Mélanges

We need to talk.

2011-08-16T00:58:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry, Blogger. It's not you, it's me. We've had a fun run together, but I need to move on now. Maybe we can still be friends?

The talk is hard. It's painful and awkward, but I think Blogger knew that our relationship was coming to an end.

Find me in my new relationship here: Tumblr

every day I'm tumblin'

2011-06-25T01:19:00.000-07:00

Well not every day. But maybe most days unless I get really lazy or the wifi in my dorm is really slow (both of which are likely, one of which is out of my control).

I'll be updating from Paris here: Pretty in Paris

A bientot!

La rentrée en Juin

2011-06-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

Rue de Vaugirard in Paris, France

This was the street view from my dorm building the last time I was in Paris. That was three years ago. Now, I'm getting ready to go back to Paris and getting progressively more excited as the days pass. In exactly two weeks from today, I'll be on a nonstop flight to Charles de Gaulle and I can't wait. I'm wondering if it's too early to start packing (common sense tells me it is) because there aren't that many things left to cross off my pre-Paris to-do list, but not doing anything makes me anxious.

In the meantime, I'm keeping busy with work. Another summer at the pool. Despite my complaints of pool covers on windy days and awkward tan lines that last through multiple winters, I've come to love and appreciate the summer days spent with plenty of sunshine and my lifeguard family. But even they can't keep my mind off of scenes from Amelie and strolling along the Seine at night... did I mention I'm excited?

Countdown to Paris: 2 weeks

holiday

2011-05-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend always feels more like a holiday break than a pre-finals study weekend. Maybe it's because summer is just around the corner. Or maybe it's just been too long since the last break. Spent a day in Santa Monica with old roommates and forever friends. Rode all of the big kid rides for cheap (thanks to Groupon), then spent whatever I saved on rides at shops on Third Street. Of course. Spent the next day cleaning out my closet and selling/donating the clothes I no longer wear and decided that I should really shop less.

There's about a week of school I have to get through before summer finally gets here. Family time, working at the pool, and Paris. I've been waiting for Paris since last summer. I've made a packing list, a restaurant list, a sightseeing list, and a souvenir list. I've made so many lists for Paris that I need a list to keep track of my lists. I kid you not. It's really hard to contain my excitement, so I guess it's productive that my excitement manifests itself in the form of list-making.

Countdown to Paris: exactly 4 weeks

retreat

2011-05-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was bliss. 24 hours by Lake Arrowhead with friends, s'mores, drinks, and nature-y adventures (kind of). But mostly it was a quiet mountain escape and a wonderful place to relax and forget about work, deadlines, and responding to all the emails that constantly clutter my inbox.

I couldn't stop taking pictures of the water. And the sky. I loved the way the overcast sky and foggy lighting made all of the lakeside pictures look like screen captures from a haunted love story. Sometimes, my artistic musings are a little too Romantic for my time. (That's capital R for the Era.)

Revelations

2011-05-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

It's pictures like these that make me realize what a fatty I am. I'm just so inexplicably, ridiculously attracted to food. (Revelation #1)

I went to College Night at the Getty a couple of nights ago with girlfriends. We ate free food, met Lady Danville, fell in love with Sophie Roux, and did artsy and sophisticated things before ending the night with a calorie binge at the Cheesecake Factory. I heart girls nights out. (Revelation #2)

And on a totally unrelated note, my hair has gotten really long. (Revelation #3) I don't want it any longer, but I don't want a haircut either. Waiting game.

Interview Season

2011-04-30T18:01:00.000-07:00

I bought these last weekend and like them so much that I had to photoshoot them in the ambient lighting that drops by my living room every late afternoon. Black suede, block heel, and a perfectly rounded toe - everything I look for in a solemate.

It's definitely interview session. In addition to 2 of my own interviews, I've been interviewing people left and right for my clubs/lab and it's been taking more of my free time than schoolwork. So glad today was the last day!

September 10th, 1pm

2011-04-23T18:04:00.001-07:00

Made jewelry the other day as a sort of productive procrastination. Had to find some outlet for all of my pent-up creative juices, you know. I think jewelry making may be my Plan B if medical school doesn't pan out, which may end up happening if I keep pushing back my MCAT date.

But this is the last time. (Really.)

tea for two, for eight

2011-03-25T18:25:00.000-07:00

Lovejoy's Tea Room, San Francisco

thankful

2011-03-18T02:55:00.000-07:00

This is a picture I took at the Getty some time ago. This is what I'll leave behind for exactly one week of spring break. If you look really closely - and know what you're looking for - you can see UCLA right in the middle. Sometimes it shocks me how at home I feel here. Sometimes I feel like I'm cheating on San Francisco.

But I'm not choosing one over the other. I'm thankful that I have two homes while so many people in the world have none. I'm thankful that my last final and what to pack for spring break are the only things I have to worry about right now. I'm thankful that I can sit at my desk and let my hair air-dry as I list all the wonderful things in my life.

twenty-one

2011-02-07T01:50:00.000-08:00

I turned 21 on February 3rd. Since then, I have eaten my weight in Korean BBQ, Chinese restaurant randoms, and Mediterranean pasta. I have had both ice cream and mango mousse cake. I have purchased three alcoholic drinks and have been carded once.

Birthday highlights:

- my boyfriend (unsuccessfully) surprising me by showing up after chem lab

- a date with Spago and Dine LA

- cake, margaritas, Apples to Apples, and crying through A Walk to Remember

- realizing that nothing can really top family, food, and spa treatments

I love my birthday. It's my second favorite day of the year (the first is Christmas because in a sparkly match between Christmas and my birthday, Christmas would win). I'm glad I enjoyed my birthday without thinking too much about the consequences of doing absolutely no work. I'm now realizing just how much I have to do this week, and the list is pretty scary: 2 midterms, 2 pre-labs, 2 post-labs, 2 CPR classes to teach, and 1 social event to plan. Which explains why I'm procrastiblogging.

work in progress

2011-02-02T04:13:00.001-08:00

4:13am and I just finished my Philosophy of Political Thought paper... almost a full 9 hours before it's officially due. (I should really start taking my GEs more seriously.)

Philosophy is kind of funny. My TA helped me revise my paper and taught me how to "write philosophically." Essentially, we cut all of my sentences in half and crossed out all of the big words that I so carefully chose. I called this dumbing-down of my writing, but she called it philosophical writing. Either way, this paper was strangely difficult for me to write, but I'm happy with how it turned out. I wanted to post it here, but didn't want my plagiarism report to be 100% on turnitin.com. I should actually find out what exactly turnitin.com does because I've never really known.

Anyway, while learning how to write philosophically, I may have started to think philosophically. This paper got me thinking about freedom. About freedom and private property and homelessness and life in general. It made me thankful to have a home (two, actually, if you count my apartment) and thankful to be free to do things like take winter ski trips. Or rather, to not be unfree to do these things - because they are apparently different things. Still working on disambiguating the two.

But maybe that's the thing about philosophical writing. It's so simple that it's difficult, and so difficult in its simplicity that it makes you think about... things. It's a work in progress.

Birthday Wishlist

2011-01-28T22:26:00.000-08:00

6 days until 21.

Here are a few things I'll be wishing really really hard for in the next six days:

1. To not have organic chem lab on my birthday. Staying on campus until 9:30pm is not something on my wishlist.

2. To take a really glamorous license picture at the DMV, so when I get carded (because I will until I'm 35) everyone will be jealous of how amazing I look in my picture.

3. That spring quarter will not exist. Life would be so great if after winter quarter ends, summer is waiting with open arms. (Hello, Paris? Oui, I've missed you too.)

4. To do well on the MCAT. Because, let's face it, spring quarter will exist.

What if we lived here?

2011-01-17T03:15:00.000-08:00

1. depth, 2. Getty quad from upstairs window, 3. symbol of fertility,

4. cutest kid at the villa, 5. roommate reunion, 6. sleepies

Went back to the Getty Villa with some friends today. The place is magnificent. It's hard to imagine that it used to be a residence... must have been quite the babe magnet for Jean Paul, though I can't imagine he had much time for women given that he spent his life collecting art. (But I'm wrong. Just wiki-ed him and he apparently married and divorced five times and had six sons. So he was quite the busybee.)

We spent the day roaming his house and gardens, perusing fine art and enjoying the architecture of the building and its many fountains. It was hard to concentrate on the art because it was such a beautiful day, so I spent a good amount of time taking ~~silly~~ artsy pictures in the garden, learning the buttons on my new camera, soaking up the sunshine, and discussing the best way to steal a small child with my roommates from last year.

A few hours and a whole lot of walking later, we were all exhausted and ready to head home, as you can see in the above photo taken on the car ride home. Does anyone else get some strange enjoyment from taking pictures of sleeping friends? Just me?

Fams and Cams

2010-12-27T13:37:00.000-08:00

My grandpa was/is a professional photographer (read: hella baller). Check out his old school SLR - a foreign object to most of us, but the only kind of camera he really knows how to use. He picked up my Canon T1i, looked at the display, and promptly handed it back. Then he called me a youngin' (in Chinese) and told me that technology is not his friend.

This is how I spent a good chunk of my day after Christmas - taking family portraits, drinking Asian tea, ogling my grandpa's camera and my uncle's lenses, and squeezing in some time for MCAT study. That's actually how I spend most family holidays (minus the MCAT study). This morning, we woke up early for dim sum before sending the fams back to LA. My grandma force fed me everything on the table in an attempt to fatten me up, something that also happens every holiday despite my protests.

I can't believe the holidays are coming to an end and the new year is just around the corner. I realized I didn't make new year's resolutions last year (hence an unproductive year?), so I should start making mine for 2011 now. Better start early before I forget... I have the working memory of a 92-year-old nowadays.

photo adventures in SF

2010-12-23T02:28:00.000-08:00

1. Alex's Nikon, 2. compensation lens, 3. Union Square ice rink, 4. tiny child, 5. hide and seek, 6. gossip girl, 7. Neiman Marcus ornaments, 8. being stupid, 9. brief SF sunshine, 10. snowflakes at Westfield (photo cred: Alex), 11. Toy Story clouds, 12. cutest kid ever

Went on my first legit photo adventure today! Legit because I finally have my own camera to play with. Alex and I ventured into downtown San Francisco with two cameras and one umbrella. Through waves of heavy drizzle, we shot at the ice skating rink, the Neiman Marcus tree, Westfield mall, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and the waterfall outside the Metreon. But mostly I just took stalker photos of small children. It must be adorable child season because they are everywhere!

