My Favorite Things: Manifesting Magic for This Year

Sometimes you do need a photo-finish look, however. Let’s say you will be attending a fancy dinner and you really don’t want leave lipstick smudges on the glassware. If that’s the case, then I highly recommend the Chanel Le Rouge Duo Ultra Tenue liquid lip color. It’s a duo since one side you have the color applicator. When applying, I recommend you do so with a decisively strong hand since this color stays on for the entire night! The other side of the lipstick is a clear gloss applicator that you apply above the lip color. Because the lip color is so long-lasting and quickly absorbs into your lips (you really don’t see lipstick on your glassware or napkins when dining!), you will immediately feel some dryness. Thus, the gloss applicator helps to offset the dryness by adding some shine and moisture. It doesn’t feel velvety-soft as the Burberry. However, if you are looking for a smudge-free, never have to worry about checking your lipstick kinda evening, then this is the product for you! I wear the one in Sweet Berry since I tend to gravitate toward the purple-reds.

Favorite foundation: Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint

More women have been moving away from the matte and cakey foundation look and opting for products that can provide some coverage but also improve your skin. The Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint distinguishes itself not only for all the beauty awards that it has won (Allure, Glamour, Good Housekeeping top pick), but for the unique droplet applicator. As a serum, the foundation actually has skincare benefits since it is made from Hyaluronic Acid, Niacinamide, Plant-Based Squalane for hydration and overall skin health. It also delivers a mineral-based 40 SPF protection which you actually don’t find in a lot of foundation serum products. I also like that it lasts a long time–you only need a few drops and a blend sponge to use it. The only negative is that there are so many different shades and colors to choose from that you will probably need to do a test sample to see if you have the right color, so I recommend you do this at your local Sephora.

Favorite weekend Getaway Destinations: Grand Canyon & Sedona, AZ

Sometimes the best trips are the ones that are just in your neck of the woods. Last year, after my mother had a brief stint at the hospital (which is a whole different story but I’m happy to report that she’s okay), I decided that I would help her accomplish one of her bucket list items: seeing the Grand Canyon. I was lucky to have seen in before with friends on a camping trip a few years back but my mother had never had the chance to see this majestic creation of nature. So, I booked us a long weekend trip to Phoenix so we could drive up to the Grand Canyon and then Sedona. We also had the opportunity to visit with cousins from my dad’s side of the family who lived in Phoenix.

Because we only had three days for this bucket list trip, my mom and I stayed at the Maswik Lodge, which is one of the hotels located right in the Grand Canyon National Park. While it’s quite pricey–with each room going for about $400 a night during tourist season–I felt it was worth it since you can just check-in and immediately see one of the most beautiful landscapes you’ll ever see. We weren’t able to stay at the more iconic El Tovar Grand Hotel because it was booked but if you’re lucky to have the opportunity, I would take it. The Tovar hotel is literally next to the Grand Canyon.

Obviously the Grand Canyon is the main draw when going to Arizona, but I would not sleep on Sedona. This little town has its own magic to it with its almost martian-like, red-rock landscape. Once you enter the Sedona area you see an immediate change in the landscape and in the energy. I don’t know if I’m a true believer in the idea that there are different vortexes of energies that meet somewhere among the canyons and peaks of the Sedona valley, but I can kinda see it. Not gonna lie. It was probably the most new age I have ever felt. I especially felt that at the Chapel of the Holy Cross when we stopped by to admire that architecture and view.

Spend at least one night in Sedona so you can have the experience of waking up early to see the beautiful sunrise and how it shines and illuminates the myriad of reds and oranges of the Sedona rocks. I HIGHLY recommend staying at A Sunset Chateau–not only does it offer the most beautiful views in the morning and evening, but the rooms themselves come with a cute patio that purposely faces the natural landscape. Also, the interior design of the rooms have a cozy southwestern flair and a luxurious bathroom, with a bath where you can soak and relax. The boutique hotel also features a salt water pool and Jacuzzi on the premises. Finally, each guest gets to enjoy the delicious breakfast buffet in the morning in the dining room facing the beautiful landscape. I was so relaxed and inspired after staying at A Sunset Chateau. I highly recommend it!

