Why Doesn’t Anything Feel Right Anymore?

Maybe it’s a good thing…

I Went To A Party And All I Got Was This Dope Neon Photo Shoot

Never pass up on an opportunity to snap some pictures if you're feelin' the vibe.

Products I Was Loving During The Month Of January

Seven things that were my ride-or-die throughout the first month of the year!

Making Friends As You Get Older Is So Damn Hard But The Good Ones Are Worth It

I've never been the person with a lot of friends, but I've learned to open up to the right people as each year passes by.

Coffee date

I spent a good amount of time in the West Loop last week and...

New Year, New Blog Name

Happy 2016!

To say that 2015 threw me for a loop would be a severe understatement. Sometimes life happens and you have to learn how to adjust — at your own pace, of course. As cliché as it might seem, the new year is a time for me to start fresh and readjust my priorities and set attainable goals. With this mindset, I finally decided to change my blog name. 

I outgrew the alias and direction of 'Obsessions & Collections' quicker than I could have anticipated. Letting it go left me with the ability to finally switch it over to my name — my real name. 

A lot of my life has been spent trying to please people, starting with my name. It was always "too complicated" to pronounce or "too weird" to write out, so I made it easier for people to just call me 'Yumi' or 'Umi'. So I guess I finally felt like it was the right time to reclaim my name and get back to my roots. So here we are — here I am — YMIJAN. 

I'm a sporadic blogger and write/photograph/vlog about things from fashion to personal thoughts. I only blogged 8 times in 2015 and want to change that around. I'm ready for the new journey...again.

It's gonna' be a good one.   

One Year Later

Exactly one year ago from today, 9/30, my life completely changed. As I'm writing this, on the last night of the month, right now at this exact time I can remember crying on a blow up mattress at my friend's place, in her spare room. I tried to silence my cries and let her and her (then) boyfriend (now husband) sleep — but when you a feel a pain that deep, there's no stopping it.

I had been in a relationship with someone for 9 years — technically 8 — but it was someone I envisioned

#TBT: SOUL OF SHU SHOOT

Happy Thursday, beautiful people! I've been meaning to post this for quite some time but I didn't know how to make it fit on this blog , but what better way than a TBT? (That's "throwback Thursday if ya' didn't know - hey, I'm not judging...)

On 2/12 I got a comment on my Instagram page on one of my photos from someone I knew nothing about. She was an Australian photographer in Chicago for a couple of days on vacation. Now if you know me, I probably wouldn't have emailed her back because I'm such a homebody but I decided to take a chance and reached out to her. 

So here I am, doing everything your parents tell you not to do - 1) talking to a stranger 2) setting up a date & time to meet for a shoot 3) actually meeting this person at a hotel...but hey, it's 2015 and you gotta' live a little!

I met the incredibly dope Shu and let me tell you, this woman is inspiring. After talking for a while, we got to shooting and I quickly found out that she has such a keen eye for making the simplest of things look mind-blowing (I'm talking about dead plants looking like a blooming forest type-of- good). I got to know more about who she was, what she wanted out of life and where she sees herself going. I'll let you in on a secret: she has a heart of gold. Not only did I get some ridiculously amazing photos (all completely courtesy of her) and great conversation at Big Star, but I also got to meet someone that I enjoyed hanging out with and getting to know, and my place will be open to her (& her talented boyfriend) whenever they're back in the Windy City.

So Shu, if you're reading this: THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR GIFT WITH ME - I truly appreciate it. I don't think you realized how much of an impact you had on me when we met.

xx

Check out her work at: http://soulofshu.com/

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San Francisco Diary // Day 4

All I have to say are 3 word: GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

Day 4 was dedicated to taking pictures in front of this iconic bridge and sightseeing - definitely was one of the more free-flowing days where we could take in and do anything. 

We tried to bike the trail to the bridge and actually bike the bridge, but a flat tire and many hills later, we decided to backtrack. We caught a Special Olympics event taking place around Pier 39 and finally made our way to the epic bridge. Funny thing about San Francisco is that one minute you're in sunny breeze-free weather and the next is dark/foggy windy weather. We caught the darker windy weather for the bridge (not ideal) but we still ran with it and loved it!

We knocked out so many neighborhoods on Day 1 + 2, so we really took this day to chill in the area(s) we loved the most and just take in life. 

Starting to feel really bummed that I didn't take too many pictures on my nicer camera!

Click the READ MORE button to check out some photos from this adventurous day!

San Francisco Diary // Day 1 + 2

It's currently 14 degrees right now and I constantly ask myself: "Why am I still living in Chicago?" About a week ago, I fled the cold midwest and took a trip to the most perfect place on earth (that I've experienced so far) - San Francisco!  The weather was perfect every single day, and this marvelous 7x7 city was easily walkable with eye-catching sights everywhere you turned. It's safe to say that I fell in love. I took my Canon on this trip but didn't take too many photos/didn't document everything everyday. Looking back on it, I wish I did, but I experienced so much more taking it all in (plus, took random pics on my phone) So here's the first set of photos from the trip!

  Latte from Four Barrel

A TON OF PHOTOS AFTER THE JUMP - CLICK "READ MORE" TO SEE THE REST

Monday's Cozy Cardigan

Cardigan - Urban Outfitters / Bag - 3.1 Phillip Lim x Target / Hat - H&M / Shoes - All Saints

My Monday consisted of this: Brunching with my girl Abby, walking around & stopping at a couple of book stores, chili making and The Voice watching. All I wanted to be was comfortable and this cardigan did just that. I hope everyone gets to unwind every once in a while.
Feel-good-tip: Rock a vampy limp to pull the look together.

xx

O&C

SALT & PEPPA' | Episode 1: Stuffed Pasta Shells

Hey there, I've got some exciting news to share- I've launched a new series on my YouTube channel with my girlfriend, called Salt & Peppa' and it's about one of our favorite things: FOOD. We're excited for all the recipes we'll be crafting, fun we'll be having and progress we'll be making! 

The first episode covers a super easy and quick meal: Stuffed Pasta Shells

So let's get right into it...

Boyfriend Jeans Without the Boyfriend • OOTD

White top- Zara / Plaid shirt - BDG / Jeans - Zara/ Heels  - Jeffrey Campbell/ Bag - Alexander Wang

Let's face a couple of facts here:

- I don't need a boyfriend to rock "Boyfriend Jeans"

- I am gay

- I have a girlfriend (who doesn't wear this style of jeans) 

I couldn't deny a pair of baggy, ripped jeans when I eyed this pair at Zara a couple of months ago. I think they're easy to chuck on with a graphic tee and you can still look like you tried...kinda. This time I decided to pair it with a basic top and a flowy plaid button up (I use the term "flowy" loosely as it's more of a baggier top...which is what I go for 99% of the time - I just like to be comfortable, okay?!) To not be completely swallowed by my top and bottoms (#shortgirlstruggle), I finally decided to wear my Jeffrey Campbell Soiree heels to elongate me a bit. The whole putting outfit thing together thing = easy. The whole walking in heels = not so much. PS. DON'T FORGET TO CLICK 'PLAY' ON THE YOUTUBE VIDEO I DID FOR THIS OOTD - IT'LL BE IN BETWEEN SOME OF THE POST PHOTOS.

xx

O&C