So I should be asleep right now. I've been trying to regulate/correct my sleep cycle, but it's really hard. Of course, blogging at 3 in the morning does not help the cause any.

Canon T1i and Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T00:08:00.000-08:00

Spent Thanksgiving break with family and friends and my new baby. Learning how to use this baby is harder than I thought, but that's okay. [insert huge toothy smile here]

Things I'm thankful for:

- a mostly smooth drive home

- indoor heating or a really heavy pile of blankets

- homemade garlic bread and honey baked ham

- lit-up houses

- reflective tree ornaments

- my new 'I heart Paris' socks

- crepes and napping three times in one day

- nonstop Christmas music on the radio

things i heart

2010-11-04T01:31:00.000-07:00

I'm kind of obsessed with hearts. They just tend to show up everywhere - on my jewelry, in letters and emails, even in the form of refrigerator magnets. I don't know, maybe hearts are actually obsessed with me. But the point is... I have a midterm on Friday, so naturally I shop online and come up with a list of things I heart at the moment. I am the ~~worst~~ best procrastinator ever.

1. A key to my heart because jewelry really is the key to every girl's heart. The website no longer has the mini version, which I posted a while ago and is really a lot cuter. I hope they still have them in store.

2. A heart of gold to inspire warm fuzzies on the inside even when it's freezing outside. A reminder that there are nice people out there, so maybe it's okay to trust in mankind every once in a while.

3. An open heart to accept new challenges as they present themselves. And as a reminder to not hit that slow walker in front of you. It's not his fault he's so slow.

4. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but I'm pretty sure this applies to women as well. When all else fails, snack your troubles away, and these hearty cupcakes may be just my cup of tea.

Hiatus

2010-09-25T01:44:00.000-07:00

If you haven't noticed by now, I think you should cross "good at noticing things" off your resume, a la Tag from Friends.

Putting my blog to sleep for a little while so I can study for the MCAT... so at least one of us is getting sleep.

Fishy

2010-08-02T04:35:00.000-07:00

1) light coming into my grandma's garden. 2) grandma's chilies. 3) grandpa fixes everything. 4) sleepy Honey. 5) meet fishy

H went home for the weekend, so I babysat her pretty DSLR. I took it to my grandparents' house and took lots of pretty pictures. I really enjoyed my day of family, relaxing, and Chinese food after a stressful week of finals, long hours in lab, and not much sleep. I came home with a new friend, a betta fish that my vampire boyfriend named Casper, like the friendly ghost. But I know my apartment-mates are still going to call him Timmy because they have bettas named Cosmo and Wanda. Still, I end up calling him Fishy all the time because that's the first name that comes to mind. Original, I know. I name like a 5-year-old.

Love and Lessons

2010-07-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken with Lil J's new camera, which is as gorgeous as the pictures it takes. I like this picture because it shows off my new "love" ring and my new apartment-mate, K. She is special because she is the best cook ever and loves to cook for people. Which is oddly coincidental because I love being cooked for.

In other news, I learned a few important things this past week. Just thought I'd share some of it.

1. There is a running path in a park near my apartment. It's shaded by trees and it's wonderful.
2. Playing on swings after running may be the best feeling ever.
3. Rendezvous beef nachos, though good pre-sweat-session, are even better after a workout.
4. Gmail's canned response system is genius.
5. Trader Joe's sour cream spinach dip fixes everything.
6. My health would probably improve tenfold if Volcano Tea House's crack boba was more than a 5 minute drive from my apartment.
7. If there's a knock on the door in the morning, answer it no matter how early it may be. As in, don't assume the knocker will just think no one is home and go away. (Because it could be your building manager, who lets himself in to fix the sink and then finds you looking all confused and disheveled in your sleep boxers and morning hair.)

best day ever

2010-07-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

So remember when I raved about Marié Digby a year ago? Well, I excitedly posted on Twitter that she's headlining Kollaboration Acoustic 4 (which is going to be ah-mazing) and she replied to my tweet!

and I promptly retweeted:

p.s. Also check out my friend, Judy Lee (aka Youtube's thePeonyProject), who will also be performing at Kollaboration. Her stuff is Sara Bareilles meets Ingrid Michaelson meets soft guitar and cutesy lyrics. Raw talent, she is.

Dogeared

2010-07-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

Enjoyed a lazy Sunday being artsy at home. I was inspired by the collection of pretty Dogeared necklaces at the Nordstrom anniversary sale, but buying the entire collection seemed a bit excessive, so I decided to find an art store and make my own. After a successful trip to a local bead store, I had heart pendants, jump rings, gold clasps, and a few feet of gold chain. An hour, a tool kit, and two episodes of Friends later, I had my shiny new babies!

A weird coincidence: as I was watching Friends, I learned (unless I grossly misread the contextual clues) that "dogeared" refers to folding down the corner of a page in a book. Cute, right?

Tom's favorite place

2010-07-11T22:56:00.000-07:00

My vampire boyfriend visited LA this weekend. Naturally, we spent it doing all sorts of fun things. For you indie/chick flick lovers, these pictures were taken at Angels Knoll, near downtown LA. The grassy "park" is actually just a handful of benches and trees thrown onto a small patch of grass, but it's a really peaceful sanctuary tucked between LA's busy streets and tall buildings. Well worth the rush hour traffic and $6 parking fee we paid to get there.

I spent most of today in responsible-because-I'm-living-on-my-own mode. I went grocery shopping, did laundry, vacuumed, swiffered, and clorox-wiped all smooth surfaces within reach. So spring cleaning came a bit late this year. Better than never, I suppose. My boyfriend left me with his cough, so now my voice is all kinds of sexy. I bought an economy-sized pack of cough drops, which are now keeping me company as I finish up my physics assignment. Really cannot believe this summer session is already half over. Really really cannot believe I'll be officially declaring my major soon. Cue panic.

new.hair.new.shades

2010-06-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

My morning went something like this:

8:30 - alarm goes off
9:00 - disgruntled because I'm out of bed, and am now late because I overslept, as usual
9:15 - frantically getting dressed while using the useless USPS phone "service"
9:25 - rushing to post office #1 to get my package while calling hair salon for an appointment
9:30 - silently cursing after being redirected to post office #2 because that's where all the packages are
9:45 - watching the postal workers move slow as molasses, all the while thinking LATE FOR FIRST DAY OF LAB!!!
9:50 - graciously thanking the shuttle driver for not leaving me behind
9:58 - all sweaty because I speed walked to lab (because running just looks dumb), but worth it because I made it just in time
10:05 - where is everyone? I am informed that lab actually starts at 10:30, not 10

Happens to the best of us sometimes. What was in the package, you ask? My new Wayfarers and Costco/AmEx card. My sunglasses have polarized prescription (read: very expensive) lenses, mostly to be used for driving. And to feel badass when the sun is out. And they're fun to play with because it's kind of a mind-trip to be able to see farther/better with sunglasses. Also, Kaiser was kind enough to send along the original lenses so I can get those put in when my prescription changes (read: worsens).

Mia, my hair stylist complimented me on my sunglasses when I saw her. She also complimented me on my hair, telling me that she loves running her fingers through my soft, luscious hair. All creepiness aside, she's a really nice lady who has never failed me or my soft, luscious hair. Which means a lot because I'm probably the pickiest, hardest-to-please customer on this planet when it comes to my hair. Because getting only a few haircuts a year makes each one a fairly long-term commitment, considering I have to go to sleep with and wake up to the mess on my head every single day. Not that other people don't. Just saying.

baby just say yes

2010-06-07T02:26:00.000-07:00

These pictures were part of a series taken for my vampire boyfriend's birthday present, courtesy of my friend who is very good with this sort of thing. I'm very much in love with his DSLR, and grateful for his abundant free time and willingness to follow me around campus with his camera. We spent a good portion of that Sunday afternoon lugging around poster boards in search of sunny places, climbing sculptures and trees, and attracting stares from random passersby (which made the experience all the more fun).

I haven't posted pictures in a while, so I figured it was time to return to this blog. You know, with it being finals week and all. Probably not a good thing that I turn to this blog for procrastination more than anything else. But more productive than just staring off into space, which is what I've been doing for the past hour instead of memorizing the differences between proteostomes and deuterostomes. Before you judge, though, I did finish my research paper, which I lovingly refer to as my pride and joy. Seven reprints and a million revisions later, I have seventeen very professional-looking pages reporting on a study that my project group and I designed, created, and conducted over the course of 10 weeks. Feels pretty good to hold the finished product.

Spent yesterday in SLO with my vampire boyfriend for his birthday. His house has no real concept of time. People awake/asleep at odd hours and strategically placed windows that distort the daylight coming in so that at the instant you wake up, you're not quite sure whether it's 9AM or 9PM. Speaking from experience. Still, wish I was there instead of here. The real world is no fun.

Things I can't have

2010-05-18T01:45:00.001-07:00

But that's what makes me want them more.
Because I ~~fail at productivity~~ excel at procrastination, I am not rewatching the LS lectures that I slept through, reading about schizophrenia, or writing up the labs that are due soon. Instead, I have but 5 things on my mind:

1. This Tiffany key necklace

and other small shiny things, like
2. the Kiel Mied forget me not ring.

But more than anything, I want
3. the D3000 from Nikon

with which I can capture all of life's ~~Kodak~~ SD card moments and landscapes like
4. Yosemite

and Alaska and
5. last summer.

LACMA

2010-04-05T01:27:00.000-07:00

Went to LACMA today with some friends and enjoyed the quiet museum atmosphere and the sunshiny weather. Then ventured into the cutty streets of Koreatown at night for some Korean barbeque. Ate the world. Smelled like Korean barbeque the entire way home. Stopped at Yogurtland before making our way back to campus in the rain. Ended the day with a glorious shower. Tiring and cold and so much fun. :)

So I know it's only Week 2, but I'm already drowning in my workload this quarter. And I know I complain about said workload, but I should really start being thankful for everything that's going right for me instead of focusing on the negatives. Like the fact that my new research position is flexible and fun. And that I spent two days in the happiest place on earth over spring break.

And the fact that I found my apartment for next year. It's beautiful and bright and just perfect. And on that note, it's homework time.

Also, I'm trying out a new format for posts. How do people feel about big pictures?

today was a fairytale, you were the prince

2010-03-03T18:08:00.000-08:00

owl clock necklace from Forever 21

Meet Mr. Owl Clock. I'm not exceptionally creative when it comes to naming things, so Mr. Owl Clock is exactly what his name implies. He's kind of a godsend for someone (like me) who doesn't wear watches and also kind of the most practical thing in my accessory box. And miraculously, he matches everything in my closet!