Manifesting for 2025

I’ve been reading the book Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How it Changes Everything (2024) by Dr. James Doty who is a Stanford neuroscientist and leader of the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism. In short, the book is about the science behind that idea of envisioning and manifesting. At first, I hesitated. The concept of manifestation sounded a bit too much like wishful thinking—like believing we can change our lives simply by wanting something badly enough, even though life is full of circumstances beyond our control. But I decided to keep an open mind and give the book a chance. I’m glad I did.

Dr. Doty brings a neuroscience perspective to the conversation, arguing that our thoughts—both conscious and subconscious—leave imprints on our brains in the form of neural pathways. These imprints influence how we approach problems, set intentions, and take actions in our day-to-day lives. Over time, these small shifts in mindset and behavior shape our outcomes. That’s why becoming more aware of the vision we have for our lives matters: it quietly influences the daily choices we make.

This reminds me of a couple of envisioning exercises that I unknowingly engaged in when I was a little girl since those were the days when a lot of us freely drew, painted, and colored the vivid pictures that filled our imagination. I remember drawing a stick figure image of me wearing a cute black jumper dress (those A-line dresses that have the overalls sleeves) and a classic black french beret in front of the Eiffel Tower. I was 10 years old so I had never been to Paris but I knew that I wanted to 1) be fashionable and 2) go to Paris. How I came up with that image is beyond me but low and behold I was able to wear many types of hats in the future (I ended up wearing a beret in middle school and high school in California of all places) and going to Paris as a young woman in my 20s. While these two things didn’t happen at the same time, I was able to somehow manifest that. And that’s another major lesson from Doty’s book: what you envision may not appear in the same way in the future but in a manner that is actually better. Indeed, even with that story, things turned out for the best–I didn’t have a cliché outfit while roaming the streets of Paris (my outfits were understated which blended in with the french street style) and I was traveling with one of my dearest friends Jill–a cool New Yorker who is now an English professor and writer–whom I didn’t even imagine in my drawings or meet until years later when we were both in graduate school. Funnily enough, I recently learned that Jill also picked up Doty’s book and started reading it as well. I guess I manifested that Paris trip with someone who also believed in manifesting!

So the moral of the story: sometimes what you dream up ends up being different and even better. Or, sometimes it takes longer for some reason. Another example. It was around that age of the Paris/Beret drawing that I also remember drawing what I would imagine to be my perfect living room. In the modest home that my family had, we didn’t have much in terms of decorations or beautiful furniture. I would watch the television sitcoms that featured families in their beautiful homes and I would pine for that soft-white plush sofa or lux curtains or rugs. I would actually draw out in a piece of paper sofas and an expansive and colorful rug with very straight fringes on the ends. I drew each fringe with perfection.

Decades later, when I finally rented my own apartment—without roommates!—I was thrilled to decorate it myself. It was small, but I bought that couch and rug I’d dreamed of. And still, something in me—maybe subconsciously—knew it wasn’t quite the full vision.

Later, I took an interior decorating course at California College of the Arts in San Francisco. We were assigned to create a blueprint of our dream home and build a mood board. I felt a little silly designing a place I thought I’d never afford, but I did it anyway: a mid-century Eichler-inspired home with an indoor courtyard and glass walls that brought nature inside.

Fast forward to now: I still live in that same apartment. No Eichler mansion (yet). But living here allowed me to save money, and now I’m actively looking for my first home with a real estate agent. So, I’m grateful to this little apartment—it’s been the launchpad. And while I may never buy that magazine-worthy house in the hills (I’m not a celebrity, after all), I’m okay with that. Whatever home I do end up with will be my version of a dream home.

Because maybe the real magic in manifesting isn’t about creating a perfect picture and making it come true exactly as imagined. It’s about shaping a vision that helps guide our mindset, inspires us to act, and ultimately leads us to something just right—something real, grounded, and, in many ways, even better than the original dream.