for each other. I hope it’s possible that there is a story about Lily and Atlas together.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.9/5)
- This book was a bit predictable at the end with the main character, Evelyn. Throughout the story, you get to know more about Evelyn and all of the trials and tribulations she went throughout her career. It made her into who she is today. However, journalists and media painted her a whole different picture. I just absolutely love how the author had a great sense of direction and emotionally guided you through the story. I definitely recommend picking this up if you’re ready to go through an emotional rollercoaster with unexpected twists and turns!

Anyways, I can’t wait to share about my upcoming trip soon! Stay tuned!

xoxo,
Jenn

Blog, Style, Uncategorized

This Week: back from reselling hiatus and made about $1K in sales!

January 30, 2022February 21, 2022by jenninspirationLeave a Comment

I took a break from reselling online to pursue content creating for social media platforms. I think I got so burnt out towards the holiday season that I didn’t feel like it was the same anymore. A lot of creators I followed seen the dramatic changes in the algorithm on Instagram (read more this on Later.com); and how each platforms were pushing out paid advertisements or sponsors more than regular content.

I mention before that I’m slowing down from posting on Instagram and consuming it casually in my previous posts. All the stress and anxiety of creating and posting took a toll on me. I constantly worried day and night about what to post next, which brand to work with, and hoping brands would accept my offer, and paying for my rate. I also was struggling to keep up with the latest internet trends and making content because my regular full time job absorbed all of my time and energy.

There is no one really to blame in the social media industry because I took it upon myself to create content and posting on multiple social media platforms. I wanted to be part of the industry and excel in it. But deep down inside, I forgot who I truly was and why I wanted to post online. When I moved away from the states and pandemic happened along the way, I hardly had any deep connection with people I met and majority of my time was spent working. When I turned to the internet world, I felt like I could express myself! However when I accepted brand partnerships and agreeing to create content, I wasn’t aware of the constant burn out, pressure to do more, and anxiety of not being enough to “work with a brand”.

girl standing, looking to side, Hulk tee shirt, wide leg pants, Vans shoes

girl standing, looking to side and holding cup of coffee. Spiderman tee shirt, distressed jeans and Jordan shoes

I finally took my heart and mind off of social media during the holidays. It was not something I wanted to do but it was for my own good. I went back to one of my favorite passion: reselling online. I buckled down and purged through my closet, I mentioned this couple weeks ago, and also started thrifting instead of creating and posting content. It felt so good that I was making money on my terms and conditions.

My sales were starting off slow on Poshmark because I was getting back into the groove. It started to pick up when I relisted all of my old inventory and lowered the price down. When I listed the clothes I purged from my closet, it quickly sold over in the span of two weeks. Once they were listed on Poshmark, I started to cross list on different platforms and I quickly sold my old clothes and inventory. I made about four digit figure from reselling online. It helped with paying off my credit card debt. I truly missed having payment notifications than constantly being on social media that took a huge toll on my mental health.

My advice: keep doing what you love and don’t compare yourself to others online. You are not them, and they are not you!

If you want to sell your clothes and buy secondhand on Poshmark, sign up with my code ONETWENTYONE and save on your first order here!

xoxo,
Jenn

Blog, Style, Uncategorized

This Week: outfits I wore, water line flush, & husband’s birthday

January 23, 2022February 3, 2022by jenninspirationLeave a Comment

It was such an exhausting week. After the three day weekend, my routine was completely thrown off. I had to let go of my entire routine when the Interagency Water System Team came into our neighborhood to flush our water line.

A couple months ago, we were told our water line was tainted with fuel. It was terrifying to hear at first because we weren’t sure what was actually going on with our water.

street style, streetwear, white cardigan, black distressed jeans, air jordan 1s, street fashion

street style, casual style, marvel tee shirt, joggers, air jordan 1s, streetwear, casual outfit

However, my family and pets didn’t experience any symptoms. We were told it was okay to use the water. So far, so good.. let’s hope nothing else happens along the way.

Besides that, we celebrated my husband’s birthday. We had reservations at 53 By The Sea. It was a beautiful dining experience. We didn’t see much of the view at night time but the ambiance inside made up for it.

HAMACHI CEVICHE
Sliced hamachi with soy, lime & sesame sauce, red onions, jalapenos, crispy shallots, cilantro

HONEY MACADAMIA NUT SHRIMP
Crispy fried tiger shrimp with macadamia nut honey glaze

LOBSTER BISQUE
Lobster meat , milk foam, crostini

PAN SEARED AHI STEAK
3oz Ahi steak, stir fried vegetables, watercress relish, “truffle-yaki” sauce

PAN ROASTED FILET
4oz Filet mignon, asparagus, Maui onions, eryngi mushrooms, mashed potatoes, veal jus

SOUFFLE CHEESECAKE
Lilikoi coulis, crème fraiche, blood orange guimauve

We ordered the six course tasting without the wine pairing. The course started out good however it ended with a slight disappointment. The pan toasted filet wasn’t medium rare like how we wanted it to be. The souffle cheesecake sounded delicious but it was too tangy for our taste buds.