So I was talking to my roommate today and she thinks watching too many movies has skewed her perception of love/romance/relationships. Apparently, she was scolded last night for obsessing over some boy too much and thinking that a) she could change him, or b) he would change for her. She was told that unlike chick flicks, life doesn't always hold a happy ending. But why not? Hollywood makes big bucks to make us believe in happily ever after. How great life would be if you could meet the perfect man, fall in love, do something horrible to screw it all up, then kiss and make up and live happily ever after in under two hours.

I'll admit, I used to be a critic, a pessimist, whatever you want to call it. But I'm slowly coming to believe that true love and happily ever afters do exist. Maybe I've been listening to too much Taylor Swift, or maybe, like my roommate, I've been watching too many sappy chick flicks. But I think it's better this way. I'm much happier believing that love does exist and that fairytales do come true. I'm still aglow from watching Valentine's Day with my roommates earlier, and even though we had to trudge back in the rain, my heart is still smiling. Love is out there.

Today I feel...

2010-02-24T09:50:00.000-08:00

Wearing: sadness

Currently blogging in the dark with Sniffle on my lap. Slow music playing in the background. Can't find the motivation to stand up and turn on the lights. Can't even find the motivation to plug in speakers or the power cord to my laptop, so the battery is slowly dying.

I don't think I've ever put so much time and effort into studying for a midterm. I don't think I've ever given up so much sleep and felt so confident that I knew the material. And I don't think my confidence has ever come crashing during an exam that ended up being so unfairly difficult. And to top it off, my class enrollment time happened to fall during the midterm. I thought it would be fine to enroll after, but the classes I needed closed during said midterm.

I think I'll just ditch the rest of the day and walk around Westwood or something. But it looks like it's going to rain. Yeah, it would.

Don't worry. I'm okay. It's just... today sucks.

what if we just stayed here forever?

2010-02-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

Wearing: Forever 21 dress, Urban Outfitters studded boots and bag

I had the best weekend with my vampire boyfriend.

Friday: sushi and Friends (The One With Unagi)
Saturday: 99 Ranch Market, Asian pastries, dinner with family, Olympics, card games
Sunday: traffic, the Getty Villa, more traffic, French dinner, Mulholland Drive at night, more cards
Monday: waking up slowly and refusing to say goodbye

Tonight, I'm ~~playing bejeweled~~ doing a weekend's worth of work. Yes, let's do it.

Parisian Love

2010-02-11T16:12:00.000-08:00

I'm currently applying for research positions. I'm staying in LA over the summer, so I'd like to do some research in addition to taking classes. I know I still have time to find a position, but I feel pretty desperate when emailing out cover letters/resumes asking for a volunteer position. Why is volunteering a selective process? Isn't helping out for free welcome everywhere?

Anyways, I actually got up and went to yoga this morning. Haven't been in a while, so now I'm sore all over. (Ouch.) I have yet to find the motivation to change out of my yoga attire, so I'll probably be schlepping around in yoga pants and a loose tank (topped off with a cozy granny sweater) for the rest of the day.

And finally, I leave you with Parisian Love for the Valentine's Day weekend. It won't cost but a few tears and 52 seconds of your life. Watch it:

twenty

2010-02-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

wearing: ALL Forever 21 stuff (um, oops) and Faryl Robin heels

This is what I wore for my (twentieth. WHAT?!!) birthday celebration last night. I know, Forever 21 is taking over ~~the world~~ my closet, but with the turnaround rate of my clothes climbing ever higher, it's good to find fun/cheap/replaceable clothing.

I had planned to have dinner with friends in Westwood, but couldn't make reservations anywhere because the party was too big, so we ended up getting stuff from the Kogi truck instead! So. Good. We had our to-go dinner/jello/cake in the dorms, then went clubbing in Hollywood. Our party bus took forever to leave, getting in was a complete nightmare, and the dance floor was way too crowded, but it was an amazing night.

I woke up this morning after getting slightly under three hours of sleep and went apartment hunting with my roommates for next year. I'm so excited to have my own room next year, and so excited to help decorate the apartment! After apartments, we drove to Sawtelle for boba/pho/poking around in random Asian import stores.

My friends are the best. :)

p.s. I'm still learning how to use the camera on my new phone (I learned how to focus yesterday!), but I'll work on the awkward lighting. Or better yet, I'll try to take more pictures with my camera.

ohsothisistheblogi'vebeenmeaningtoupdate :)

2010-02-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

I know, I've been neglectful. I swear I haven't been up to much. Mostly, I've been ~~dreaming about pi bonds~~ doing things like this:

Story time with cuddly friends. The stories have gotten less vampire-love-story-ey and more organic-chemistry-ey as of late. Speaking of which, I have a midterm later today so I really should not be thinking about blogging. But I am.

Instead of recapping the past two months, I'll just share some valuable lessons I've picked up along the way. Perhaps not too widely applicable, but widely enough, I think.

Lessons in Getting Dressed
1. Dress according to the weather. It's not that hard to look out the window just once before digging through the closet.
2. UGGs and boxers for staying in is cute. UGGs and short shorts for going out is skanky.
3. On windy days, never wear lace under a skirt without shorts.
4. Rain boots work wonders if avoiding puddles is difficult.
5. When a complete stranger has your dress/sweater/outfit on, compliment them unless you can successfully avoid eye contact.
6. For special occasions, always look nicer than you think you should.
7. When in doubt, the time-tested combo of cardigan-tee-jeans-flats has never failed.

Lessons in Walking in Public Places
1. If texting while walking, don't forget the occasional upward glance. This helps in avoiding obstacles such as people, traffic cones, and lampposts.
2. When throwing trash into a garbage can, don't scream if a squirrel jumps out of said garbage can. Passersby will stare.
3. Don't assume people are waving at you and not the person behind you. Along those lines, make sure you know the person before offering a greeting.
4. Never ever be a road block. There is nothing more annoying than a slow walker, especially on rainy days.

Lessons in Love
1. First and foremost, there is no need to go looking for love. It's not a lost child that needs to be found, it's just taking its time reaching its final destination. It will find you - but probably not at a convenient time and probably when you are least expecting it.
2. Give and take equally. This isn't a one-way game.
3. Love is unconditional. Believe it.
4. Never be afraid to say "I love you," as long as it's the truth.
5. When at a loss for words, try music.
6. When no one else can relate, turn to Taylor Swift.
7. Time does heal, but so does shopping.

This year, I am thankful for

2009-11-26T22:20:00.000-08:00

an enrollment time that got me all of my classes,

Japanese cherry blossom scented lotion,
fresh fruit in the UCLA dining halls,
Sproul Hall's automatic toilets,
movies that made me cry,
doing well in my classes,
my vampire boyfriend,
amazing roommates,
this past summer,
lacy underthings,
vintage stores,
Taylor Swift,
yoga pants,
my guitar,
friends,

family,

...everything.

I would just like to point out

2009-11-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

that Victoria's Secret is amazing. Anytime I wake up feeling incredibly unattractive, slipping into lacy underthings is pretty much an insta-sexy boost. Behold, the Lacie collection:

Above: the wireless bralette, $18

Above: the Lacie with ruffles, $16 or 3/$30

Above: the Lacie, $16 or 3/$30

What a girl wants? Absolutely.

I like the way you sound in the morning

2009-11-02T00:25:00.000-08:00

Wearing: H&M lace cardigan, BP tank, pleated skirt borrowed from P, Payless ruffle pumps

This is what I wore to an interview a few days ago. This picture was taken on my phone, so sorry about the sketchy quality. I threw a scarf on over the outfit and braved the wind storm that randomly hit LA. I'm applying to be a CPR/First Aid instructor for the Student Welfare Commission, so I figured I needed to look responsible. The acceptance/rejection emails come out in a few days, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I had an amazing weekend. My vampire boyfriend visited, so we made a trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain. That place really is magical. We spent the rest of our time hanging around UCLA and Westwood just relaxing. It's funny how every time he visits, he ends up getting more sleep than he normally does, and I end up getting less. I sleep a lot.

This upcoming week is my last week of freedom before Round Two of midterms begins. The first round wasn't too bad, but the second round is so much more intimidating. I should start studying early for once.

p.s. Has anyone heard Taylor Swift's new songs? "Jump Then Fall" is amazing!

Lately

2009-10-22T22:29:00.000-07:00

I've become quite the workaholic. Staying on top of my workload means studying all afternoon, saving a an hour or two for a workout and dinner, and having just enough free time at night to procrastinate. I figured that my productivity peaks around noon and goes downhill from there, so I study mostly during the day. Studying at night is about as useless as ~~my physics professor~~ a dull razor. I hope that dull razor comment sounds as good as I think it does because it took me and my roommates a good five minutes of brainstorming to come up with. Other things that my roommates and I do include painting our nails, singing together, and taking pictures with this panda:

Isn't she a cutie? Really, though. I love my roommates. I even like (most of) the people on my floor. Well, I like the ones I've met. This is my RA, Ying:

She's small and Asian and so adorable. My RAs are usually the reasons I don't sleep at night. We stay up late and have long gossipy talks about dating and relationships and why nice guys don't finish last.

In other news, the virus that infected my roommates a few weeks ago has worked its way into my system. I've been sick since the weekend, but not according to this awesome thermometer:

This is a reusable thermometer that gives an accurate temperature reading after sixty seconds under the tongue. My temperature on Monday (my sickest day) was a perfect 98.6, so no fever here. I've been so close to getting un-sick for two days now. Today, I gave in and bought Sudafed to clear my congested nose. Hopefully, the virus will be gone by tomorrow.

Someone dress me, please.

2009-10-10T19:56:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Gap cardigan, random tank with Japanese girls and pagodas from Hawaii, Hudson jeans, Minnetonka moccasins, favorite bag

I spent today in Santa Monica with TJ. I love her. We thrifted at Goodwill, where I found my Halloween costume! I don't particularly like Halloween, but my friends and I plan to go to Knott's Scary Farm, so I was in need of a costume. Plus, Halloween is on a Saturday this year. Now I'm completely serious when I ask, what is there to do besides party? Anyway, after Goodwill, TJ and I headed over to Crossroads before we hit Third Street Promenade. We stopped at Urban Outfitters and Forever 21, but surprisingly came out empty-handed. I did, however, come out with the ghastly hat-glasses-scarf picture seen above.

