Work-life diaries | new bangs, soft resets & settling into routine again

My skin has been crazy. I feel like this always happens when I travel. It might be the air, it might be the water, it might be the different environment, but I never fail to have bad skin for at least two weeks post-travel. So we're just doing some heavier spot correcting today because I have to go into the office. So I've been in Europe for a little over two weeks, and it actually felt like a really long time. And I think a lot of you all noticed it too, and also my friends also noticed it. At one point, some people were like, hey, when are you coming back? Another friend also asked me how much PTO I have, and actually my company has unlimited PTO, but obviously you're not supposed to just take as much PTO as possible. The trip was planned around July 4th, so I actually only took three PTO days, and then I worked remotely from Europe. The New York-Europe time situation wasn't too bad, like I'd start work at around 3, and then end around midnight, but it worked out fine because usually I stay up really late to do work anyways. And then obviously there were the weekends, and I think after working in corporate for almost six years now, you learn how to maximize your PTO. Europe was so much fun. I split my time between London, Paris, and I spent a full week in the south of France. It was so beautiful. Late last year, two of my college girlfriends asked me if I wanted to go to France with them for the 4th of July, and initially I said no because I was saving up all of my to spend with my partner at the time. And then obviously life happens and things happen, and retroactively, I went back to them when the breakup occurred, and I was like, hey, actually, can I come? And they were like, of course! I'm really grateful for all of the friends that have allowed me to just tag onto their plans. A lot of you have been asking if I vlogged the Europe trip, and I did, but I vlogged on shortform, and I did that quite intentionally. I decided right before I left for Europe that I wanted to make shortform vlogs for the trip, and that is because I still want to figure out how I want to grow on social media, and I still really want to give shortform a shot. I just haven't really had a lot of time to work on it, and I did try to do both longform and shortform vlogging for my Asia trip recently, but I recognize that on the days where I was trying to film both, it just really exhausted me and I felt like I wasn't really living in the moment. So if you're interested in seeing how my Europe trip went, I did post everything on shorts and also on TikTok, and I just want to say I'm sorry to all of you who just love longform vlogs. This is definitely my bread and butter. This is not going away. I love longform vlogging so, so much, and I just want to thank you for your support as I continue to explore different avenues to express my craft and growth here on social media. Alright, we are just about ready to go into work, but before that, I want to quickly thank Lisa for sponsoring this portion of today's video. Even though I had the best time on my travels, there is one thing that I really missed when I was abroad, and that is my own bed. As you all know, I got a new mattress a little over two months ago, and I really am not lying when I say that I've been having the best sleep every single night because of this Lisa Superior Chill Hybrid mattress. My sisters and my best friend have stayed with me since I switched to this new mattress, and every single one of them have commented on how nice it feels. When I was mattress shopping, I knew I wanted something supportive and cooling. I ended up with the Medium Firm Superior Chill Hybrid in a queen size, and it's honestly been so perfect. The mattress has seven layers of high-density foam and over a thousand individually zoned springs, so there's extra support right where you need it, especially around the hips and edges. And if you're someone who runs hot at night, the quilted top has cooling fibers that pull heat away from your body. This mattress has seriously been a game changer for my sleep. Also, I love that it's designed, assembled, and shipped straight from Lisa's factory in Arizona using more eco-conscious materials, and it's 100% fiberglass free. And beyond the product itself, Lisa's donated over 41,000 mattresses to people in need, which I think is pretty cool. If you're looking to upgrade your own sleep experience, scan the QR code on screen or click the link in the description to get $75 off your mattress purchase using my code JULIA75. And that discount is on top of their current offers. I'll see you. Bye. So my sisters are coming over for dinner tonight. I haven't seen them in over two weeks because I've been in Europe, and this has been the longest period of time that I haven't seen them in a while. Since the breakup, I've seen them at least once if not twice a week, and I did FaceTime call them twice when I was in Europe because I missed them so much. Since I'm working from home today, I have some time in between meetings to cook, so I'm going to start prepping one of my