Author: Helen Owen

Categories
Travel

We can’t say no to Cabo!

When a work opportunity presented itself to us, one that would whisk us away to none other than the turf that we first met on 5 years ago, we just couldn’t pass it up.

And we didn’t. And it just so happened that we found ourselves in almost the exact same circumstances as the very first trip we ever took together, the one that introduced us to each other over 5 years ago. It felt like we came full circle; 5 years after two strangers were booked for the same TV commercial filming in Cabo, we found ourselves in Cabo together again, again for a work opportunity, but this time as a unit. With 5 years of love and adventures in between.

Anyway, all soppy romance aside, this trip was wonderful in every way. After we wrapped up the campaign we were there for with a company called Route, we decided going home sounded like a terrible idea, and instead opted to change our flights to stay in paradise a tad longer.

We stayed at The Cape for the first half of our time in Cabo, and then after a sneaky flight change, we popped over next door to Esperanza Resort for the weekend. We knew we wanted to stay at Esperanza Resort after we caught a glimpse of the property while eating dinner at their dreamy cliffside restaurant, Cocina Del Mar, with the Route team earlier in the week.

Both of these hotels are phenomenal and I would highly recommend staying at either/both. Both resorts feel like intimate boutique style hotels, but The Cape has a bit more of a social atmosphere to it, while Esperanza felt a little more romantic and quiet. Both took all the sanitation and safety precautions that you’d hope to see in practice at any hotel in 2020.

We also ate at ACRE Baja with the Route team one night, a jungle boho farm-to-table restaurant (you’ll see some photos of it below). I would highly recommend eating here if you find yourself in Cabo, it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Not to mention the entire property is breathtaking, from wandering peacocks to the Pinterest-board worthy pool area. ACRE is also a treehouse inspired hotel (the hotel rooms are literally little treehouses), but be warned – it’s a ways away from the ocean so if you stay there, you’ll be getting a full-blown jungle experience. Where the mosquitoes run rampant, I should add.

Below is a massive photo dump from our time in Cabo, so keep scrolling for that. It’s more or less in chronological order! Oh yeah, and I vlogged it. Watch that below! If you watch to the end you’ll witness me capturing a shooting star *on video*, so yeah I’d say my vlogging debut went pretty well.

Shop my Cabo wardrobe:

Categories
Lifestyle Video

I started Youtube!

WELL, I DID IT. I could tell you about how for the past 5 years I’ve been saying I was starting Youtube, or about how we have hours on top of gigabytes of unused vlog footage that will never see the light of day… but how about I just cut to the chase and say I AM NOW ON YOUTUBE! I’m a ‘tuber. It’s MYtube now. And I promise more consistent uploads than this blog sees, pinky swear. We’re talking weekly. You can hold me to it. See you there?

More bloggy stuff coming too though :)

Categories
Fashion

My Swimwear Collection with PQ!

If you’ve followed, stalked or even just stumbled upon my Instagram profile by accident, you’ve probably noticed that I’m wearing a bikini like 60-80% of the time, that is, whenever and wherever acceptable.

When I look back at my online career, it almost feels like swimwear is entangled in my dna in a sense. Rewinding back before 1.6 million Instagram followers, back to high school when my online presence wasn’t much beyond my personal Tumblr blog, I can vividly remember saving up to purchase my first designer bikini. I was so completely unaware of the role that moment would play in leading me to where I am right now, writing this blog post about my own swimwear collection.

The story is that I got the size wrong on that first bikini. Anyone remember Triangl Swimwear? Triangl, btw, is still a super successful swimwear brand, but I’m talking about Triangl back in their early days, when their entire bikini collection consisted of only a few bright, neoprene, triangle shaped bikinis outlined in black. Well due to the thick neoprene material, if you ordered one size too big you’d get what us industry professionals like to refer to as a “diaper butt.” I ordered a S instead of an XS, and thus, had a case of the diaper butt. But instead of exchanging the suit, which sounded like a very daunting adult task to my high school self, I decided to sell it on Poshmark, the app I was using (and still use) to resell my clothing on. My mom took photos of me in the suit in our backyard to list the bikini for sale, and I ended up repurposing one of those images for my very amateur Instagram feed.

Triangl reposted the photo to their Instagram account (!!!), and as if that wasn’t already a huge enough deal, they then directly contacted me, asking if I wanted to collaborate, adding that my image had performed better than any other image they’d posted to their feed. I’d never been asked to “collaborate” with a brand before, let alone a designer bikini brand that I was a massive fan of. And that’s where it all began.

Fast forward. I went on to study design in college, and from there pursued this path I’m still on as a digital entrepreneur. As my personal brand evolved over the years, swimwear remained. It only feels natural to fuse my love of design with my love for swimwear and… DRUMROLL PLEASE… I’m so proud and excited to announce that I co-created a swimwear collection with PQ Swimwear!

When PQ Swimwear (formerly PilyQ) and I sat down together last year to discuss a design collaboration, they were already a brand I’d been wearing for years and one that had always stood out to me. Their suits have been so consistent in terms of both quality and style. You can probably imagine it can be quite limiting to design something unique with such a small piece of fabric, but PQ suits felt like they had that “it” factor to me.  

So when asked if I wanted to create a collection of my own with them? It was a yes from me. We came together to reimagine an array of iconic PQ styles that resonate with me and my style. The partnership fuses PQ’s expertise in crafting gorgeous swimwear with my expertise in living in a bikini (honorable mention to my experience in social media marketing and content creation).