Once again, I find myself quite lost stylistically. I'm still liking the dress-and-boots look, and I love that its simple enough for me to put together in my groggy morning state. I'm also in love with unexpected feminine details like ruffles or lace, but other than that, I don't know what to do with myself. I'm mostly having trouble dressing myself now that the weather is cooling down. Not that I'm complaining or anything... I love this weather, but what do you wear when it's too cold for skirts but too hot for jeans?

shoe splurge

2009-09-27T18:20:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Old Navy V-neck pocket tee, Forever 21 shorts (via Crossroads) and camera necklace, Urban Outfitters Ecoté gladiators, P's brown leather saddle bag

I woke up in a great mood this ~~morning~~ afternoon due to a wonderful dream I had. After brunch, P and I headed to Westwood to do some shopping. We picked out colorful panties at Victoria's Secret at 10 for $25 thanks to a coupon I downloaded. I then splurged on T-strap flats (in pink) and studded suede boots (in tan) at Urban Outfitters. They're so beautiful! After another gratifying trip to Yogurtland, we shopped at DSW and Top Shoes before heading back to the dorm to try on everything we had just bought.

The weekend is almost over and I have yet to do anything productive. I need to start reading for my Life Science class, at the very least. I guess I'll do that tonight. On the bright side, the scorching heat is subsiding and temperatures are forecasted to drop into the low 70s by the end of next week, so my sweat glands can finally take a break. THANK GOD.

LA in pictures

2009-09-24T01:22:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Kimchi & Blue dress, Aldo flats, Betsey Johnson sunglasses

I paid a visit to the Beverly Center with P today. The place is eight stories high, but only the top three levels are for shopping. The bottom five levels make up the parking garage. What a colossal waste of space. P and I spent most of our time in stores where we could afford to buy things - namely Forever 21, For Love 21, and Heritage. I came back with oodles of flowy, flowery goodness. Mmmm, retail therapy is the best.

I've finally uploaded pictures for the first-few-days-in-LA update, so here it is:

These are my cutie roommates, D and P.

I'm really bad at keeping track of days, but a few nights ago, my roommates and I had our first adventure to the Yogurtland in Westwood. Our jaws dropped when we saw the line for Diddy Riese curl around the block. I've never seen it that long!

We made it to Yogurtland! Mine is the bland-looking one at the bottom, but I swear it was tasty because it was covered in mochi.

We've been spending the past few days settling into our new room. A lot of time has gone into decorating. This is the space above my desk. Of course Audrey is in the middle of everything.

I put my family and friends into a heart near my bed. I love that the walls of Sproul Hall are made of bulletin board material so pictures can go up anywhere.

This whiteboard lives by my desk. I make lists obsessively.

D drew this on the whiteboard outside our room. We're the AAA (pronounced "ahhh") room because our names all end with A.

This is my baby lavender plant. I haven't named her yet. Bonnie the bonsai didn't make it through the summer, so I found a replacement.

I planted her two days ago. It's so hot in my room that I need to water her twice a day. I haven't seen any growth yet, but hopefully I'll see some sprouting soon. Fingers crossed!

back to school

2009-09-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

Wearing: American Eagle colorful flannel, American Apparel deep V tee, brandless shorts, Steve Madden boots, Wet Seal floral sunglasses, H&M ruffle purse

On one of my final days of summer, I met these girlies for some Thai food and a biking adventure through Golden Gate Park. We rode past a waterfall, the Academy of Sciences, the deYoung Museum, and had lots of fun holding up traffic in the park.

That night, I got all dressed up and my Vampire Boyfriend took me out to dinner. He brought me flowers and this stuffed cutie (his name is Sniffle) to keep me company at school.

The drive down to LA took over nine hours, and move in took four. It's currently 86 degrees and I'm missing the fog already. On the bright side, I'm loving Sproul Hall! Everything is so crisp and new. The showers are amazing and our room is spacious and decorated all pretty-ly. I've taken pictures and will post them soon. P and I have decided that we'll take more pictures this year. Hopefully, we stick to that. Well, I'm off to the pool to attempt to bring my body temperature down a few degrees. Pictures? I'm thinking yes!

I didn't smell garlic today.

2009-09-07T23:14:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Forever 21 WWF panda tee, brandless shorts, Minnetonka triple-layer fringe boots, Wet Seal floral sunglasses, H&M ruffle bag

This outfit is very reminiscent of LA, which is appropriate because I haven't spent a whole day shopping with P since summer started. P and I spent the day at the premium outlets in Gilroy. I hadn't been shopping in a while, so I surprised myself by keeping the purchases to a minimum. For the record, the shopping bags in the pictures above don't all belong to me. I did end up buying a blazer and two new nail polish colors (among other things), but P got the greatest bargain with her $80 leather jacket.

After a day at Great America and another in Gilroy, my legs really need some time to recover. That time won't be anytime soon, though. Tomorrow, I'm lap swimming and going back-to-school shopping with the Vampire BF. This week's agenda also includes a visit to the Asian Art Museum, the De Young, and... I'm expecting to see some serious leg toneage.

you'll be the prince and i'll be the princess

2009-09-05T23:31:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Gap cozy sweater, Old Navy stirrup leggings (ohmygod I love these things), Forever 21 boots, new favorite scarf (that was a gift)

I took pictures! Shocking, I know. Tonight, I saw R and Daddy H for the first time this summer. R, who went from veggies-only to total-carnivore status practically overnight, introduced me to La Corneta. We got super burritos with steak and followed it up with a trip to Eggettes next door. These two chums are completely ridiculous together. It's a good thing our thought processes are similar because they can't seem to stay on one topic for more than thrity seconds. Gotta love them! Check out this little Gossip Girl that sat at the table next to ours. Can't you just see her growing up to be Serena van der Wooden?

Can you believe this summer is coming to an end? In two weeks' time, I'll be leaving my beloved foggy city behind and moving back to ~~smoggy~~ sunny LA. I can't even begin to express how NOT ready I am to start school again. I could cry.

Things that remind me of summer:
- chlorine in my hair
- disgusting tan lines (which have, yet again, taken over my body)
- clear starry nights
- not working on Sundays
- Taylor Swift's Love Story
- Orbit's spearmint gum
- dirt cups
- my panda shirt
- late night trips to Twin Peaks
- Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
- Lovejoy's Tea Room

Lately, I've been

2009-08-22T02:22:00.000-07:00

blissfully happy.

Aboard the MS Zaandam

2009-08-09T19:37:00.000-07:00

Alaska in pictures in chronological order:

First formal night. Wearing: Urban Outfitters Tikirani dress, Payless ruffle pumps.

Same formal night, the view from the library.

View of the Mendenhall Glacier from the helicopter we took to get there.

Semi-formal night. Wearing: Gap collared shirt, Forever 21 floral skirt, Steve Madden ruffle pumps, H&M ruffle bag.

In Glacier Bay, the view of the Margerie Glacier from the bow of the MS Zaandam.

In the totem pole forest of Ketchikan, Alaska. Wearing: Forever 21 WWF panda tee, Seven For All Mankind jeans, Converses, H&M ruffle purse.

View of the island from the cannery in Ketchikan.

A full day at sea. Enjoying life in a hammock on the open skydeck of the Zaandam. Wearing: Disney's Tinkerbell sketch tee, Forever 21 leggings, Minnetonka fringe boots, $1.50 brandless sunglasses.

A one-stop-shopping-style vending machine in Seattle, Washington. An unexpected array of contents: leisure books (including Twilight!), a beach fun pack, food, hand-held video games, sunscreen, playing cards, lip balm, a first aid kit, and a disposable camera.

In the downtown shopping district of Seattle. Gotta love Nutella!

My life according to Taylor Swift

2009-07-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

I've missed you, blogger! I keep meaning to update, but I've once again gotten lazy with dressing myself and taking pictures. I seem to have fallen back into my ritual of eat-sleep-guard, but I do look forward to hanging out with a certain new friend after work, especially since he doesn't care how lazy I am with dressing myself. Pretty much anything is a step up from the black yoga pants and uniform tee that I dutifully sport every day at the pool.

I'm currently packing for a week-long trip to Alaska with my family. Tomorrow morning, I fly to Seattle and board a ship that will sail me around the glaciers. I love packing, yes I do! I'll admit it's kind of a hassle, but it just builds anticipation for the upcoming trip. Plus, I love any reason to go through my endless closet and excessive supply of shoes. Do I really need six pairs of shoes for this trip? I'm thinking yes.

I took this survey from clandestinique, who took it from someone else. Gotta love recycling! Given my recent obsession with Taylor Swift, I had to do it.

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Try not to repeat a song title. It’s a lot harder than you think! Re-post as “my life according to (band name)”

Pick your Artist: Taylor Swift

Are you a male or female: Tim McGraw? (Fail. Alright, I tried.)

Describe yourself: Tied Together With a Smile

How do you feel: Fearless

Describe where you currently live: A Place in This World

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: The Outside

Your favorite form of transportation: White Horse

Your best friend is: Crazier

You and your best friends are: Forever and Always

What’s the weather like? Cold As You

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called: The Best Day

What is life to you: Love Story

Your current relationship: I'm Only Me When I'm With You

Your fear: Should've Said No

What is the best advice you have to give: Stay Beautiful

Thought for the Day: You Belong With Me

My motto: Breathe

Not bad, right? Way to go, Taylor! I'll resume the picture posts in Alaska as long as our room has free internet. I'm really excited to show off my new heels!

Sectumsempra - for enemies

2009-07-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Target Mossimo cardigan, Free People silk tank, H&M leggings and bag, Steve Madden boots

Believe it or not, today was my first day shopping in downtown San Francisco since I've been back from LA. P and I had Thai for lunch and shopped around before watching Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I must say, with just the right amount of chuckle, seriousness, and romance, this is the best Harry Potter movie made thus far. Kudos.

DSW is quickly becoming one of my favorite stores. P quite literally had to detach me from the window display of Steve Madden pumps and booties to bring me inside. Even if I have no real reason to be shoe shopping, I still love walking down the aisles and perusing pumps that I'll probably never wear. Urban Outfitters, however, was such a tease today. P and I were so excited when we saw the SALE ON SALE signs in the display. After trying on a bazillion pieces, I bought nothing, and P, who tried on nothing, ended up with a skirt.

I'm working every single day next week, but I'm really excited because I'm not teaching swim lessons! I'll be lifeguarding and watching my coworkers teach from the guards stand. Life is good.

