Nip and Fab - and Snake Venom

Stress has caused my skin to break out badly, lots of redness and fine lines... I've been trying to take better care of my skin, especially as I get older. I went to Sephora and bought some new cleanser, toner, and moisturizer, but I've been bad at implementing a new regimen cuz #lazy. I've noticed I have to use more cover up lately especially when I shoot for the blog.

I was sent these new products from @nipandfab to try and I've tested them out for better and picture perfect images. I was mostly intrigued by the name of each product, and was super interested in reading about the science behind how it works! 

Mission Pink Event - Breast Cancer Awareness with Susan G. Komen and The Outlets at Orange

Happy Monday!

Last week I was invited by my blogger friend Samira from Stylemesamira.com to attend an event at the Outlets at Orange in Orange, CA (outside of LA, Orange county) to raise awareness and funds for Breast Cancer with the Susan G. Komen Foundation through out the entire month of October, called "Mission Pink" (#MissionPink). I'm sure you have heard that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, and a lot of people have been donning pink (or some purple) in support.

Ever since I was in high school, I was taking part of "Team Walk for Cancer Care" in my hometown, and we would fundraise and walk every year for Cancer research and awareness. As a graduate student and scientist working on biochemistry research, I am fully supportive of raising awareness and funds for research for breast cancer - a particularly tough disease that affects more people than you would expect. Did you know that one case of breast cancer is diagnosed every two minutes?! The statistics are astonishing, and while I do not directly do breast cancer research, laboratories need funding in order to make the breakthroughs and finding cures! Basic research (and translational research) is so important in determining mechanisms and proteins involved in disease pathology, that government cuts in funding are only pushing us back in eventually finding cures.

Simon, the parent corporation for the Outlets at Orange, set up several events throughout the month to raise funds, with a guaranteed donation minimum of $250,000 (Score! Do you know how much research that can fund?!?! Amazing!) to fund research and "support women, men and families suffering from breast cancer, and move toward a world with no breast cancer," said Dr. Judy Salerno, Komen President and CEO.

The event I went to was a Mission Pink - Yelp Elite Combined event, with a cool fashion show in which models from various retailers at the Outlets displayed pops of pink color to show their support in Mission Pink. There was free food, music, open bar, and various raffles and contests to win free stuff! It was rather cool! There was also a "wall of strength," in which a $1 donation, survivors, families and friends wrote their message of strength on a laminated "brick" and posted their picture.

Some food for thought

Hi lovelies,

Today I bring you a post that's rather different than the rest. A more thoughtful post, coming to you straight from my heart at 4 am. Granted, there are no photos (outfit post next week!), but I still have some thoughts to share. Take it as some food for thought.

I just spent the evening in the ER with my boyfriend after he injured his leg playing sports (don't worry, he's ok!), and it got me thinking about what I really want to do with my life. 

I am a people person. I love interacting with and helping people. I see it every day when I'm at work and a student asks me a question or needs advice on an experiment. Sometimes I wish I had the opportunity to work in retail or even food service, so I can interact with more people. In some ways I feel like being at the bench all day is kind of lonely. But then again, seeing the fruits of my labor in the form of data is rather gratifying and exciting! As I was sitting in the exam room with my boyfriend, a thought popped into my head. What if I became a medical doctor after my PhD? That way I could directly interact with and impact patients. And then I thought about the sheer amount of time and debt I would get into by not doing an MD/PhD program... (darn it Andrea, why didn't you think of this sooner?!)

I am a scientist, I am a female, I am a fashionista at heart with a passion for research and helping others. I want to inspire others to do their best, while also creating something I can call my own. 

Exp Bio Day 4 - #ExpBioFashion

Hi everyone!

Today's post comes to you with some awesome fashion from people who have been attending the conference! I met a lot of great, interesting people at various networking events, and while I felt a little shy to pop out my camera and ask to take photos of people's fabulous outfits, the topic of being a fashion blogger for the conference came up - and I got a lot of positive feed back! 

Being the only one at the conference from my lab and not knowing anyone else attending, I had throw myself out there and just meet others, start conversations, and have a good time. I met a lot of great students presenting their research, not only graduate students but also some undergraduates, in addition to professors and recruiters.

Each night of the conference there was some kind of networking event hosted by various committees, and I made sure to make an effort to attend as many as I could. Not only were there free drinks, but  some good food and company. Worst thing that can happen is I get bored and I can leave. I ended up staying the whole time to each event I went to and had a great time with the people I had met!

I was able to take photos from a couple of fashionable people I had the pleasure of meeting, and they were more than willing to let me take their photo! 

Hey NewsHour, this is why I chose basic research video

So my lab and I are entering a competition for PBS NewsHour, This is why I chose basic research, and we made it into a kind of music video based on Katy Perry's Last Friday Night.  This is only a 1 minute clip, but we will be releasing a full length video soon!

What do you think?