Speaking of content creation, I was granted free-reign and full creative control to take the collection anywhere to capture the digital assets for it, so naturally Zack and I jumped on a plane to Hawaii and brought the vision to life, just the two of us. 

Just to bring this blog post up to speed here, all this all took place at the end of 2019. We launched the collection on 11/11. We sold out of half the collection on PQ’s site in the first week. In the weeks following launch, my collection was featured in: WWD, Forbes, The Zoe Report, AOL, HOLR Magazine, Popsugar, People, Marie Claire, Yahoo, The Fashion Network… Oh yeah, and I went on live local news, KTLA, to talk about the collection. Watch that here.

So yeah, it’s been a series of pinch-me moments and it’s safe to say my high school self is both screaming and proud. The collection is available here on PQ’s site, and also here and below on Revolve!!! The collection is selling fast, and sadly we won’t be restocking! If you miss this one, you’ll just have to wait for my next design venture… ;)

Shop select styles from my swimwear collection on Revolve here:

Without further ado, may I present “Helen Owen x PQ Swim” through the lens of Zack Kalter shot in Oahu, Hawaii, September 2019. Click on any image for the link to that suit! (On PQ’s site, the link for the top will open, just scroll down to shop the bottom too)

Categories
Fashion

Helen Owen x AQUA, My Collection with Bloomingdales

Last November in New York City I nervously took a huge meeting with the incredible Bloomingdales AQUA team. Fast forward to today, I have my own capsule collection with AQUA. PINCH ME.

AQUA is a young, fun and trendy division of Bloomingdales that houses styles that I drool over daily. To get to co-create a capsule collection with them requires non-stop pinch-mes until I realize I’m not dreaming.

This collection is a mixture of my go-to styles, cuts and prints I tend to throw on in sunny destinations as well as fun, Spring-inspired styles with a sprinkle of summer and a hint of festival in there, too. I wanted the collection to not only mirror my warm weather style, but also resonate with girls who want something fun and summery but approachable to wear.

Beyond getting to sit down with the entire AQUA team at Bloomingdales to co-design and curate a collection that I loved WITH MY NAME ON IT, I also got full creative control over shooting the look book and website imagery… that meant capturing the final pieces out in the world however I imagined them best showcased.

Zack and I got to do what we LOVE doing most. We dreamt up a vision for how we could bring this collection to life with imagery and video, and then we went out there and did just that.

Zack’s Dad has spent the past year and a half restoring a 1977 Volkswagen Westfalia Camper Van that’s been in his family for over 20 years, before which they imported straight from Germany. We named her “Lucky”, by the way. After sitting dormant in a garage for years, she’s been fully revived and restored. With a brand new engine and almost all her original parts polished off or sourced and replaced, she was officially reborn and ready to roll (aside from a minor lack-of-registration issue)… and all that happened to coincide with our shoot for my AQUA collection.

After putting in our time at the DMV to get her registered to drive, we took her on her debut cruise down to Palm Springs for two days and two gigabytes of memory card magic.

Well before we embarked for the desert, I knew exactly what property I envisioned my collection being photographed around. A quaint little Mediterranean oasis tucked behind the Palm Spring’s canyons by the name of Korakia Pensione.

*Throughout this entire blog post, if you click on any look book image, the shopping link to the clothing I am wearing will open in a new tab! WOOHOO!

You’ve probably seen this dreamy bed & breakfast style hotel while scrolling Instagram and Pinterest – and let me tell you, it’s truly as charming as the photos make it seem. With a variety of unique rooms, ranging from cute little European-style suites complete with vinyl record players and kitchenettes, to larger Mediterranean or Moroccan inspired villas – Korakia is a Palm Springs property like no other you’ll find in the area.

Below are some images we captured on Korakia property for my collection with Bloomingdales. Magic.

From the iconic palm tree lined Canyon views, bocce-ball in the courtyard, a little outdoor theatre playing vintage flicks to a pool lined with fire pits, based on it’s description alone Korakia really stole my heart before I even arrived. And just as I’d imagined, it served as the most fitting backdrop to shoot so many of the looks I styled for my AQUA collection look book.

I want to throw in a huge thank you to Korakia and the wonderful staff here for being so warm, welcoming and accommodating as we ran around the property with a slew of cameras and a flurry of a zillion outfit changes. Oh, and honorable mention to the insane home-cooked daily breakfasts.

When we weren’t shooting behind every perfect nook and cranny that makes up Korakia, we spent the rest of our time driving “Lucky” (the VW Bus) around the desert and stopping along the way to capture the rest of the look book.

And hey, I think it turned out pretty great, but I’ll let the photos we took speak for themselves. Get ready to scroll, cause there are a lot. But make sure you scroll all the way to the end of this post for links to shop all the pieces in my AQUA Bloomingdales collection!

Shop the full Helen Owen x AQUA collection below!

Categories
Lifestyle

A Quick Hair Rescue Mission

Hair needs rescuing too sometimes, but don’t worry, this is a rescue mission that takes place in about 60 seconds.

I have jumped from hair product to hair product my whole life, from drug store brands to high-end bank-breaking goop (bottom line is it’s all goop, but not all goop is created equal). Having sampled quite an array of hair oils, masks, conditioners and what-have-you, I like to think I’m qualified to know a good treatment when I feel it.