Channeling Carrie

2009-07-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

Wearing: H&M tank, Forever 21 mesh tiered skirt, Lela Rose for Payless heels

I finally bought a Carrie Bradshaw-esque skirt and debuted it last Thursday for a night of clubbing with the girls. A fairly drunk M told me that I looked "just like Sex and the City, but just the Sex part!" And just like the ladies of Sex and the City, we were four friends walking the city in heels with fruity drinks and lots of boys (some gay, some not). It was a great night.

In other news, I'm happy to report that my social life is picking back up. Okay, so I've been making an effort to get up earlier to see friends and I've been going out on weekends. Let me just say, having friends and a job and a life is exhausting.

Sunny Monday

2009-07-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Forever 21 oversize tank, H&M leggings and ruffle purse, Minnetonka fringed boots, miscellaneous jewelry from Urban Outfitters

I shopped online last night. I spent 2 hours and $80 at urbanoutfitters.com and I'm happy to report that I got some good deals. Still, I really need to find a more constructive outlet for my boredom.

This morning, I woke up to typical foggy-and-cold San Bruno weather. I put on leggings and a sweater and headed to San Francisco to meet up with friends only to find it ridiculously sunny in the sunset district. I had lunch at Hibachi with H and M on Irving, then headed over to Fillmore to visit P, who was working, and the Marc Jacobs specialty store there. We saw lots of cute things, like this sad puppy

and this Paris Je t'aime charm necklace

that I bought at the marc by Marc Jacobs store. A good day indeed!

The only downside to waking up "early" on a Monday is that I can't get my sh*t together in time to get out of the house when I need to. I forgot to bring extra shoes with me, but thankfully, I had an extra pair of flip flops in my work locker so I didn't have to lifeguard in fringed booties. I showed up to work almost an hour early, which was lucky because the pool was at maximum capacity and extra help never hurts. I guess the unexpected sunny weather drove lots of little swimmers to the Brisbane Pool.

p.s. That is my car in the pictures above. Just for the record, I don't stand in the street and take pictures with random cars.

Lazy

2009-07-11T00:34:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Steve Madden sunglasses, American Apparel unisex zip hoody

I love buying sunglasses. I love eying the perfect pair of sunglasses from afar and venturing closer to try them on for the first time. I love going through the store's entire inventory and trying on every single pair of those sunglasses (because they all fit differently though they're all the same model/make) only to discover that the first pair I picked up fit me perfectly all along. Ever had that experience?

I've decided that I need to see my friends more. I hung out with S today for the first time in a looooong while. We shopped around, ate, and dropped by the Pink Cherry Spa in San Bruno for some much-needed body maintenance. Ennee was so sweet and she really knows what she's doing. The trip wasn't exactly cheap, but I'm not opposed to spending money on seemingly fruitless things like spa trips. Like I told S, I show more skin on a daily basis at the pool than a porn star. I think I meant that I show skin longer (or something). Whatever, you get the picture.

I've been really lazy with blogging lately because I've been really lazy with dressing myself lately. I wear my uniform (red swimsuit, lifeguard tee, black yoga pants or red shorts depending on the weather) more than anything else, and it's not really something that needs to be blogged about more than it already has. Anyways, I've been trying to dissociate the two things (blogging and dressing myself) along with trying to find inspiration in things that I don't normally do. In an attempt to do so, I made this wrap bracelet a couple of weeks ago.

Bracelet: 100% silk lilac cord, cheap gold [colored] metal chain, leaf charms - knotted all at one end and braided

Yosemite

2009-07-07T23:31:00.000-07:00

(Lower Yosemite Falls)

(pedestrian-sized stop sign!)

Day One, hiking look: plain Gap beater, Thank You Mart studded shorts, Asics running shoes, Wet Seal floral sunglasses

(His name is Ace!)

(Half Dome)

Day Two, riding look: American Apparel deep-V tee, Forever 21 high-waisted shorts, black Converses, vintage bag

I spent the Fourth of July weekend in Yosemite with my family. Despite being eaten alive by mosquitoes, mites, fleas, and god-only-knows-what-else, it was a wonderful and relaxing trip. The park is full of giant trees, cascading waterfalls, and heartbreakingly beautiful meadows. Parts of the park were closed for seasonal burnings, and the smoke from the forest fires made for some really foggy views. From high elevations, the smoke looked a lot like clouds. I really wanted to take a free photography class, but I couldn't find it within myself to get out of bed at 6am in order to do so. I guess I'll just have to make do with the unskilled raw shots that I took.

Yosemite Falls from afar

I love playing with the effects of sunlight. The giant sequoias don't look too bad either.

more sunlight on the hike to Yosemite Falls

The ground looks golden, or covered in snow.

The view from Glacier Point. The cloudy smoke makes Half Dome look like Olympus.

At just 28 inches tall, this is officially Yosemite's smallest waterfall.

The Merced River at Valley View

Sunset over a place I like to call Edward's meadow.

Lucky

2009-06-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Urban Outfitters Kimchi & Blue floral dress, Nine West knee highs, Forever 21 boots

Yesterday, the closing pool staff and I shared a combo pizza and a chocolate mousse sheet cake from Costco for no reason other than to celebrate our love for food and Costco (and food from Costco). W was nice enough to pick up the food along with a few frosting pens for us to decorate our cake. It was so perfect that I didn't even mind that my pants were wet as a result of sitting in a puddle. Hey, it happens when you work at a pool.

I know I say "I love my job" a bit too much, but really, I can't get enough of the pool. It feels weird to wake up excited about going to work every morning, but I'm not complaining. I'm really lucky to be getting paid to do something I love.

Now let us have a moment of silence to commemorate my social life. Since getting back from college, I haven't even called the friends I promised to hang out with this summer. I feel like a bad friend, but after getting off an 8 hour shift at the pool, all I want to do is go home, eat, and sleep. Then rinse, repeat...

On a brighter note, my GPA is close to 3.0 for this past quarter! I never would have excepted to ace my math class. I either mastered all of probability in the last week of class or got really lucky on the final. I like to think it was the former. As for my organic chemistry and life science classes, I'm just happy I passed. Taking those two together was such a mistake. I should probably start looking into classes to take next quarter as enrollment begins next week. Yikes!

flashdance

2009-06-24T00:25:00.001-07:00

I may have forgotten to bring my camera to the wedding, but my cousins didn't forget theirs. One of my rather photographically gifted cousins caught me spinning on the dance floor. These pictures are the result of good music, flashing lights, curly hair, and E's photography skills.

I spent nine hours at the pool today. I'm not even sure if that's legal. I'm exhausted but I still love my job.

The Wedding Singer

2009-06-21T23:57:00.000-07:00

Wearing: BCBG silk dress, Lela Rose for Payless heels, Forever 21 bow clutch

I love this dress. Besides being silky, stretchy, and comfy, it hugs all the right places. Tonight, my family drove out to Woodside to attend my cousin's wedding. The wedding was unconventionally beautiful, and the bride and groom were flawless. Being the absent-minded idiot that I am during the summer, I forgot my camera at home, so these pictures were taken in my room after I got home. That still doesn't explain why the first two pictures are yellower than the others.

Summer has been pretty wonderful so far. My life at home consists of three things: food, sleep, and work. Relaxation and a paycheck - what more could I ask for? The only downside is that my work schedule (4-8 hours a day, six days a week) has pretty much murdered and buried my social life. The only people I see consistently are my parents, my brother, and the pool staff. I really want to (and need to) get out and see my friends despite being exhausted from work. Our new Wii can only keep me company for so long.

I just finished the week of in-service ~~hell~~ training at work. The pool staff spent the past week reviewing CPR/AED, first aid, rescues, and other miscellaneous procedures. We also swam 500m daily. We finished off the week with a fattening potluck and a scavenger hunt that that ended in the deep end of the pool. Tomorrow is the first day of swim lessons and I'm excited to meet the little kiddies. Oh, and I found out that the the lifeguarding staff is to swim a paid 500m weekly. I'm essentially getting paid to exercise. I love my job.

p.s. I miss my photographer/best friend/roommate!
p.p.s. Happy Father's Day. I love you, Daddy!

Hello, summer!

2009-06-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Forever 21 WWF Panda tee, Lucky Brand gray jeans

I moved [my two suitcases, full-length mirror, refrigerator, and six boxes of stuff] out of the UCLA dorms yesterday with help from my dad and brother. Goodbye forever, Dykstra Hall! We drove to my grandparents' house to drop my stuff off as they're kindly letting me use their garage as a public storage for the summer. I then went out to dinner with my rather large Chinese family at an authentic Chinese restaurant. After dinner, my grandparents cut up fresh strawberries, mangoes, and golden kiwis for us. They spoil me.

I spent the night at my uncle's house (in the guest room with the memory foam mattress topped with down pillows and a down comforter). Last night, I played Wii with my cousins, downloaded music, and watched The Parent Trap with Honey, my cousin's dog and the love of my life. The first three pictures above were taken when Honey was 9 weeks old. The last one was taken last night. She hasn't really grown in size, but her hair got longer.

Today, my dad and I split the 7 hour drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco. When I wasn't driving, I was either sleeping or playing Bubble Breaker on my phone. Thank goodness for that game. When I got home, I stepped onto our brand new digital scale. My total weight gain over the course of three quarters at UCLA? 1.2 pounds. Freshman 15? Myth indeed.

Love Story meets Viva La Vida

2009-06-06T20:02:00.000-07:00

Day one of finals is over! What a relief it is to get organic chemistry off my mind! Still, I really shouldn't be blogging because I have another final in 19 hours (and two more after that), but my friend posted something on my facebook wall that is too beautiful to not share. Check it out:

This is Love Story meets Viva La Vida, composed by Jon Schmidt. My favorite part is the key change (about 3 minutes in) when Romeo proposes. So epic!

Well, I should get back to studying. See you when it's all over...

Countdown to summer: 3 days

Pocahontas

2009-06-01T21:45:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Urban Outfitters BDG military blazer, Old Navy pocket tee, Joe's skinny jeans, Minnetonka triple-layer fringe boots

I meant to pin the braid back à la Lauren Conrad, but I was short on time this morning and my bobby pins refused to hold my hair, so I just tied off the braid and let it hang. The result? I ended up looking like an Asian Pocahontas - it didn't help that I happened to be wearing my fringe boots. I had a lot of fun with it, though, so the braid will definitely stay in my little black book of three-minute morning hairstyles that make it seem as if I spent a lot of time on my hair.

