summer week vlog | beach days, working, book recs

Auto-captioned from the film, lightly cleaned. Elena's words, not edited prose.

good morning what is this little hair doing how's it going it's lana welcome back to my channel i'm gonna bring you guys a little weekly vlog or almost weekly vlog it's not gonna be quite chronological because i'm going to include some clips from a previous vlog that i took down temporarily as well as some new clips because i love some of that content but there's a lot of confusion and frustration in the comments and i want you guys to know that i am listening and i hear you it seemed like i was not wearing a mask which is not the case i wear my mask everywhere i go unless i'm outside in a public space like the beach or the park or i would take it off to talk to the camera so you can hear me clearly but i just want to make sure off the bat that i am promoting safe practices i've been strictly following the guidelines for where i live specifically um quarantining when things weren't open going to the beach and seeing a few close friends i've also been quarantining once that was allowed here i don't want there to be any confusion i don't want to give anyone the wrong idea so i figured it would be better to take it down i'm going to re-edit some of that and include some clips that i didn't initially include or make sure i am clear with my content i want to say thank you to you guys for making sure that i am conveying the right messages i appreciate how socially aware you guys are it's always been a goal of mine with my channel from ever since i started it to of course have fun lifestyle content but to try to mix in like different social issues i'm passionate about so the fact that you guys are on top of this i think it's really epic and it makes me proud to have a community like this of course you know leave suggestions in the comments so we can navigate this together so yeah appreciate you guys love you guys here is another little vlog in my life i'm gonna be working at home for like a day or two and then it's the weekend i figure this summer i hope to film quite a few fun little vlogs while i'm here a lot of you guys seem to enjoy my california content for those who don't know i used to live in california i grew up here i mean most of my life was here i went to university here and i made a lot of like california videos so we'll bring them back while i figure out my game plan i'll definitely be back in new york soon-ish i just don't know when yeah stay tuned for some little vlog hello from my little workspace just starting out my day recently thrifted this shirt and i kind of feel like a dad in it but it's also extremely comfortable so we're going with it today i'm just working on editing a video i'm planning out those skillshare courses i talked about my last vlog i think i'm going to start with kind of a video about vlogging what i've learned throughout the years how i edit them how i come with thumbnails all of that i'm also thinking potentially making a course on like building your own youtube how to monetize it and work with brands all the things i've just learned a bit about throughout the years i'm also looking at some grad school programs as i do like once a month because i'm just you know figuring out my life your 20s are weird i feel like 22 to like 25 let's say is just a period of a lot of uncertainty for many people the choices you have during like college are starting to narrow down and you kind of need to start to pick a career path before i just have always gravitated to working more as a creative i don't see myself doing like classic non to five but i also really value education and utilizing that in the work that i do i've really fallen off the journal wagon i feel like during quarantine but i think i found it kind of hard to put my thoughts into paper but few times that i have gotten around to it have always been so good and needed it's nice to just get all the ick in here and just put it out on paper and it just you know i feel like i can close the book on certain thoughts and it's it's a good feeling i think i'm gonna do a little grocery run and then i'm gonna go on a little socially distant coffee walk with my friend grace and if you guys have seen my old videos you probably remember her she was like my college best friend i shared a tiny room with her and we had twin beds next to each other for an entire year um and she was yeah just a very dear friend that's pretty much all i'm doing today i'm just gonna be mellow here tonight look who it is what i'm told i am currently prepping for my book club zoom call so you want to talk about race i get a lot of questions on like how to join it is the most casual thing ever i basically just pick a book have an instagram highlight on my instagram feed and i basically just post updates there's a goodreads discussion board and it's basically just read at your own pace and it's just me encouraging you to read a book that's going to shift your perspective in this case i think so you want to talk about racism incredible book about learning how to have discussions about race learning all about intersectionality affirmative action police brutality like she just hits on so many very important topics in a very informative way so i'm just gonna prep for that make sure i kind of have some good discussion questions and that i'll be able to hopefully leave the discussion in a meaningful way i'm co-hosting with my friend jaden jones would you subscribe to her if you're not already examine and deeply understand our history and how every policy that's been implemented affects our social world but there's a deeper understanding and so addressing race doesn't become uncomfortable it just becomes all the more necessary and urgent i feel like everyone's like what can i do i feel like i'm not doing enough i want to do more i personally feel like you're no voice is too small everyone was like okay i could speak to one family member if everyone spoke to one family member everyone would be talking about something katie belotti actually did a podcast episode about this and she was like i'm scared to say something but like i've realized that i need to say something even if my voice shakes and i love that so much you're trying to get the point across even if you may be wrong maybe someone can correct you or maybe you can read up on it later but again if you don't say anything nothing will change like no matter where you come from like seriously just taking the time to keep like productively moving forward with this movement is just as important as just like doing the small daily things you know the sun is finally out i'm so excited my like emotional state i realized is so tied to the weather so i'm about to go sprint to the beach and go swim and lay out in the sun a little bit and read i'm so excited so happy right now oh my god this is exactly what i needed got back from the beach a little bit ago and i figured i'd show you guys some drugstore favorites i've been loving recently let me set you up are we going are we rolling i left the vast majority of my possessions in new york so i've gotten the chance to experiment with some other items and here's some stuff i've been loving recently i've been using this aveeno positively radiant daily moisturizer with a 30 fpf sunscreen so i wanted like a good daily moisturizer that has spf because i'm in the sun all the time it is a little bit on the thicker side so if your skin gets oily i wouldn't recommend it if you have dry skin like me it's quite nice and really soaks in the skin and moisturizes it and i know i'm protecting it so it's a win-win i've been obsessed with hair care recently i feel like it's a 10 is just like a staple that i clearly am running out if you can tell it's like a leave-in conditioner plus