I’m so excited to partner with one of the brands I’ve used the longest throughout my life (since my middle school days!) to share my thoughts on this amazing new product and the wonders it works for your hair. 

While my hair isn’t dyed, I’ve definitely put it through a lot with weekly heat styling. I try to go at least one day between washes which minimizes the heat my hair is blasted with, but if I don’t put effort into treating my hair to a deeper-conditioning every now and then, I definitely notice visible damage in the form of split ends and dry, brittle texture.

If you thought you had to put aside your rainy day fund to splurge on a hair-restoring product (that may or may not actually restore anything) – I’ve got good news! Pantene has just come out with a nutrient-packed super-shot for damaged hair and it won’t break the bank! Oh yeah, and it works.

What is it?

These new Pantene Pro-V Intense Rescue Shots dropped in stores January 2019 and come in adorable little gold tubes. Inside is an at-home rescue treatment imported from Brazil consisting of a reviving blend of Pro-Vitamin B5, strengthening lipids and natural glycerin to restore your hair back to health and ready to face your usual hair-damaging routines. Just like you take a vitamin C shot when you aren’t feeling 100%, this is a quick fix for your hair.

Why I love it:

This is such a simple and quick way to guarantee a great hair day – the best part is that you don’t have to wait around with a towel-wrapped mask on your head, or sleep in an oily, sticky mask… or even leave your shower at all.

And rather than feeling that your hair has been coated in a thick layer of conditioning agents, this treatment absorbs quickly and results in a soft, silky lightweight finish that I think would be highly effective across all hair types. Also worth noting, it’s actually the #1 new selling treatment item in the hair category.

How to use:

You begin with shampoo. I used the Pantene Sheer Volume Shampoo, as my hair can tend to fall a bit flat.

The shot is a single-dose, so don’t hold back or worry about over-saturating your hair with the treatment. The shot is designed to prevent from overdosing, so the product can be used generously without fear of an oily residue.

After shampooing, instead of your usual conditioner, squeeze the entirety of one Pantene Pro-V Intense Rescue Shots tube into your hands and apply it to your hair. Focus on any areas that are more damaged, but don’t shy from applying it all over, root to tip.

Wait approximately 30 seconds, probably roughly the amount of time it takes to shave your legs… or to sing through half the chorus of “Shallow” in my case (anyone else have that song playing non-stop in their heads after watching the Oscars!?).

Rinse for another 30, and right about now you’re probably running your fingers through your silky-slippery, rescued hair.

Results

I’ve used this treatment instead of a regular conditioner two weeks in a row now, as it’s so important to me that I test out any product before I share my thoughts on it.

I’ve noticed such an improvement in the health of my hair and my hair is instantly much more manageable and softer and silkier in texture (I can run my fingers through my dry hair without them catching on a knot… now that’s a good feeling!)

These photos were snapped right after I gave my hair an at-home blowout after washing and using the Pantene Pro-V Intense Rescue Shots.

If you’re looking for a little hair pick-me-up that you can use on a weekly basis to repair your damaged hair and in anticipation of all the damage you know you’ll be doing in the future, look no further! The Pantene Pro-V Intense Rescue Shots are available here!

Huge thank you to Pantene for sponsoring this post!

Categories
Travel

Memories from Malta

Malta – a place I scarcely knew existed until last summer (that might be embarrassing, but at least I’m honest) and yet I can now say that Malta is definitley one of the countries most rich in human history I’ve ever visited… not to mention, it’s also one of the most naturally beautiful.

Malta is made-up of a cluster of 3 small islands hiding just below the coast of Sicily. When I say the islands are small, I mean teeny tiny. Comino, the smallest of the islands, has a population of 3, one hotel, and is car-free (and care-free). We chose Malta on a whim, as was the theme with many of our destinations over our summer hopping around Europe. We found ourselves with about a week of time to fill mid-July before we headed to Tomorrowland, a massive festival taking place in Belgium, so we decided to spend our week somewhere completely new to us. When I say we had no idea what to expect, I truly mean we had seen nothing about Malta aside from scrolling through a few of Google’s top page search results. When you visit a country, you’ve often already formulated some sort of visual expectation of the experience you will have there. With Malta, we had practically nothing. And for this reason, it was definitely the most exciting place we visited all summer.

We were lucky enough to get in touch with Malta’s tourism board who welcomed us so warmly and even set us up with a 3-day itinerary of some essential Malta-musts. Had we not had the best possible guidance for truly seeing all that is Malta it would have been trickier to know exactly what to do with our time. I definitely recommend doing ample research before visiting this special country so you can really experience the islands and formulate an itinerary that suits you and your interests.

Many refer to Malta’s cities as “places lost in time”. This sounds very romantic, maybe a little dramatic – but let me tell you… it’s just downright accurate. This place has been used on countless movie sets for good reason, it’s practically a movie set as is. There are quiet micro-cities that haven’t changed much since they were built back in, say like 1500? One of our highlights of this leg of the summer was visiting Malta’s island of Gozo – a place that truly does seem to have stood still while the rest of the world moves at lightening speed. And I mean that quite literally, Gozo is the site to some of the world’s oldest free-standing structures – namely, the Megalithic Temples of Malta. It’s a weird (and cool) feeling standing next to one of the oldest prehistoric structures still standing on earth today. This temple on Gozo outdates even Stonehenge. Woah.