Hello Week 10! I can't believe this is my last full week of my first year at UCLA. Where did all the time go? I'm not ready to leave the campus for a whole summer, but I'm so ready to be done with tests, homework, and more tests.

I only went to one of my three classes today. I used the spare time to go to Santa Monica and return some things at Forever 21. I then came back and used the store credit to make another purchase online. Now I have a package to look forward to! Not exactly the best way to be spending my time with finals drawing ever closer, but this is what stress does to me. Sorry, credit card.

Countdown to finals: 5 days
Countdown to summer: 8 days

Getty it on

2009-05-31T21:40:00.000-07:00

Wearing: my favorite Target Mossimo cardigan, thrifted floral dress, Target tights, Minnetonka triple-layer fringe boots

The love the idea of walking on water. I'm not Jesus, not a crouching tiger, and certainly not a hidden dragon, but I still love the idea. That's the illusion given by the rimless fountains in the courtyard of the Getty Museum. Today, P, C, and I spent the day at the Getty. At just $2.50 per person for round trip bus fare (free admission at the museum), this was the cheapest weekend trip we've ever taken. It was also one of the most blissfully relaxing day trips I've ever taken.

I'm not sure when it happened, but I think I've grown up [a little]. I used to hate museums. I hated that they were so boring, hated that it was always so quiet inside, and I really hated how I had to walk so much to see millions of paintings that looked so similar. Today, it dawned on me that I really like museums. Nowhere else can I find the kind of peace and serenity that a museum holds. Nowhere else can I find the quiet calm and stillness that settles within me while I wander from painting to painting, contemplating life. I like to see a painting, then picture an 18th century artist perched at his easel, gently easing strokes of paint onto the canvas. I also like looking at antiques and imagining historical figures sitting in the well-loved armchairs and sleeping within the faded sheets of the old beds in front of me.

After seeing the galleries, we took a tour of the beautiful Getty Gardens.

From above, it looks green and serene, but from within, the garden teems with life in every color from every angle. It really was magical!

Rodeo Drive

2009-05-26T01:34:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Urban Outfitters Kimchi Blue mohair cardigan and Boy Meets Girl tee, Forever 21 leggings, Rocketdog boots

Today, I went to Rodeo Drive with some besties and ogled the glamorous lives of the rich and (almost) famous. These pictures were taken at Prada, you know, just another luxury we normal people have to live without. The stores on Rodeo are not just stores; they're magnificent showrooms that can make any cheap item look like its made of gold, and that's just fine because the people shopping there can afford it all. Just off Rodeo is Santa Monica Boulevard, where we found the delightful little cupcake shop, Sprinkles. P and I split red velvet and key lime cupcakes. They were so delicious - the perfect combination of moist cake and fluffy frosting to tantalize the taste buds, well worth their $3.25 per cupcake price tag.

After Rodeo, we took the bus to The Grove Shopping Center and watched Angels & Demons, which was a real treat. Since The DaVinci Code was such a terrible film, I wasn't expecting much from the sequel. I'm glad it proved me wrong, though. The movie kept me excited and anxious (in a good way) at its every turn. I want to say that the movie was really raw, but I'm not sure what "raw" means, so maybe not. If you do see it, which I recommend you do, look out for Royce Hall (yes, part of Angels & Demons was filmed at UCLA) in the scene where Langdon and the detective walk through the arches at Harvard University. Only Hollywood would turn UCLA's historical building into Harvard University. Psch.

We finished off the day with some shopping at The Grove (the Victoria's Secret semi-annual sale is on!) and dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. I highly recommend the dish I got today - the Salisbury Steak topped with sautéed mushrooms and caramelized onions, which comes with mashed potatoes and fresh green beans. I'm usually not a huge fan of large slabs of meat, but I devoured that steak. It was just that good.

I finally got that video from P and convinced it to upload to youtube. This is S and me riding a spinny ride of death at the Santa Monica Pier:

P's camera recorded it in HD, so check that out. And check our S's face while you're at it! :)

beachy keen

2009-05-24T01:38:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Target Mossimo boyfriend cardigan, vintage floral dress, Rocketdog boots

Thank goodness the weekend is finally here. I don't think I could have lived through another day of hell week. Last week, I took three midterms, four quizzes, and finished weekly assignments and write ups for all of my classes. This weekend is my reward for working hard all week.

Last night, I watched He's Just Not That Into You again. It was so much better the second time around. The plot was easier to follow once I remembered who the characters were. I can't get over how gorgeous Scarlett Johansson is, even though her character is a slutty mistress/ home-wrecker. Hey, I'd cheat on my wife with her, too.

Today, I went to Santa Monica with some friends. We walked on the pier and rode the ferris wheel (where Spencer Pratt proposed to Heidi Montag, thank you People.com). S and I decided to be adventurous and ride a crazy spinning I-can't-even-describe-it-with-words kind of ride. I'll put up the video as soon as I get it from P, who filmed us on the ride.

These pictures were taken on Santa Monica Beach, right under the pier. Does the pier look familiar? This is where Hilary Duff walks alone after breaking up with the guitar-player boy in Raise Your Voice. I know, chick flicks are my forté.

Retail therapy is the best.

2009-05-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Wearing: vintage lace blouse and studded denim shorts from Thank You Mart, Gap beater, Steve Madden boots, marc by Marc Jacobs key necklace, vintage heart locket

I've been in midterms-week-lockdown/ hermit-mode lately. I get up, go to class, do my homework, study at the library, and sleep for about 5 hours. Lather, rinse, repeat. It's so miserable. What I don't understand is ~~how the Calvin cycle makes sugars~~ why professors insist on making one or two tests count for our entire grades when our understanding of the subject is so much more than multiple choice questions and free response diagrams.

Taking a cue from Fazed-Girl, I did this:

The only difference is that this Scotch-tape-and-post-it method worked for her and was only effective for me for about three hours. Case in point: I spent about a hundred dollars shopping on Forever21.com last night. (Check out Forever's new contemporary line, Love21!) See what stress does to me?

I may be sleep deprived and the high levels of cortisol from midterm-induced stress may be suppressing my immune system, but Bonnie seems to be doing fine.

More splitting! :)

Watch this:

2009-05-15T21:22:00.000-07:00

It will change your life. I actually cried the first time watching it.

"Hey, I really like your glad's."

2009-05-14T21:36:00.000-07:00

Wearing: thrifted (self-hemmed) dress, Wet Seal braided belt, Urban Outfitters Ecoté gladiators, vintage leaf earrings purchased on Ebay

I swear my feet aren't as washed-out white as that picture suggests. Really, considering how quickly I tan, I'm rather evenly-toned at the moment. I blame the poor lighting in my dorm room. Speaking of my room, allow me to introduce you to la catastrophe that was my desk yesterday:

Notice the piles of notebooks and folders, tangled chords, unfinished magazines, and the obvious mouse displacement (I'm right-handed). Is it not the very definition of en désordre? Bonnie the bonsai seems pretty cozy on that shelf thing, though.

I'm so jealous that most people are getting out of school and beginning to enjoy the spoils of summer when I'm still crawling through my second round of midterms. However, my classes have lately been focused on just one subject:

At least it keeps me interested.

Bonnie

2009-05-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

Wearing: H&M denim jacket, vintage floral romper, Rocketdog boots

I think I'm in love with these boots as they add a tough edge to an otherwise girly dress. And they're soooo comfortable to walk around in. (S and D sent them all the way from San Fran as a late birthday gift to me. Thanks, guys!) The floral number is my latest buy from Ebay. It won me over at once with its cheery Spring print and lace-up back. The only annoying detail I didn't anticipate is the fact that I have to take the whole thing off to use the restroom. Because it's not actually a skirt, I can't just lift up... TMI, I know. I'll stop.

I have exciting news - my bonsai, which A.Lo has affectionately named Bonnie, is growing!! A week ago, it was a tiny green stem that looked like this:

Now, the stem has grown out and it looks like this:

It appears that, contrary to popular belief, the LA dorms can sustain life!

bumming around

2009-05-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Urban Outfitters Kimchi Blue black velvet dress, Steve Madden boots, Forever 21 necklace, Wet Seal floral sunglasses

I've been so sleep deprived all week. Getting only four hours of sleep the night before, I slept soundly from 1 AM to 12 PM ~~last night~~ today. After dragging our butts out of bed at the ripe morning hour of 1 PM, P and I decided to take advantage of the sunny weather and camera-whore around in the grass by the Janss steps. Climbing and leaning against trees, sitting by the Shapiro Fountain, and rolling around in grass resulted in tree sap in my hair and on my dress, a shower in recycled fountain water, and grassy bits everywhere. It was a good day.

Last night, I went to Spring Sing, where I was wowed by another celebrity judge panel including Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina! Clarissa!) and Janice Dickenson. Janice Dickenson was escorted onto the stage by my RA, who got a kiss on the lips from the World's First Supermodel herself. The entire show was so amazing - I had no idea how much talent we had at UCLA. The most amazing part was seeing Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins! Sound of Music!) give her acceptance speech for some artistic achievement award. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I love LA!

It's getting dangerously close to the second round of midterms and I haven't been nearly as productive as I should have been. P says, "I love how we just bum around on weekends." Bumming around happens to be a hobby of mine.

Can we pull through this avalanche?

2009-05-07T17:41:00.000-07:00

If you haven't met her already, this beautiful songstress is Marié Digby:

You may have heard her first big hit "Say It Again" on her breakout album Unfold, which was released in April of last year. Her sophomore album, Breathing Underwater, is scheduled to be released this upcoming July and I cannot be more excited! P and I have been playing her new song, "Avalanche," on repeat for a while now and it never gets old. You can listen to the full song on her Myspace.

P says I look like a lumberjack,

2009-05-06T16:38:00.000-07:00

but I told her she doesn't know what a lumberjack looks like. The inspiration? The southern countryside look of Hannah Montana and some destroyed studded denim via Fashiontoast.

Wearing: Forever 21 plaid shirt and necklace, Gap beater, cutoff shorts from Thank You Mart, Rocketdog boots

I said before that I was looking for a bow ring, and I found one on Ebay for just $6! Ah Ebay, you always come to the rescue.

Above, bow ring: 14k gold plated sterling silver and cubic zirconia.

Over 100 already? This is post #102.
I don't really have anything to say except that I'm so sick of school and so ready for summer. 18 units is 8 too many.