a bunch of other things so it softens your hair it helps with frizz and then two things that i struggle with are split ends and dry hair so i have leave-in conditioner this john frieda one i really like it helps with frizz as well and then i get really bad split ends super easily and so argan oil of morocco hair oil which which is helping my hair stay soft and healthy because i've been going in the salt water a lot and i just need to keep it fresh also love not your mother's sea salt spray i use this all the time i really like a waist spray but this is an incredible budget version another thing i want to chat about for a second which i'll talk about probably again later this video is the beauty myth which is such a freaking good book this book is all about how images of beauty are used against women it's about redefining our relationship with beauty i'm about halfway through and about every page has underlining i know with like my upbringing and the culture and the pop culture i was surrounded by a lot of this rings true i feel like this book helps on so many elements of how i viewed myself subconsciously while the same time kind of showing the history of why we view ourselves the way we do slowly shifting towards more equal rights has been a very long and slow journey and there's still a lot of things that haven't changed and need to change and i think this is showing me that while yes i'm extremely fortunate to be a woman living in the usa and living in a place that has a closer level to equality than many other countries do around the world there's still massive gaps and a lot of that has to do with these beauty ideals we've been forced to live up against and although like patriarchy uses it to keep women suppressed it's incredible 100 recommend okay it's getting late so i'm probably just going to make some dinner and then watch dark which is my guilty pleasure right now it's really great german show on netflix i'll see you guys tomorrow treat yourself good morning how's it going am i zoomed in this feels really close my old roommate from new york so i had two roommates in new york maxine and natalie natalie was my previous vlog and the maxine i'm seeing today it's funny because i met them in new york but they're both from san diego and then we're all just back in this like same smallish town during this like quarantine time while we wait things out in new york so maxine's gonna come over we're gonna go for a nice little morning walk so i feel very lucky that several my good new york city friends happen to be in the same area as me right now because i miss a lot of them so it's nice to see a few at least i did get a few fun pieces in the mail so i figured i'd do a little impromptu haul just giving you guys a little sneak peek because i might do a proper summer haul and so i gotta like save them for that a little bit but i got a few pieces in the mail from la caza which i'm really excited about one of my favorite sustainable brands got these gorgeous green trousers these lime green shorts so cute i feel like lime green is so like on trend right now like i'm seeing it everywhere and then i got this beautiful baby doll dress that looks like such a comfy dream to wear and then last and this isn't that new because i've already i got this probably like a week ago and i've literally been wearing it non-stop but it is the cutest retro bathing suit are you kidding me look at that color pattern it is from an australian company called snorkel bear that's sustainable ethically made they gifted me this suit which i'm super grateful for and they also gave me a 20 off code i mean it's not sponsored price point is a little higher so i was like hey any chance you could make a discount code for my followers so they could get a little discount and they said yes if you can use elena 20 on their whole website there's my little minnie hall you know the beach a little later i'm trying to dip in the ocean daily or at least almost daily while i'm here going for a little dip is incredibly rejuvenating for how i feel physically mentally emotionally it is just like the best reset after a day these days it's not easy girl is good morning kind of i guess it's only kind of the morning but just got to the beach about to go see my friend jasmine which i'm super excited about which i'm super excited about she was one of my good friends in my major i'm a university at point loma we had all these marketing classes together she's epic and badass and super kind and super intelligent and creative we're both been really careful about who we see so excited to see each other for a little bit and it's been like two years probably since we saw each other in person right before she headed out for new york and left them we're talking about everything we talk about life like this what crisis is the future university parallel universes the elections black lives matter activism everything everything boys like boys she has a new youtube channel so definitely check it out follow her what'd you say you post about sustainable fashion and lifestyle on instagram and youtube yeah predominantly instagram figuring out youtube right now but it's fun and you know joining me back to corn you got to distract us with something else trying not to have a mental breakdown i know trying to prevent another quarter life crisis because they happen once a day but you know the beach is helping the sun is out but now we're on youtube and we're on youtube exactly it was so lovely seeing jasmine she literally like talked about everything i feel like but we were talking about just like the pressure we put on ourselves as like 20 somethings to like live our lives to the fullest and to like need to experience so much in this decade because we feel like there's so much pressure put on your 20s to like figure out your life have all these incredible experiences et cetera and part of it to pull from a book i'm reading right now which is called the beauty myth a lot of times as women we put this pressure on ourselves in this period of life because our entire life at least in my case i had so little exposure in modern media through tv movies marketing etc to older women above the age of let's say 35 or 40 that are seen as being like admirable and i think that really plays a heavy role very subconsciously on how we view aging and this stage of life the importance of beauty etc like for men it's much easier to find older male role models to look up to but for females for what we've been exposed to at least from the media side of things it's it's pretty rare to find an older woman truly being admired for her own intelligence or her you know career etc like we're starting to see it now more in leadership but honestly that's still rare still women only hold like five percent of fortune 500 roles it is truly mind-boggling the fact that like while yes there's is a certain level of equality in the states it's still so lacking that there's not equal representation in so many different fields as women we are told that we need to hold on to this ideal level of beauty and keep it up in order to be seen as like respectable admirable people i just thought that was really profound and it kind of tied into the fact that there's this pressure on this period of life because we're so rarely exposed to older more mature and wise women as being somebody that we could want to be seeing a big shift in modern marketing to a certain degree which is really inspiring but that is not what i even grew up with as a 23 year old for those older female role models in their 50s and their 60s and their 70s that are incredibly wise to look up to because i think there's so much that we have to look forward to and we pin so much on this like youthful time of our life because that's what we're shown as being at the like prime times you