The streets and buildings on Gozo, specifically it’s capital city Victoria, known by native Maltese as Rabat, are made of hefty blocks of light beige stone, all if which is sourced from the natural material found on the island and has been for centuries. You feel as though you are moving through an ancient street straight from the 1500s, with the occasional reminder of the 21st century peaking through in a phone booth or an ad for toothpaste plastered in a shop window.

Lunch at Zafiro Restaurant, Xlendi bay in Gozo

A short drive through these antiquated streets and you’re on beautiful coastal island terrain again, complete with bright blue water and extra-terrestrial-looking rock formations. Oh yeah, and some of the best diving in the world. Malta is a hot-spot for scuba enthusiasts and beginners alike.

Blue Hole, Gozo

We stayed at Corinthia hotel, St. George’s Bay in St Julian’s. Surrounded by the glistening Mediterranean, this upscale hotel is located perfectly at the entrance of St. George’s Bay where many water activities take place during the day. The hotel itself has an amazing pool area overlooking the bay, as well as an outstanding restaurant, Caviar & Bull.

This area of Malta, while beautiful, felt a little more Westernized. It still retains a great energy about it, but it lies in stark contrast to the historical capital city Valetta, which feels like a different world entirely. St. Julians was consistently buzzing with what felt like mainly younger Euro-travelers, keen to spend their summer holidays sunbathing on the beaches and nights dancing in the town’s nightclubs and bars. We only briefly walked through St. Julian’s town area, but got the impression it was a much more commercialized pocket of Malta, no doubt to accommodate the country’s surge of tourism (Malta receives 3 times more tourists than its population per year).

Where the history is most saturated is the capital city on Malta, Valletta. Valetta was named ‘one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world,’ and deemed a World Heritage City (a big deal), and was also declared European Capital of Culture in 2018. But you’ve already seen Valletta many times, I promise you. It’s been featured in hundreds of TV shows and movies throughout cinematic history, usually cast as a city other than itself. In the Count of Monte Cristo, Valletta plays Marseille. In Game of Thrones, it is…. well, whatever mystical land Game of Thrones takes place in (can you tell I haven’t seen Game of Thrones? Should I start??). Why is Valetta used in so many Hollywood productions? Because it doesn’t look like your typical, modern city capital. It looks like something you might stumble upon in your ship a few hundred years ago, winding cobbled streets compete with horse-drawn carriages and all.

I would love to stay in Valetta on future Malta visits. It’s packed with shopping, cafes, restaurants and apartments, all while keeping its mesmerizing historical appearance back from when it was built by St Johns knights in the year 1565.

Aside from cities frozen in time with a rich history to blow your mind, Malta also boasts the most extraordinary beaches, underwater caves, and some of the bluest crystal clear water in the world. We took full advantage of Malta’s blue treasures, ranging from tourist hotspots to empty caves only reachable by boat.

The Blue Lagoon is most definitely a tourist favorite, but understandably so. This popular Malta attraction is a paradise of shallow waters between Comino, the smallest island and Malta, the main island. If you’re looking for a secluded beach, Blue Lagoon isn’t your place. It’s almost always packed with masses of tourists despite it only being reachable by boat or ferry. It’s a great place to spend a sunny summer day soaking up the European sun next to blindingly blue waters while sipping on a pina colada, served from a pineapple. But of course, alongside crowds of travelers doing the same. While it’s no peaceful private beach, it’s such an iconic hangout spot in Malta, we knew we had to experience an afternoon here.

Beyond the popular beaches, there are so many more adventures to be had as well as unique picturesque moments around Malta’s islands. Popeye’s Village, for example, is an old 1980 Hollywood film set for the musical Popeye starring Robin Williams. The film set has now been restored to an old-fashioned theme park, attracting tourists visiting Malta. The staged little village looks strikingly surreal sitting just above the shining blue waters of Anchor Bay, and makes for a beautiful photo backdrop.

We really left Malta feeling we’d seen so many different sides and personalities to just one tiny country that marks such significant moments in history. I really think there is something on Malta for everyone, from the rich history, churches and cathedrals, temples and archaeological sites to the other-worldly waters and the many activities they provide. We made so many lovely memories on Malta and hope to visit again some day! We want to thank the Maltese tourism for their hospitality as well as all the kind and welcoming people we met throughout our adventures in Malta.

Categories
Fashion

A Little Fall(ish) Fashion Look

Fall just may have been overlooked this year in LA and I’m coming to terms with it (despite some misleading clouds the day I shot this outfit, the temps still somehow reached somewhere in the high 70s). In Fall’s absence I’ve still loved putting together Fall-inspired looks that can easily be layered on top of in the case of a sudden temperature drop… which is looking unlikely.

Express launched The Edition Collection this month which is a gorgeous line comprised of beautiful, elevated designer-quality investment pieces that I have loved working into my recent looks. Zack and I had so much fun pretending the season had changed on this gloomy day on a beautiful street in West Hollywood to shoot some of my favorite Express Edition pieces styled with a few other Express accessories I have been wearing for a while! What I love most about the collection is how versatile the pieces all are and how easy a day-time look like the one I created here can be taken into the night!

Go shop the entire collection online here, or in Express stores before it’s all gone!