Do the Hoedown (Throwdown)

2009-05-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Charlotte Russe lace dress via Gilroy Premium Outlets, Target Xhiliration tights, Rocketdog Chaingang boots (now on sale!), Forever 21 necklace and belt

I am loving this sun-from-behind lighting effect. Something about bright lights in the background just makes pictures so epic, dontcha think? Now that spring has settled in, it doesn't really get dark here until 8pm or so. It's really nothing compared to the 11pm sunsets of Paris, but it sure beats the 5pm sunsets of winter in SF!

Yesterday, I shopped the Beverly Center with P, H, and S. I can't get over how Beverly Hills is so luxe - even the parking lot seemed grand. In between rounds of shopping, we watched Hannah Montana: The Movie, something I should be embarrassed to admit, but it was such a good movie that I don't really care. The soundtrack was so delightfully uplifting (Hoedown Throwdown is still playing in my head), the storyline was interesting, Taylor Swift was amazing, and the cowboy was so adorably Southern. Afterwards, we shopped and shopped some more and came home with lots of goodies. To top off the perfect day, we watched Mean Girls before climbing into bed.

so starstruck!

2009-05-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

Wearing: Forever 21 cardigan, Old Navy tank (love the flowers on the left shoulder!), another thrifted floral skirt, Minnetonka moccasins.

(Why yes, that is a trash bag between us.)

(with P and S)
Clubbing look: Forever 21 dress and lace tights, Steve Madden Boots

These past two days have made me realize just how amazing it is to be in LA. Friday morning, I noticed a long stretch of tables full of makeup artists hard at work. I was informed that they were preparing extras for some TV show. Being late to class as usual, I hurried off before the words "TV show" sank in. When I finished my classes, I was casually walking back to my dorms when I unknowingly wandered onto the set of Californication, a Showtime drama. The star on set? David Duchovny, who is also known for his work on The X-Files.

markers (they did use all of those colors)

lights

camera

action!

David Duchovny is the one in black on the left. Why yes, I was about five feet away from him.

Friday night, I donned my clubbing attire for a night at Battle Royale, a dance-off at Union Station featuring UCLA's various hip hop teams. Little did I know, the dance-off was judged by a celebrity panel featuring Mike Song and Taeko Carroll (America's Best Dance Crew), and Katie Shean (So You Think You Can Dance). I'm happy to say that NSU (H's team) took home the giant boxing glove trophy.

celebrity judges: Mike, Katie, and Taeko

Katie is holding the boxing glove trophy

Today, Will Ferrell came to UCLA to play a charity game against Swedish tennis champion Mats Wilander. I was surprised that I could hear the game from my room. I was even more surprised that my floor had a direct view of the game from the window at the end of the hall. Imagine my shock when P looked out the window and announced that she could see Will Ferrell from our bedroom window. Nonetheless, we went down to the tennis courts to check out the match. Highlights include a tennis racket the size of Will Ferrell's body, giant tennis balls, blonde girls on stilts, and a swine flu mask. I was told that Rainn Wilson (The Office) also made an appearance at the game, but I didn't stay long enough to see him.

Mats and Will

Sucks that the shots are sort of blurry. Oh well.

I am exhausted. I can't wait to paint my nails, do some homework, and collapse into bed. Goodnight!

Outfits!

2009-05-01T00:23:00.000-07:00

Begin the madness of outfit posting! P, my Be Fri/best friend/best roommate ever/the list goes on, has graciously accepted the tedious job of taking outfit pictures for me. (Thanks, P!)^(infinity) I'm not sure how I feel about that last statement. It's either chuckle-inducing or vomit-inducing. You decide.

These pictures were taken pretty late last night, so please excuse the poor lighting and crap location. I can't help the fact that the dorm I live in is falling apart...

(Also, please excuse the unmade bed above my head.)

Wearing: American Eagle shirtdress, Forever 21 braided belt, Target Xhiliration tights, Steve Madden boots

Above, close-up of the Steve Madden Gimbal boots that I have finally broken in. I'll admit that I get a bit self-conscious walking around campus in heels (however inconspicuous they are), but boy do I looove the rhythmic clack-clack-clack sound of a solid heel hitting the ground.

Today, I went out to the sunny De Neve Plaza for pictures. Doesn't location make such a big difference?

Wearing: Target Mossimo cardigan, American Apparel deep V tee, thrifted floral skirt, Minnetonka triple-layer fringe boots, Marc by Marc Jacobs "I love you" spinner necklace

Side note: I've given up on the whole I'm-not-posting-my-face-on-my-blog plan. Cropping and re-cropping photos is just too much work, so enjoy my face.

I got extremely lucky and didn't have class today! (Calendar check - it's Thursday!) I didn't go to math discussion this morning because midterms weren't graded yet, and my Life Science 2 class got cancelled because my professor is out of town. Thus, I treated myself to a glorious morning in bed, reading Paris Hangover (yes, still) in between waves of sleep. When I finally dragged my lazy self out of bed, I grabbed lunch with friends before heading to Westwood. What else is there to do in Westwood besides shop? I hit up Urban Outfitters, Buffalo Exchange, and Thank You Mart, this adorable vintage shop that sells all of its items for $3.99! Three hours and a mere $35 later, I returned with an organic cotton American Apparel tee, a black velvet minidress from UO, a lace collared shirt, studded denim cutoff shorts, and a sheer rose-print scarf. When P got out of class, we went swimming at Sunset Rec. We actually did laps this time - not many, but it's the effort that counts.

I really should be asleep now, or at least reading up on the lab I'm expected to master. Tomorrow, I have to throw myself back into academic hell for 6 nonstop hours of lectures and lab. Welcome to my life as a South Campus major.

Because I've accepted procrastinating as a way of life...

2009-04-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

I've recently rediscovered Sea of Shoes. Jane Aldridge is simply amazing. (I know, I'm still working on getting that thesaurus.) I find myself drooling over every shoe and every piece of vintage in her magnificently spacious closet. I'm seriously reconsidering picking up outfit posts again. It's just so much work...

Just in time after midterms, the shipment from Forever 21 came today. Since the factory is based in LA, it takes about a day for orders to get delivered to our dorms. The order included this nail polish:

Above, nail polish in Twilight. Gotta love the color, gotta love the name. I also bought this headband:

Above, the chiffon flower headband. The chiffon-and-lace flower is so dainty and soft. It's just girly enough to dress up casual outfits, yet formal enough to pair with my classic Jessica McClintock mini for my cousin's summer wedding. (Yeah, I think up outfits a lot in advance.) And oh I think I'm in love with this dress:

Above, the babydoll colorblock dress. It's simple, playful, a bit childish, and ultra-flattering. I'm planning on debuting it at Battle Royale, a clubbing event I'm attending this Friday night in honor of H, who is performing with her dance team. I'm really looking forward to it because I haven't properly gone out in so long. Plus, the event is being held at Union Station. I can't wait to see how they set it up.

Finally, I have a random to share. Check out this perfectly-engineered-by-Mother-Nature pear:

So the resolution on my cell phone camera doesn't exactly flatter the color, but this pear is the most deliciously crisp green. And the little leaf on top makes it so cute. It breaks my heart to think that I'll have to eat it soon.

breathe

2009-04-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

The first round of midterms is over. I don't want to talk about it.

I do have a side note, though. The stress of midterms has driven me into sheer madness with my shopping. Over the past few days, I've ordered more things online than I can mentally keep track of. Of the things that came yesterday, this is my favorite:

Above, floral print sunglasses from [please don't shoot me] Wet Seal. So I know Wet Seal generally designs cheap whore clothing, but I just couldn't resist these sunglasses. At $5, I would have bought them off a vendor in Mexico (except not right now, given the swine flu pandemic and all).

Taylor Swift graced the cover of the May 2009 issue of Seventeen. P and I still read it despite being 2 years over the target age group. Anyways, I loved the shots of her with this huge flower headband.

You can't really see, but she is wearing the most amazing ring on her right ring finger. It looks like this:

This is Kiel Mead's forget me not ring. I have since decided that I'm in love with bows and am on the lookout for a ring that looks like this one, but costs less than the $200 asking price.

While we're on the subject of Taylor Swift, I wanted to share another one of her songs:

This is "Breathe," and I learned it on guitar a few days ago. It has a grand total of about 5 alternating chords, so it's super easy. It also sounds incroyable, which isn't surprising given that her entire CD is amazing. I really need to invest in a thesaurus and stop overusing "amazing." Sorry.

I'll never be a ballerina

2009-04-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

But I can still wear the tutu! I'm currently combing the internet for a bubbly tiered skirt like Carrie Bradshaw's.

However, unlike Carrie, I'm not daring enough to wear white tulle. As I told P, I tend to plant my butt everywhere, and wearing white is just too risky. So I'm thinking pink.

Sundays

2009-04-26T15:44:00.000-07:00

A bit of good news: Rendezvous finally got composting bins! For those of you that don't know, LA is really not a green city. On my first day on campus, I spent a few hours walking around campus with a banana peel in my hand looking for a compost bin. To my dismay, I didn't find one. I did, however, find that most people here don't even know what compost is, a fact that disturbs and saddens me. I'm glad UCLA is making efforts to go green - Hedrick's trayless dining, composting dining hall leftovers, Beefless Thursdays, and now, compost bins:

Another bit of good (maybe bad) news: D got bunnies. They're incredibly adorable, but they're also furry poop machines. A good/bad thing about the poop is that they're tiny dry pellets that blend into the carpet. We're still waiting for D to vacuum.

Yesterday, I checked out the Festival of Books on campus with P and H before heading to Westwood for haircuts. I cut my hair a good three inches and got my bangs shortened so they sort of resemble bangs again. The lady cutting my hair told me that she also works in Beverly Hills and that my haircut would cost $85 dollars in Beverly Hills. I'm glad I only pay $20 in Westwood.

Above, my contribution to the Festival of Books. There was a massive mural-type poster that said, "What are you reading?" There were people Sharpie-ing all kinds of books on the poster, so I followed suit. Some examples: Twilight, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and an O-Chem textbook.

I spent a good two hours reading in bed this morning, then felt extremely guilty afterwards because I should be studying for my o-chem midterm. But why should I feel guilty? Sundays should be spent relaxing, doing things that make you happy, rejuvenating after a long week, and preparing for the week ahead. I'm so sick of nonstop work work work. Our lives are constantly on fast forward - always looking to the future, never stopping to enjoy the moment. I'm so ready for summer. (Note to self: never take 18 units worth of math and science classes in one quarter ever again.)

A guitar...

