Catching Up.

So since Monday I've been at my new apartment. It's still a mess & doesn't really have that "home" feel yet. Oh well, I'll have a while to fix that! It also doesn't have internet yet & I didn't really bring anything so I was so bored! I'm so lazy. Haha.

Anyways, the Sunday before I left my two childhood friends & I went down to Pacific Beach in San Diego like we always do to grab some lunch, shop & eat acai bowls. It was so much fun! We discovered this really cute sushi restaurant called Kabuki Sushi. It was soooo adorable! It was conveyor belt style, but instead of a boring ol' conveyor belt, it was little sushi boats floating in water that served the sushi! The food was delicious & well-priced. I'd say we found ourselves a new favorite sushi spot. We also had to get acai bowls from The Big Squeeze & even after going to Hawaii, it's still the best we've tasted!




We spent all day together & ended up talking the night away. I even teared up a little because my friend, Katrina, is leaving to Harvard today & it was our last chance to hang out. Katrina, Lorena (our other childhood friend) have been friends for over 13 years & we basically grew up together. It's just amazing to see how far we've all gotten & it's finally time for us to go our own ways. So sad! But we knew it would come eventually!


*Oh, Btw!
I just recently reopened my twitter account so if you'd like to follow me, please do! (:

Beautiful Hawaii: Part Two.

Continuing my Hawaiian vacation..

7/29/10.
Basically that whole day we needed to find a way to kill time between our hotel switch. So again we hit the beach! Haha. I know, I know.. beach again?! Until you go there, you'll have no clue how beautifully amazing the beaches are! For lunch we had a bit at this place called Puka Dog & ohhhhmg it was such a yummy hot dog! It's wrapped in a bun with exotic relishes & mustards. YUM! My friend's cousin also took us to this place called Snow, which is basically really finely shaved ice & it's like nothing I've ever tasted!



On our way to the snow place my brother couldn't help but laugh at the fact that this Thai food place was called Phucket Thai (Fuck-it Thai). Haha.

7/30/10.
We woke up early to go visit the Pearl Harbor USS Arizona memorial. A must see, but we waited longer than the mini tour lasted. No Fun. Right after we headed up to North Shore again to actually spend time at the beaches that time. On our way they we stopped at the Dole Plantation just to take photos outside. Haha. Then we had the yummiest shrimp at Giovanni's & shaved ice again from Matsumoto's. Straight after we headed out to Waimea Beach again where I reached my goal of jumping off a cliff! Yay! I'm so sad I don't have any pictures, but I did it! (: Then we headed south after that to spend the early evening at Ko Olina Beach. Not my cup of tea, but it had a pretty view. We finished up the evening with some AMAZING Thai food!





7/31/10.
I woke up a little early to find out it was raining & when I went outside onto the balcony of our new hotel I saw a pretty rainbow! After we got ready we headed west to Diamond Head crater. There was a farmer's market going on at the foot of the crater so we ate breakfast there & had the juiciest burgers for breakfast. Then we set off to hike Diamond head. So.. many.. stairs! But well worth it because the view was beautiful!




8/01/10.
Woke up early again to beat the tourist crowd to Hanauma Bay where we going to go snorkeling. That morning I found out that McDonald's in Hawaii served spam, eggs & rice for breakfast! Haha. When we got to Hanauma Bay we all had a hard time adjusting to the gear, but once we got used to it, it was so much fun! We saw pretty fish, coral & even a sea turtle! It was amazing, but tiring.

8/02/10.
Our last day on the island of Oahu. I was so sad! Our flight wasn't until late in the even that night so that morning we ate at Boot's & Kimo's where we had the best banana pancakes with macadamia nut sauce.. ever! Then we drove around the rest of the afternoon sight seeing around the northwest & southwest parts of the island before we had to pack up & go.




I definitely want to go back one day.. maybe to a different island this time though. It was so amazing! But next summer I'm going to spend it in the UK & France! I'm so excited!!

Beautiful Hawaii: Part One.

There are no words to explain the beauty of the island of Oahu. I've lived on the west coast my whole life & our beaches here in Southern California don't even compare. The waters are clear & the sand is so nice & white.

So the easiest way for my to describe my trip is to do this day by day.