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Shop the look I put together, and some of my other Express Edition Collection favorites:


 
 

Lastly before you go, let me know if you’d enjoy more fashion-y, look-book-y, blogger-y types of posts like these aka (less writing and more imagery!)
Happy Thanksgiving!

x

Categories
Lifestyle

My (Shocking) Closet Transformation

I’m both deeply embarrassed and extremely excited about sharing this with the Internet. Mostly excited, but still, I would appreciate you doing your best to withhold judgment when it comes to my ‘before’ photos.

My disclaimers (slash excuses) for having a closet in such a state are: that I was hardly ever home to organize, when I was home I didn’t have the time or motivation to organize, and on top of all that, being an “influencer” if you will, I end up with a lot of clothing, much of which may not be things I should necessarily keep but I am terrible at getting rid of. And thus, I end up with the below…

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Sorry you had to see that.

Before college I was a very messy young person. Ask any of my childhood friends or family members, and they’ll tell you my room was a constant junkyard. Not that I didn’t love the idea of having a super awesome clean room, but it was as if I just didn’t have the “tidy” gene or something.

Then I went to college, and when I found myself sharing a cramped dorm room with another girl (who, much like my former self, was less than neat and organized). I suddenly developed a case of minor OCD when it came to my belongings, keeping them organized and keeping my space tidy. Needless to say, when my parents or friends from home visited me at school, they couldn’t believe it was my dorm room or apartment they were seeing. And vise-versa, my college friends couldn’t believe I was ever not OCD.

Somewhere between then and now, post-college life, I found myself living in a mess similar to that of my pre-college self, and every moment of it was pure torture. But, for the reasons I listed above, coming around to organizing my war-zone of a bedroom was merely a dream that I set for myself for an un-scheduled time in the hopefully near future that I told myself would be soon, but never was.

Throughout 3ish apartment moves, all while doing a lot of traveling, my room remained more or less the same; a disaster, with minor moments of pretend tidiness, but I never found a true solution for a problem that would always come back.

And then, one day, I decided I couldn’t live like this any longer. Or maybe I decided it was time to do some real adulting. Or maybe I decided I was too embarrassed with my mess… probably a combination of all three. And then when my manager told me her best friend was a professional closet-organizer, I said I’d never needed anyone in my life more than I needed someone with that job title.

Internet, meet Dana, my hero. And please admire her work with this juicy before and after:

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Dana, @clutterflyclosets on Instagram, acted surprisingly un-phased when she first saw my mini–hoarders-episode-of-a-closet. She even claimed she’d seen worse (how that is possible I find hard to visualize).

We worked together to solve problems that were keeping my messes messy and my tidying from staying tidy… like not having proper swimwear storage (I have an unfathomable collection of bikinis) or not having effective shoe storage. Basically, the heart of all my problems was A) too much stuff and B) the stuff I did want to keep around didn’t have a proper home.

So together we tackled it. But I really don’t want to take too much of the credit here, because mostly she tackled it, and I assisted. With her help over the course of a few weeks (she worked around my weird travel schedule) I finally went through things I’d never worn, things I’d once loved but had grown out of, things that flat out didn’t fit me, things that I didn’t even know I had, etc. etc., you get the point. Once I’d trimmed the fat (about 50% of my belongings were “fat” in this case), Dana set out to figure out clever storage solutions for the things that I did actually want in my closet.

How’d I get rid of stuff? About 80% of the clothing I decided to let go I donated (some of that stuff I still have yet to donate, so if you know of any women’s shelters or organizations that accept donations please comment suggestions below) and the other portion of things I truly loved but told myself I couldn’t keep any longer I listed for sale on my Depop. (Depop, if you don’t know, is an app for selling and buying clothing. Follow me on Depop here as I continue to list some of my favorite things! Trimming the fat is a never-ending job, in my case.)

We came up with bikini storage in the drawers of my my stand-alone ikea closet (I used to cram bikinis into those wire drawers you can see in the before photos), a shoe wall on an otherwise un-used area of wall space in my closet, we doubled my hanging space by adding two lower rods for jeans, pants, skirts and shorts, created proper bag and accessory storage on my built-in closet shelves (where my shoes used to pile up) along with storage for easy-to-grab folded sweatshirts and sweaters, extra hidden shoe storage for sneakers and flats in a clever ikea invention you’ll see below, and upgraded my chest of drawers to something that can handle my excessive amount of athletic gear, tees, and an unusually large sweatpants collection. All that, plus other small but massively significant organizing miracles that I could never have even thought of had I taken on this project alone. Like, for example, storing individual bikinis in small, sheer drawstring bags so I can keep separates together and keep all my suits in visible order. Or, finally using one SINGLE type of slim, velvet hanger throughout my closet that can actually keep clothes in place, rather than a multitude of rainbow hangers that clothes slip off of constantly, as beautifully depicted in my before photos. And also getting clips for my new hangers to hold up bottoms on the lower rods. Or just hanging up bottoms in general! Or dividing my closet shelves with acrylic dividers. Or how to properly fold clothing in my drawers in a way that is maintainable. Or how to organize stuff in a maintainable way, period.

Okay, I know, that was a lot of words to describe my closet metamorphosis. So if you got lost somewhere in all that, maybe the following photos of Dana’s work will paint you a better picture.

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If I could take everything I learned from working with Dana to fix this problem and boil it all down to one piece of advice, the underlying solution to an ever-growing mess is this: everything, EVERY little THING, must have a place. If it doesn’t have a place, make one. If you don’t have space, make space. If you can’t make space, you have to say goodbye to it. The end.