I would definitely recommend going to 53 By The Sea if you want more of an intimate dinner with your loved ones. We had reserved in the dining room and the tables were spaced out enough that it felt cozy and relaxing to enjoy our dinner.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend 🙂

xoxo,
Jenn

Blog, Style, Uncategorized

This Week: my outfits, debt paid off, and what I’m currently up to!

January 16, 2022February 3, 2022by jenninspirationLeave a Comment

I still can’t believe we’re in 2022 and it’s the second week of January. I decided to purge our home from the clutter and things we hardly use. I never realized how much stuff we have until I started to go through it.

I’ve been going through my closet and dresser. I can’t believe I hardly wear anything I own because I don’t go out as much. I purged a lot of clothes and miscellaneous things. I had about four tall trash bags to donate to my local thrift shop.

My dresser had a bunch of random things on top that ended up in messy clutter. Once I started to purge, I felt content with the negative space on my dresser. This taught me to be mindful of buying random stuffs that were cute and not useful.

Anyways, I can finally say I’m debt free from my student loans!!! I wrote about Tips to Pay Off Student Loan Debt last year. I will write an updated version of how I was able to pay it off soon. It is such a relieving feeling. I get to focus on other loan debts this year and work towards being debt free before I turn 30.

I’m slowing down on working with brands, accepting sponsorships, and creating branded content. My priorities has shifted the past few months. I want to casually take pictures of my outfits and share it on Instagram at this moment. If you’d like me to talk about how I’ve received sponsorships and work with brands, let me know in the comments.

I hope you all have an amazing weekend 🙂

xoxo,
Jenn

tweety bird shirt, distressed jeans, air jordan 1s

Blog

Weekly Meal Prep Routine (6/21-6/25)

June 29, 2021February 2, 2022by jenninspirationLeave a Comment

I recently started to meal prep to save some time on cooking. I also wanted to save some money on not always spending so much going out to eat. I wanted to share some quick & easy ideas for colorful and delicious meal preps.

Breakfast meal prep

Oatmeal
Almond Milk
Chia Seeds
Fruits (strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, raspberry, banana, any of your choice)

Lunch meal prep

Mix greens
Croutons
Chopped tomatoes
Bell peppers
Boiled egg
Cheese (any of your choice)
Dressing (any of your choice)

Dinner meal prep

Season chicken thighs and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Make sure to flip sides after 10 minutes
Dice up sweet potato yams and air fry at 400 degrees for 10-13 minutes
Season brussel sprouts with salt and olive oil then air fry at 400 degrees for 7 minutes

I created this weekly meal prep routine to help me spend less on going out to eat. It also helps me maintain a healthy balance with food and enjoying all food categories as much as possible. Stay tune for more on my blog!

xoxo,

Jenn

Blog

Tips to Pay Off Student Loan Debt

January 4, 2021January 5, 2021by jenninspiration4 Comments

If you’ve been following my debt free journey on Instagram (@jenn.inspiration), I started at $21K in the beginning of 2020 and ended the year with the balance of $11K. I was fortunate enough to still be employed during these rough times. Along with my 9-5 job, I also resell clothes online as part-time. Here are a few tips that I like to share with you, and also experienced myself.

I like to snowball my debt. I started off by paying my smallest amount of debt then focused on tackling on my next big amount. This made me feel more motivated to keep going. Baby steps helped me show how far a long I was to reach my goal. Even though I was taking baby steps to reach my goal, I also included deadlines for myself to reach. For example, before I reached to balance of $11K, I was at balance of $12K before 2020 ended. I made sure each week I reached my goal of saving X amount of monies from my paycheck and made a certain profit from reselling online.
I often had trouble saving monies and always thought, “Ok! Let’s save $100,” and later on I’d end up using it. It was a terrible habit of mine. I made sure that from every paycheck I received that I set aside at least up to 10%. Depending on the situation, I tried to meet the goal because it adds up quickly. And also, from reselling online, I set aside a certain percentage to make sure that I am reaching my goal; invest into more inventory to maximize my expenses and profit.
Plan & budget, plan & budget. I’d come to realize budgeting constantly changes. I had to become flexible about how I used my money. I always put aside monies for my regular bills I normally pay. After I paid off my regular bills, I need to consider my other miscellaneous expenses such as going out, buying food, shopping, etc. I tried to reduce my spending from buying take-outs and shopping. Shopping is absolutely my worst spending habit. Since I shop online, I try to find payment plans (i.e. Sezzle, Afterpay, etc) to work around my budget. Or, the best way to figure out if I truly need it is by leaving it in my cart and check to see if I need it again later in 24 hours. Anything can happen in 24 hours! Planning and budgeting kept me motivated and accountable for reaching my financial freedom.
Last but not least, find your money mantra. I repeat to myself everyday: Money is an unlimited resource and it is always flowing my way. The universe works in magical ways.

I hope these tips helps you to work on your debt free journey. Let’s get this financial peace together! I will keep you updated later on this year on my progress of paying off my student loan debt.

xoxo,
Jenn