favorite recipes. This is Cantonese pan-shredded chicken, or 鹽焗壽司雞. That's my boob. I made extra portions of food today because apparently last time they came over, the feedback was that they leave starving. What do you mean last time? We're always hungry. We just don't tell you. Yeah, you guys only told me the last time, and I was like, I was really sad because that means I'm a bad ho. Dude, I was so hungry. Wait, can I tell you something? What? You won't get mad, right? Because we're on camera, so you can't get mad, right? Okay, what? One time, me and Liana got food, snacks, and then went to your place. Oh, really? Yeah! That's okay. Imagine being a host, and your guests leave hungry. Well, it's not- Why didn't you guys tell me? Listen, she's not cheap or anything, right? She orders the good stuff, and she makes the good stuff. That's true. The food is good. But she's- Portioning is not it. Like, you're just never hungry. I didn't know this was a thing, and then I went to London, and Rachel said the same thing to me. Because I was like, wow, I'm stuffed. And she's like, no, I'm still hungry. And I was like, oh wait, you know my sisters just told me this week that they leave my house hungry. She's like, that's how I feel. Like, everyone knows this but you. Wait, so do you not go to sleep hungry? I watch mukbangs if I'm hungry. I think- Doesn't that make you hungrier? Here's a hot take. I go to sleep, and I watch the beat, and then I go to sleep. I have a hot take. I don't know if you want to include this, but I have a hot take about people who watch mukbangs. You guys hate yourselves. Why? Like, why would you watch somebody else eat when you're already hungry? Well, it's just a little too late, because I work until like 2 or 3, right? And it's too late to eat. No, it's not. It is. So I just go on bed, and I'm like, damn, I'm hungry. Let me watch this girl. Wait, so you do go to bed hungry? Yeah. Yeah, that's the only time I'm hungry. But like, watching someone else eat while you're already hungry, you know what I mean? Like, you hate yourself. You don't like yourself. If you watch mukbangs. That's what I think. Like, I love myself, so instead of watching a mukbang, I do one. What the heck? I mean, there's some logic to that. Yeah. Okay, I see. Well, I made plenty of food for you girls today. Let's see. Let's see if it's enough. I believe it when I see it. I think it's just a lot of chicken. I guess the other stuff isn't a lot. You know what else? Well, it's a good amount, unless there's... You know what else good hosts do? What? They give you like, tupperware to go. So like, if there's leftovers, so you can have second dinner later. No, no, no, no, no. I was going to give you guys tupperware today. I made extra. What? It's true. But I don't know if there's going to be leftovers. It's a little shameless of you to ask for... I mean... Alright, this is the final spread. So we have the hand-pulled chicken. And we have some vinegar, spicy garlic cabbage, and fried eggs with onions. And then I made this pear and spare ribs soup. Oh, yeah. What's it called? Uh... 鹽焗壽司雞 Mmm! It's so good. I kind of just eat this for like, the whole week. Yeah, this portion would last you a month. Yeah. All our friends know now that I like, go hungry when I stay at her place, right? Because remember that time I went to volleyball after? And I was like, I'm so hungry. I just came from lunch with my sister. That's crazy. Rice and brownies for me. Yeah. Happy Saturday, everyone. I just grabbed my morning coffee. And I am on my way to get a haircut. But I have my hair up right now. But it's been really bad, guys. Like, so much hair has been falling out. I don't know what's going on. It might have been the digital perm that I got a while ago. I loved it. And it was so beautiful. But I don't know. I feel like there's a lot of breakage in my hair. And I don't know if you guys knew this, but I have bleached my hair multiple times in the past. Like, a lot throughout college. Which I guess you guys wouldn't have known because I wasn't really vlogging in college. But I've had purple hair. I'm out of breath because I'm a little late. But I've had purple grayish hair. I've had blue hair. I've had, like, the yellowish. Not really blonde, but, like, yellow-orange hair. Yeah, so my hair has been through a lot. I'm out of breath. But we're going to go see Romi today. And I'm just going to ask her what she thinks. We might cut it short. I don't know. Feeling kind of cool girl today. So I'm going to wear my bottega. This is the fit. Top is from Gani. Balloon skirt is from a brand called The Toe. I think that's how you pronounce it. The hair. The hair is hairin'. I don't know. What do you guys think? This is such a different look. And I'm still trying to learn how to style it. But I'm feeling different. I wasn't planning to get bangs. And I know a bunch of y'all will probably think these are, like, breakup bangs. But they're actually not intended to be breakup bangs. But I'm just going to lean into it. I think it looks okay parted, too. But right now, I'm about to head out to my friend Nicole's birthday party. So let's go!