Everything else merely makes organizing easier, but if you follow that simple rule, you’ll achieve organization. And organization looks different to every body.

With the tricks Dana taught me I actually ENJOY putting clothes away now. I get a little twinge of excitement when I need to put something away, because I know exactly where to put it. And it’s been a few months since Dana and I deemed the space finished, and I’m proud to report that since then my room has actually remained organized (whereas a few months after a cleanup pre-Dana, my room would already be back in a state by now).

My closet now:




Beyond having actual space to move around like a human being and not a cave-dwelling hobbit, having an organized room has it’s other benefits. I can mentally feel a shift when I come home now. I feel more relaxed and at ease. Cleanliness has a profound effect on mental health, and having a zen, sacred space to rest in has already noticeably affected my mental well-being.

Beyond that, I feel like I’m actually able to put outfits together now, whereas before I’d find myself wearing the same jeans days on end simply because they were at the top of the pile of other jeans that I forgot I even owned. Being able to easily preview everything you own is such a simple concept but really has a big impact on actually wearing the clothes you have available.

Lastly, having my clothing organized and not spilling into the rest of my bedroom has inspired me to fill the empty space in my room with décor and art where clothing and general messiness once was. Having clear floors suddenly made my empty walls extra obviously empty, so I felt more motivated and inspired to finally do something about decorating them. I came up with this gallery wall made entirely from prints I found on Society6.com to hang over the bed and I couldn’t be happier with the result and how insanely affordable it was to do it.

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Link to the exact prints I chose here

All in all, I’m sure you can tell that I’ve had an almost borderline spiritual experience with this whole bedroom transformation, but it really has been a life-changer for me.

I’ll link all the organizers and knickknacks that Dana and I found on amazon below if you’re interested in using some of these to give your belongings better places to be put. I certainly think that there are people out there who find organizing to be in their second-nature, and then others who could tackle a similar (and most likely smaller) project on their own. However, I can’t say I’m one of those people due to my current life circumstances (aka my excuses) and I can’t say enough good things about Dana and how glad I am that I decided to finally get help rather than attempting to do take on this project on my own, which in my case had proven to be ineffective long-term.

Drawer Dividers
Velvet Hangers
Hanger Clips
Acrylic Shelf Dividers
Storage Cubes
Sheer Bikini Bags
Acrylic Sunglasses Organizer
Acrylic Purse Organizer
Ikea Shoe Cabinet

And go check out Dana’s website here here to see some more drool-worthy before and afters, and also in case you live in the Los Angeles area and are interested in getting help from her for your own space! If you do, make sure you mention you came from me and she’s agreed to give a niiiice little discount to my followers! (Or use my code HELENOWEN where applicable on her site)

A huge, HUGE thank you to Dana for everything. Like I said, you are my HERO. And I have some bathroom and kitchen messes with your name on it next. ;)

If you liked this post and would like to see similar posts from me in the future please leave me a comment and tell me! I read every single comment and they remind me that people actually read and enjoy reading me rambling on about things I’m excited about. And hey, thanks for reading so many words, that’s a huge ask in today’s day and age, I appreciate you so much and I’ll see you in the next one!

x

Categories
Travel

Our Tulum Beach House + My Tulum Recs

Okay I know what you’re thinking. More Tulum? Here’s the thing. You can’t really do too much Tulum. This was my third time visiting Tulum just this year alone, so I’ve kind of tried.

It’s hard to pinpoint what makes Tulum feel so special, but most Tulum addicts that I’ve spoken to agree that it does have some serious charm going on, and more impressively, it doesn’t seem to lose it’s magic as more and more tourists book up every last room in every last boho boutique hotel scattered along the jungle road that makes up Tulum Beach.

I’d argue that most “special” places only have a life span of true special-time until they are discovered by the masses, yet Tulum somehow maintains its enchantment despite the growing crowds. Dear Tulum: don’t know how you do what you do, but please don’t stop.

And speaking of hotels in Tulum (most of which you can’t go wrong with) this time being a group of 4, I was looking for something a little bigger that our crew could share together without being separated by hotel walls and hallways. While the large majority of Tulum Beach is lined with trendy tree house style hotels and the like, this time around after a little research I found the perfect Tulum abode for our group trip: a beach home.

Actual stand-alone beach homes are a rarity in Tulum, especially one that’s this homey, and with it’s own private pool… still steps away from the bright blue beach. Score.

Our 3 bedroom, 3-story beach home, “Casa Mandala” is one of a few gorgeous homes in a collection by Mahayana Tulum. Our experience here differed so wonderfully from our prior Tulum hotel-centric trips in all the ways you can imagine staying in a 3-story home nestled among the jungle foliage yet still a stone’s throw from the ocean would differ from staying in a hotel. With a few of your best friends, none the less.

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Nestled in the heart of the action yet somehow secluded and hidden from the bustle of the main road, we found ourselves in a luxury yet homey casa with just about the perfect mix of excitement and peace. Mahayana beach homes are walking distance to some of Tulum’s most distinguished dining, most Instagramable moments and blogger-approved acai bowls. And if you aren’t in the mood to leave your home to dine, well why not have your meals prepared right in your kitchen by a chef? We were lucky enough to experience this culinary luxury for a day of our trip, and I must say, it was far better than room service at any hotel I’ve stayed at.

