pour out

"One of the strange things about God is that He will come in as far as we allow him. We can beg to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We can talk about it, but until we are willing to empty ourselves, we will never have the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God will fill as much of us as we allow Him to fill."

- A.W. Tozer

photo via: grace upon grace

to trust some more

struggles of the flesh - vl 1 : easy / teach me

easy / teach me

easy to sit here and wallow in my pain,

easy to let the enemy plant lies into my brain,

easy to unforgive what i already forgave,

even when i know that it's by grace that i've been saved.

oh Lord,

oh Lord, i cry to you,

you see my wicked heart,

but your grace forgave me from the start

oh Lord,

oh Lord, i'm ashamed to even ask,

for you to show me how to love,

when i've refused to look to you above.

teach me,

teach me,

cause it's easy. 

teach me,

teach me,

cause it's easy,

to forget.

i forget.

(to be cont'd...)

photo via: purelikegolddd

trench game

i was kindly gifted this trench coat from The Lab a few weeks back..
i figured i'd wear it here and there- mainly in the spring and perhaps in the fall.
sure. 
but i've been wearing this coat nearly every day, since.
not to mention that it's beige and goes with practically my whole wardrobe,
but it's really just a great, simple, classic piece.

oh ya.

and it has a deep, funky side pocket just in case you need a place to keep your umbrella.

hello.

the "big" 2 3

one, big muchas gracias to all those who took the time to wish me a happy birthday today.

especially all you individuals who i rarely talk to/haven't talked to in ages.

in all honesty i'd been dreading 23 for what seems like a whole year... ever since i turned 22.

i just didn't want the day to come. 

period.

and then to add the icing on the cake, i recently came across an article on,

*rolls eyes*, facebook, that shed light as to why 23 is the worst year of your life.

oh ya? oh sick. 

awesome.

but what TRULY is so gut-wrenchingly terrible about 23, you might ask?

well... nothing.

to put it simply:

it's all what you make of it.

i'd originally assumed it to be some big identity crisis.

and, to be fair, i have re-evaluated career paths and goals,

but rather than being fearful and negative about it, 

i'm trying to use it as an opportunity to learn more about who am i.

what are my strengths/weaknesses?

what am i truly passionate about?

do i belong in another city... country?

and so on.

while in palm springs for the next 8 days, 

i figured this would be a good opportunity to spend time reflecting, 
and talking with God about all these things hammering away in my head.

and at the end of the day,
no matter where i am or what i am doing,
i am blessed (to death).

"And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!"

Psalm 139:24

wus gud

1. some creative work i did for Nocturnal Workshop's SS'15 look book 

[photography by fahim kassam, ian lanterman and modelling by ben etienne].

2. birthday shoes - from me to me.

3. & 4. keepin' in comf clothing

hope continually...

                      

                                    

                  

                      

 

had a real nice wrap to my week with a solid sunday.

Mr. Red Cafe was calling my name so i caved & went back again with della and rob.

we ate till we couldn't move which then forced us to just sit 

and take in each other's company.

the subject of "trust" and "hope" have been resonating a lot with me the past few weeks.

reminding myself to surrender everything i have to the Lord as i have a tendency

to try and take over my own plans for the future.

but also feeling super encouraged by friends and family- even through moments of doubt.

and moments of "where are you God?"

meditating on these verses this week:

But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.

Psalm 71:14

Is not your fear of God your confidence,

and the integrity of your ways your hope?

Job 4:6

Not only that, 

but we rejoice in our sufferings, 

knowing that suffering produces endurance,

and endurance produces character, 

and character produces hope,

and hope does not put us to shame, 

because God's love has been poured into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Romans 5:3-5

vietnamese vs creme brulee

 Zara coat, American Apparel hoodie and denim, New Balance 850's

della introduced me to Mr. Red Cafe today- just up Hastings.

mind blown.

if you think you've had vietnamese, think again.

all i can say is if you are a Vancouverite you must go.

end of story.

in the evening we ran, (literally), in the pouring rain to Crackle Creme.

our lovely friend, Mary, joined us.

what'a treat.

those creme brulees in front of us were gone in seconds.

give the lavender honey a try.

dark rouge, that is.

it was about time i whip out the ol' rouge lipstick.

dark rouge, that is.

this one is from Makeup Forever (Mat 7). 

also i gave myself cat eyes and that never happens. woopsie.

monday on the east side

della and i both live on the east side.

in fact, we live in the same building.

we see each other nearly every day. 

she keeps me in check- or vice versa.

it's rare that we have a day off together during the week other than sundays.

this past monday was sorta special in the sense that we both had no jobs to be committed to.

so we took a walk round our hood.

one of her favorite places on the east side is Strathcona area.

i'd never really ventured around that area before.

at least not like how we did on monday.

we saw a ton of old buildings - some you could tell were renovated and some that were

just straight up old as heck and falling apart.

those buildings to me were the most interesting- they were so honest and vulnerable. 

we strolled by a couple cozy corner stores and i also discovered the "other" Finches!

still reminding myself that i need to pop in there one of these days.

eventually we made our way to Value Village because who doesn't like a little 50% off?

i actually ended up trying on a handful of things but left empty handed.

it's okay.

i was reminded that just because something is cheap, doesn't mean you need to buy it.

because more than half the time it just hangs in your closet making dust.

... that's definitely a line my mom used on me.

and she was right.

plans to give you hope and a future

i'm not one for new years resolutions.

but i figure now is at least an opportunity to start "fresh".

i want to pursue a styling and/or singing career.

i want to know what gruelling, hard work feels like.

i want to put aside fear of failure & any insecurities.

i want to trust that my future is in The Maker's hands.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, 

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

meant to be

there are no coincidences. 

there is no luck.

through the good and bad,

count them all as blessings.

forget regret.

every decision you've made

was meant to be.

december in detail

no, this will not be an "obligatory 2014 recap".

however, it will be a super informal december recap.

from top to bottom:

1, 2, & 3: one of the bestest guys i know, Matt, snapped some photos of me after our Bao Bei binge.

4, 5 & 6: the day we launched our wings + horns x New Balance collab (sneaker, jacket, zip hoodie + jogger pant). 

that's Dave and i throwin' up deuces (or whatever the cool kids like to call it). 

next, you'll notice my super amateur foot modelling for Hypebeast 

(shot by Jeremy Jude Lee- maybe one of the chillest guys i know & super talented too), 

wearing the collab sneaker. 

the next photo is a snap of Tiger's feet cause i like what he's doin'.

7: my cute succulents just beaming with delight.

8: wearing an Aritzia coat, American Apparel denim and socks and the wings + horns x New Balance MT580's.

9: wearing a thrifted coat, American Apparel button-down, denim and socks, 

Daniel Wellington Sheffield Lady Watch, Adidas Superstars and Army & Navy toque.

10: post wings + horns Christmas party with nik. a really awesome evening.

11: wearing a Stutterheim rain jacket, Oak + Fort leggings, wings + horns x New Balance MT580's,

 thrifted knapsack and Army & Navy toque.

12: after receiving new things in the mail, you sometimes have an urge to just throw it all on...

 for example.

13: Christmas Eve. very cold.

14: MY SUPER RAD DAD on Christmas day! 

(ps follow @squattingwithplants on Instagram... or simply send me your squatting with plants photo(s)... or just hashtag #squattingwithplants... but whatever you do, don't stop squatting).

15: received this Acne mail the other day. it was like, how one person on Instagram phrased it, "Acne-ception". 

love Acne but the branding on all the packaging was a bit of an overkill 

(and you're seeing only half of it here, folks).

the end.

oh, 

hello 2015.