7/25/10.
Since we got off our flight late in the morning, my friend's cousin picked us up & headed straight up to North Shore to the city of Haleiwa. We ate good food at a shrimp farm, a chicken truck & tried Hawaiian shaved ice for the first time at Matsumoto's. When we got dropped off at our hotel we had an AMAZING view from our balcony. My friends & I decided to go to the jacuzzi that night at our hotel just to relax. That's where we got our first taste of pidgin (Hawaiian slang). These boys came up to us & started talking to us. I thought it was HILARIOUS that one of the boys pronounced dangerous as "dawn-je-roos".



7/26/10.
My friends & I decided that we would spend a whole day just to get a feel of Waikiki & the area we were staying. We walked around the city a bit & ate at a conveyor belt sushi place called Genki's. So yummy! We spent the rest of the day at the beach.



Oh & did I mention? I cut my foot super deep on rocks I was trying to climb at the beach? Hahah. (See those rocks at the middle right behind the surf board? It went around the water in a half circle from the beach to enclose the water. That's where I didn't watch my step).

7/27/10.
The Polynesian Cultural Center. We took the bus aaallll the way up to the Northern part of Oahu just to get there. Longest. Bus ride. Ever. But it was well worth it! We saw amazing dancing, learned more about different Polynesian Cultures & ate delicious luau food.



We got leid & I look horribly tired. (Humidity does no good for my hair).

7/28/10.
PCC definitely drained us the day before so we slept in & went to the famous swap meet at the Aloha Bowl. Another looong bus ride. I got the cutest necklaces, shirts, & other typical Hawaiian paraphernalia. We had lunch at this ramen place called Goma Tei at Ala Moana Center, which was sooo good. Then we spent the rest of the day at the beach since the swap meet closed at 3. The sunset was so surreal!



I'll describe the rest of my trip tomorrow! I'll be honest with you. I hate taking pictures! So I don't have many, I guess you can call me lazy! Oh & I didn't bring my DSLR camera because my mom refused to let me take so I was stuck with a regular point & shoot.

On Vacation: July 25th-August 3rd.

Sorry everyone for the lack of updates. I've been going crazy all week getting everything ready for my trip to Hawaii & the day's finally here. I'll be leaving tonight since my flight is super early tomorrow morning. So I may or may not be able to blog the whole time I'm out. But please do expect a TON of pretty photos! See everyone in a couple weeks! (:

Monday To-Do List.

I've been analyzing my posts & I realized that my Friday Finds & Monday Inspirations posts are pretty much the same. I'm still trying my best as a blogger to keep things interesting so instead of making Monday "Inspiration" posts I'll make Monday "To-Do Lists" for the week. I think that inspiration should be an everyday kinda thing, you know?

So for this week's To-Do list, this is what I have:

1. Finally move into my new apartment! We're just moving in the big stuff, but this Wednesday is when we're going to seal the deal & get our key!

2. Pack up & get ready for my vacation to Hawaii on Saturday!





I'm so excited! I just want this week to be over with already!!

Forth of July Weekend.

A week late! Sorry guys I've been at work every single day. Seriously, I'm going crazy! But here are a couple snap shots of my weekend in downtown Long Beach with my family. I've got a few more pictures, but I haven't had the chance to ask my dad for the ones he took of the family together. Ugh, I'm such a procrastinator!




The beautiful view from our hotel bedroom at the Hyatt. So pretty!


My little cousin & I saw these Darth Vader airbrush tattoos at a booth while walking around the pier. We couldn't resist! (:


I'm packing things up in my room to take to my apartment.. move in date is next week already! So exciting!

It's still Monday!

I hope you all had a wonderful & safe 4th of July! My family & I got together to spend it in downtown Long Beach. It was beautiful & the pictures will come soon as soon as I get a hold of them from my dad.

So like I said before.. I've been super busy for the past week. I went to my really good friend's graduation & she surprised us all because we found out that day she was valedictorian. She already went to the school that is filled with the smartest students in the county so when we found out we were all so happy! She's also going to Harvard this fall. I've known her since she was in kindergarten & our families are extremely close. I'm so proud of her. So after her graduation our families went out for dinner & I brought my instax camera. It was so much fun!




This is Me, Katrina the grad & Lorena. Our families have been friends for over a decade!


Katrina's niece, nephew & our godson!

Katrina's cute little niece, Anaia who kept stealing my intax pictures so half of them are with her. Haha.


So I'll be working furiously for the next three weeks then off to Hawaii for me! As for my Monday Inspirations this week.. my goal is to find a cute way to display these!

Haha.

Found myself in some Warped Tour photos! I look suuuuuper tired!! These were taken towards the end of the day.