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This trip was special because it was a week-long celebration of my since-middle school best friend’s 25th birthday, and anyone who knows Tulum knows there is celebration to be found, always.

And if staying in a beach home with a group of friends celebrating life in Tulum isn’t a good birthday, nothing is. Our days involved dips in our little jungle pool, short walks to nearby Tulum attractions and delicious eats, and oh yeah, margaritas. Lots of those.

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I highly recommend any of Mahayana’s beach homes for any group, from families looking for an intimate secluded abode to a group of friends wanting a house to accommodate larger groups without being separated throughout a hotel. One thing worth mentioning, especially during the warmer months of the year, is that there is no AC in the master bedroom (the third level). While this isn’t a deal breaker as this room is absolutely beautiful and there are plenty of fans for ventilation, it can still make for some toasty nights. If you’re wondering, all the other rooms have AC! The home we stayed in, Casa Mandala as well as all the other Mahayana Beach Homes are hidden away in a little area of jungle that opens up to a very peaceful strip of beach, adorned with palm trees and private beach cabanas for max relaxation.
Huge thank you to Snow and the Mahayana team for their kindness, hospitality and generosity in hosting us and making this Tulum trip so unforgettable and refreshingly different for us.

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And now, on to some recs.

Having frequented Tulum I’ve naturally complied a list of some of my favorites of everything Tulum has to offer. Here are a handful that I love and feel are worth sharing with anyone who has their sights set on Tulum and wants to know what’s good.

Kintoh at Azulik

Come here for drinks or dinner at sunset and you’ll find yourself sitting high above Tulum, gazing at some of the most intricate treehouse inspired architecture. Many a photo-op, I assure you. Also check out the IK Lab museum at Azulik, as well as Zak-ik Boutique, the most enchanting hotel gift shop you’ll probably ever browse through.

Gitano

This is maybe my favorite restaurant in Tulum for level-100 food and ambience. Everything on the menu at Gitano is mouth watering (order the tuna starters, they’re divine), and they often have live music during dinner hours. And as the night goes on so do the DJs, spinning jungle vibes into the night. Easy to grab a reservation online.

Hartwood

Another amazing upscale dinner spot, some proclaim it’s the best food in Tulum… but Hartwood is also one of the hardest Tulum restaurants to get a reservation for (they begin taking reservations a month in advance, but walk-ins are welcome if availability permits)

Arca

Along with Gitano and Hartwood, Arca is an excellent dinner option with A+ atmosphere and yummy food. I recommend walking along this strip of restaurants (Gitano to Arca to Hartwood) and you’ll find many other lively outdoor dining options and bars. Mur Mur is another great spot for drinks along this segment of road!

Casa Jaguar

Casa Jaguar is another favorite for gourmet food in an upscale jungle atmosphere and can lead to many a late night of dancing under the stars at the adjoining bar, Todos Santos. Definitely a Tulum nightlife front-runner.

Ocumare at Be Tulum

On a gorgeous hotel property (Be Tulum), Ocumare restaurant has a variety of food options from sushi to fresh organic options. I suggest trying the octopus here! Great for any meal, any time and be sure to explore the hotel property afterward.

Ojo de Agua

This is an awesome cute-casual breakfast spot with healthy breakfast options and a killer acai bowl too. Craving it as I write this.

Nomade Tulum

This stunning hotel is one of Tulum’s top properties and is a boho lover’s dream. Come to the restaurant here for lunch on the beach followed by sunbathing in nets suspended over the sand.

Casa Malca

This is a must-see for anyone who watched Narcos – Casa Malca is Pablo Escobar’s old property from way-back when. Restored since Pablo resided there, but it’s arguably the most eccentric and quirky hotel property in Tulum with lots of hidden secrets (for example, enter Pablo’s old underground grotto by the discreet staircase next to the pool). I recommend coming here for drinks and taking the afternoon to explore the different rooms, the artwork, hidden charms, nooks and crannies, etc etc.

Coco Tulum

Come here in the day for tacos and the same cute swing pic that literally everyone else has taken. Although I’d argue that very few things beat the feeling of eating tacos on a swing while facing the brightest blue ocean.

Matcha Mama

An Instagram sensation, and for good reason. Not only will you find an IG photo-op on the swings attached to this cute little roadside stand, you’ll also find some top-notch smoothie, matcha and coffee options. A favorite of mine: cold brew with coconut milk and agave.

Boa Tulum

Boa is a day-time beach club that is great for drinks at sunset. It’s a quick taxi ride away from the heart of Tulum beach, a few minutes after Azulik and thus gets a new view of the sunset that most hotels won’t catch a glimpse of. It’s got a great atmosphere furthered by whatever deep house beats the DJ is playing as the sun goes down. They also serve great dinner here, although the menu is entirely in Spanish.

La Valise / Encantada

You’ve likely seen me post about La Valise hotel before, but did I ever properly emphasize the level of perfection of the tacos here? I vote this best taco place in Tulum. Every single taco on their menu is delicious, but the mushroom tacos (vegan option that tastes like HEAVEN, please don’t make the mistake of not ordering this because you aren’t vegan), the fish tacos, and the al pastor. DROOLING. Also, check out the new jungle restaurant, NU Tulum, across the street for a beautiful dinner under the stars. Order every single dessert on the menu if you feel so inclined (we did, and I can report back that this was a very good decision).

Raw Love Tulum

This is another cute little health food stand, offering 100% raw vegan delicacies. Highly recommend this the morning after a night of tequila induced-dancing to refuel your body with pure goodness. It’s a little bit hard to find, but you’ll see the Raw Love sign from the main road, and after a little wandering through a resort and some beach huts you’ll find this cute, boho stand surrounded by tables and hammocks (for maximum chilling, post raw vegan meal).

Those just about cover my faves along Tulum beach – the area where all the action is. However, if you’re looking to explore outside of Tulum beach (think cenotes, diving, ruins, zip lines, hikes, etc) I would highly recommend browsing the web as there are literally hundreds of activities in the Tulum area, and my little blog post couldn’t even begin to do justice to all that is out there waiting to be explored. However, we did visit some pretty special cenotes on this trip, as well as hike the Coba Tulum ruins and even partook in a little boating adventure. (Read on for deets!)

The Coba Tulum ruins

The Coba Ruins are worth visiting, especially if you’re looking for a booty-blasting stair workout that will put your local fitness classes to shame. Not to mention it’s truly extraordinary to witness the grand scale of these ancient structures, let alone climb up them to some incredible tree-top views of the region. If you’re going to do the Coba ruins, you should 100% rent bikes (shortly after entering the park, just follow the path until you reach the bike rental area – hard to miss). You’ll then take a leisurely, shaded bike ride along winding roads through various ruin sites before arriving to the main event. You’ll laugh at the other sweaty tourists who decided to walk. Also, please note the shoes I have on, and don’t wear anything similar if you do happen to decide to hike these ruins.

Choo-Ha Cave Cenote

Next to Coba ruins there are a few amazing cave cenotes. We picked Choo-Ha cenote, which is completely underground and impossibly surreal to swim in. The fresh, clear cave water is certainly welcome after hiking the ruins!

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Koox Adventures

The other cenote we visited on this trip is a little more hush hush and hidden-away (okay, really it’s a “secret” cenote I’ve been asked not to disclose the location of, as annoying as that is to hear). We were taken there by the incredible Koox Adventure team, who also took us on our boat ride which was complete with up-close waterside views of the Tulum ruins (different from Coba ruins). If you’re interested in finding secret secluded utter paradises and going on unique boat adventures, may I suggest you book a day with Koox. They also specialize in diving, which is maybe unparalleled in Tulum’s intricate underground cave-channels. Going with Koox will take the guesswork out of your exploring, and trust me, the best cenotes are the ones that you can’t find with a google search.

  

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Until next time, Tulum! (Guessing it won’t be too long by the looks of my current Tulum track record)

Categories
Travel

Our Cozy Cabin in Utah for Sundance

We decided to head to Sundance at approximately 7 in the morning on day 1 of Sundance. It looks we beat our record as far as spontaneous trips go. Quick disclaimer: I do not recommend this way of traveling, and I almost always wish I had planned things out a little more. But I will say, it’s much more exciting this way.

In case you don’t know what Sundance is, it’s a world-renowned film festival that takes place in Park City Utah each year, with extra emphasis on festival.
Thanks to a new app that sells off otherwise-empty seats on flights for $35 (more coming on this soon, I promise) and a little in-flight wifi, we took off from LA without a place to stay and landed in Salt Lake City with a weekend in a cabin booked. And not just any cabin, we booked what I’m convinced is the cutest, coziest, little cabin in Utah.


I found the “A Frame Haus” through one of my awesome followers, who so graciously answered my public cry for help on my Instagram story in regard to our struggle in finding accommodation in the Park City area during what is easily the single-busiest week in Park City all year.
This cabin is located about 30 minutes from Park City, tucked away in the woods behind Heber City and set apart from the bustle. What it lacked in proximity to the Main Street of Park City where the action was, it made up for in cuteness. This is an a-frame style house built centuries ago and recently restored to be the beautifully designed, decorated and highly photogenic retreat it is today.

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This place is the perfect combination of rustic and modern, with attention to detail in every single room. Fixed with modern appliances and an enormous, bright kitchen this place practically begs you to stay in and cook every day.

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We kept thinking what a perfect place this would be for a group of friends or a family – it’s just far enough away from the main towns (Heber and Park City) that you feel the excitement of being in the wilderness, but not far enough that you can’t pop into town within 15-30 minutes.
While it wasn’t super conveniently located for Sundance, we still managed to peel ourselves away from the warmth and coziness and into the cold, and we loved waking up in our own little wilderness escape every morning.


And the best part: almost seemingly timed with our arrival, fresh blankets of snow piled up all around our little triangular cabin in the woods. I’ll never forget the feeling of stepping outside the morning after the snowfall, the sun shining and the world around me quite literally sparkling. The snow was delightfully crunchy, I could see my breath in slo-mo, the world around me was silent… it was absolute bliss. The views that surround this place will take your breath away if the below freezing temperature doesn’t. Not pictured: Zack and I sliding around in our rental car on the icy roads without a clue of how to drive in snowy conditions.

As for Sundance, we got a good little taste of this exciting gathering in Park City Utah: we caught a film that made us feel weird, and met some fantastic, interesting people which led to lots of fantastic and interesting conversations, ate lots of good food (and drank lots of drinks), watched Post Malone do his thang… Oh, and GET THIS: we’re actually planning to plan to go back next year for round two.

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Shop my outfits:

To check out the A Frame Haus on Airbnb, click here!