That's me at the bottom left corner. SO tired! This was at the Parkway Drive set. They are an awesome Hardcore/Metal band from Australia & Australian boys + good music = HOTT! Hahaha. So if you like heavy music check them out!




This is my brother & his friends. I'm the one with the glasses peeking behind the tall guy's shoulder. This was at the Set You Goals set. Now these guys are an amazing pop punk band from San Francisco, CA with meaningful music. Love them & if you love pop punk this is for you!




I'll post more if I find any! It was such a beautiful day that day.

A Day Off in Summer.

So today was my day off & I spent it with my cute little cousin.


We baked vegan double chocolate chip cookies..


& sipped on Shirley Temples with strawberries.




It was fun, but tomorrow I have work. ):

I'm registered!

So I finally decided to sugn up for one of Miss Elsie Flannigan's online classes. I've been wanting to ever since I started following her blog about a year ago, but I just never had the time. Since I'm not planning to take summer classes this year I thought it would be nice for me to do this to keep me inspired. I can't wait!


Registration just began today so I'm sure there are still some spaces left in the class so go on over to her blog for more details!

I've got plans to do some MAJOR cleaning tomorrow. I'm going to get rid of TONS of things I really don't need anymore to make moving out in July/August a lot simpler. I could also use more space inside my little room! Haven't decided what I'm gonna do with all my extra things yet so I'll keep you all updated.

Hello, Sunday!

Yesterday, I took the day off of work to go to Fullerton with my brother so he & I could take our placement tests for our classes. We SUPER early & we headed to his university first because his test started earlier. When I finally got to my school I found out that it was a COMPLETE waste of time! I didn't have to take the exam since I'm going into my 5th semester of college. But I didn't want to let it be a complete waste of time so I drove around & got to see the area a little bit. I have a feeling I'm going to need A LOT of adjustment. It's very different from where I live now, but that's okay. Comfort is no place to look for success, right?

I forgot to mention that I picked up this book last week. It's called The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin. Like I've said before I'm thinking of opening my own etsy shop to sell cute things I love to make to earn a little extra cash. This book seems promising so far & it's got great advice!




I'm going to start weight watchers again tomorrow.. I really need to. Wish me luck!

My New Love.

So yesterday my brother & I drove an hour out of our way to go bike shopping in the a couple of the hippest of hipster towns in San Diego. We went to a bunch of shops in North Park including Cal Coast Bikes Adams Avenue Bikes where my brother got white handle & blue Oury grips. They also referred us to go to a bike swap meet in San Diego's Velodrome, which was unfortunately a waste of time. But then we ended up going to one of SD's infamous bike shops in South Park, Velo Cult. That is where I fell in love!






It's a Pake Urban 6-Speed ladies bike. Unfortunately, these are NOT my photos. I didn't have time to get good pics of my bike yesterday. It doesn't come with the basket & I'm still debating whether I want a wicker basket or a wire basket. It was pretty pricey ($467 with tax & everything), but I was going for quality & the frame itself is a lot lighter & less bulky than most townies & cruisers. That was most important to me & comparing to others with the same frame size, this was a pretty good price. Velo Cult is most def my FAVORITE shop so far!

Travel & Girl Talk.

One of my good girlfriend's called me late last night. I knew it was bad because she never calls me so urgently in the middle of the night.. I was up working on my Audrey Hepburn portrait anyways. Well, she called to tell me that she didn't get into one of the colleges she applied to & she was worried she wasn't going to get into the others. I love how bad news can turn into great conversations with good friends. We ended up talking about how much we love the Twilight Saga (TEAM JACOB ALL THE WAAAY)! Haha. We also talked about old friends, new friends & our futures. Well, Mandy (my friend) & I have never been the relationship type of girls (so we think that now) & we got to talking about getting older & being single. We both love to travel & would love to see all the corners of the world & we agreed that if we're both single & childless at 30 we're going to take a year off to venture the world! We want to see London, Paris, Rome & Greece, but we also want to see 3rd world countries like Africa, India, Haiti, China & more to help them out. She said that she would want to blog about it & turn that blog into book someday. I'll probably just be the photographer. Haha.

It's just thought. For now!

Have a lovely weekend I'll be off dancing the waltz tomorrow.

Beachside Fun.

I'm headed off to Long Beach & Huntington Beach today. Planning to take lots of pictures today with my Barbie polaroid! Yay!

I'll update later!