2009-04-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

...is not a good thing to have in my room during midterms week, especially since my first test is tomorrow. Sitting down and studying just sounds so unappealing in this brutal heat.

<3

oppressive heat

2009-04-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

I would like to start this post by sharing the weather gadget on my Windows sidebar:

It is, indeed, 97 freaking degrees outside, and the NorCal kids down here in SoCal feel an almost certain death by sunshine looming in the distance. I really thought hard about what I could wear today, but came to the conclusion that anything more than a birthday suit pretty much ensures heat stroke.

Scorching weather aside, life has been ~~pretty good~~ awful. I momentarily forgot that I have three midterms this week. This is so reminiscent of ~~Lowell~~ Hell, except I never felt like my skin would melt off of my body in San Francisco. P and I spent the beautiful, sunny weekend studying for various midterms indoors. We did make a trip to Westwood on Sunday morning for the farmers' market, only to discover that the market has been permanently removed. Thank god for Trader Joe's.

So we didn't get anything from the farmers' market, but at least our dining hall has fresh fruits:

Is this sh*t bananas or what? They cannot seriously expect us to eat that.

On a different not, I recently received 16 emails in a row from the amazing D.Ho containing the complete High School Musical 3 soundtrack and Fearless, by Taylor Swift. I also got Taylor Swift's self-titled debut album from E (my go-to girl for all things music) last night. I don't think I've raved about Taylor Swift's wonderfulness yet. Her CDs are on constant repeat on my iTunes:

Seriously, though. Listen to this - "The Best Day":

Doesn't it melt your heart? If not, try this one:

I found it while I was looking for the Taylor Swift above. Feel-good warm fuzzies all around!

And a quick update before I go:

Indeed, the temperature has gone up 2 degrees in the time that it took to type up this post.

Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun.

2009-04-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

My math professor seems to agree with Lady GaGa. To date, we've done about a good number of examples in probability, and about a third of them involve revolvers in various games of Russian Roulette. All I've learned is that I should never get trapped in a game in which I need to choose the revolver that has a lower probability of putting a bullet in my head.

Math 3C is a class for Life Science majors. Our textbook likes to teach us through examples with bacteria and other biological systems to keep us interested (and to make us think what we're learning is relevant). My professor, however, likes to compare administering vaccines to shooting a patient with a randomly loaded gun. He explained that many people die from vaccines every year, and you never know if the vaccine you administer is going to kill the patient. Hence, the randomly loaded gun.

There was a couple sitting right in front of me yesterday. As they were more interesting than the lecture, I proceeded to observe them throughout the class. The poor girl was trying her best to get the boy's attention by flipping her hair, nudging him, and resting her hand on his arm, but the boy's interest was held by the game of Russian Roulette being hypothetically demonstrated on the board. The girl did manage to get the boy's attention once - by taking out a pack of Saltine crackers. Apparently, he was hungry.

Side note - To the giggly girls in the front row, stop flirting with our professor. It's not cute.

For C:

It's hard to tell with my ruler in this picture, but this banana is just short of 10 inches.

For H:

I definitely dropped these Ray Bans and scratched up the left frame on my way to wash them in the bathroom... I found them as a stowaway in my dining hall locker. Apparently, they wanted to come home with me.

Finally, I leave you with:

Above, solid proof that eco-friendly, staple-less staplers are homeworks' best friends. Though it's hard to tell in this picture, the red pen mark says, "nice!"

meaty

2009-04-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

I took a break from my homework and played around with my blog settings. I'm liking this new look for Spring. The header picture was taken in the epic gardens of Vaux-le-Vicomte in France. Once again, I'm missing Paris.

I have a half-used Moleskine Volant at home, but I left it somewhere in my room. Missing a place to jot small things/ideas down, I went to CVS the other day and bought a 99-cent pocket notebook. It'll have to do until this gets to me (I ordered it online and it should be in the mail today):

Above, Moleskine Reporter notebook

My family is visiting me on campus tomorrow (my mom is bringing me fruits!) since my brother is on spring break. As much as I like to think that I don't get homesick anymore, I still enjoy small doses of home every once in a while.

Last night, my floor celebrated TJ's 19th birthday at Jose Bernstein, a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in Westwood. We ate meat and it was fabulous! About meat-fasting, it was an interesting experience. I'll probably end up doing it again, but will I eat less meat on a daily basis? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Happy Birthday, TJ!

2009-04-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

It's Easter Sunday and TJ's birthday! I'm not going to church, but I am going to TJ's birthday dinner tonight. I'm not eating meat until dinner, when TJ, R, and I plan to take our first post-Lent bites of meat together.

I'm spending a quiet weekend confined to my dorm room in an effort to catch up in all of my classes. I have to work through more homework than I can list in less than a week. Still, I find time to play truth-or-dare with my floor, go fruit-hunting in Westwood, and blog.

I'm in love with the camera on my cell phone. It takes such high-quality pictures for a tiny phone camera. I'm also in awe of Bluetooth, which allows me to send the pictures from my phone to my camera in less than five seconds. Here are the results of said photodump:

Above, the April picture of my calendar. I love cats. :)

Above, a year and two months later, I'm finally growing the mini bonsai tree that Liz gave me on my birthday last year. The first step is to germinate the seeds by soaking them in water for 24 hours. I'll follow up with more pictures when it gets more interesting.

Above, D visited LA on his spring break last week. Instead of doing homework, we sang and fooled around while A.Lo rocked my guitar. Afterwards, he fell asleep on my bed with ever-napping H. <3

Above, the very definition of Paris. This makes me smile every time I walk by it on my way out of the Trader Joe's in Westwood (which I'm so thankful we have). A few floormates and I ventured to Westwood this morning in search of fruit bargains at the farmer's market, but the market was apparently cancelled because of Easter. I'm not sure Jesus would appreciate markets depriving college students of fresh fruit on his behalf. Anyways, I got my fruit fix at Trader Joe's in the form of strawberries and seedless green grapes.

Above, sunset on a clear day right in front of my dorm. Sometimes, I just can't get over how beautiful LA can be.

"Why yes, I would like to catalyze ATP production, but I'm not an enzyme."

2009-04-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

As I said on my twitter, I really need a small notebook to jot down sudden inspirations/ things I need to remember. I've recently been using the memopad on my cellphone, but that's just not as satisfying.

A few things on my mind today:

I'm quite torn between feelings towards my current Statistics professor. I thought my Ukranian Calculus teacher from last quarter was hard to understand, but I would be glad to have her teach me now. What angers me most is that UCLA seems to import a good number of math and science professors from Asian countries. I have nothing against Asian countries, given that they breed math and science geniuses, but I think UCLA needs to ensure that these professors have mastered the English language before allowing them to teach. Students should not have to decode the semi-proficient English of an imported professor in order to learn. My statistics professor can read and write English fairly well, but most of her messages are lost in translation when she speaks. Appearance-wise, she looks like a mean bird, but I have reason to believe that a kind soul is hiding under her stern gaze, old-lady clothing, and sky-high heels. She she does get cool points for featuring this as her screensaver:

Twilight forest, anyone?

On the bright side, my Life Sciences 2 TA, Aditi, is a Godsend. Only the best TA ingores the "suggested adgenda" of holding a class debate on animal testing, and reviews every single lecture we've had to date instead. Only the best TA describes enzyme catalysis of ATP production as "fucking intense." Only the best TA does all of this in 50 minutes and dismisses the class that was supposed to last 3 hours. Thanks, Aditi.

Blair

2009-04-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

P and I have been feeling quite sick of our music libraries lately. I'm rather angry at UCLA for not allowing us to download music on campus. It's not like prohibiting illegal downloads keeps us from downloading music. Ironically, it pretty much ensures that illegally downloading music/movies is the first thing we do when we leave campus with our laptops.

I have tons of homework to finish because I'm a psychobiology major and South Campus sucks. C, I'm not saying that North Campus is better, but it definitely is easier and (maybe) a happier place to be. Just compare my workload to D's. Oh wait, she doesn't have a workload to compare.

Tonight, after nearly drowning P and me in her ~~perfume~~ man stench, D went out to party a friend. I'd say they're clubbing, but who would want to go clubbing with her? And I have to emphasize a friend because she only has one. Yes, A (the hockey player down the hall), I can indeed be a bitch. What can I say? She brings out the ~~bitch~~ Blair in me.

I leave you with some findings from American Eagle Outfitters:

oversized shirt (dress)

strappy stitch sandals

pretty pointelle knee socks

And just like that, I've fallen in love with American Eagle again.

It's about time.

2009-04-09T16:02:00.000-07:00

"I'm not a huge Rob Pattinson fan. Girls aren't really in love with Rob; they're in love with Edward." - Miley Cyrus

That's right. She finally said something right.

"Sale" may be my favorite word in the English language.

2009-04-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was so amazing. Saturday, my floor went to Six Flags Magic Mountain for bonding and other thrills. All I have to say is that riding Tatsu at night pretty much completes my life. That night, I slept 11 hours and it was heavenly.

Yesterday, P and I bussed to Santa Monica to promenade down Third Street in search of new wardrobes. I'm happy to report that the trip was a success. Though my bank account took quite a few blows for my success, I like to think I found some good deals thanks to various sales.

Above, Old Navy flip-flops in magenta. I think I chose this color because a) it makes me happy, and b) my nails happened to be painted the exact same color. Can I just say that these $2 flip-flops are the most magical shower shoes in the world? I had been wearing the marc by Marc Jacobs flip-flops before and they just aren't the same.

Above, Forever 21 floral woven tunic, perfect for spring in sunny LA. I'll admit that it's a bit see-through, but it'll work with proper layering.

Above, Gap ruffle striped cardigan that I bought two sizes too big so I can wear it as a dress.

Above, Minnetonka 3-layer fringe boot, purchased at the Kitson outlet. I've finally decided that my brown fringed boots need replacing.

Above, epic find of the day. UGG Australia's Suburb boot, 66% off at the Kitson outlet.

Meet Gimbal

2009-04-03T16:43:00.000-07:00

After watching High School Musical 3 with P yet again, I decided to add that The Perfect Man sings and dances with you atop a piano. :)

Today was my day of hell. Every Friday this quarter, I start class at 9am and end at 3pm without breaks. I finished early today, which worked out well because I then had time to find my Math TA in his office in some obscure corner of the Mathematical Sciences Building. It's a good thing that building is home to engineering classes because only engineers can find their way around that place. I had to call A.Lo to get un-lost after cornering myself in a stairway. On the bright side, I was the only one in my TA's office, so he helped me work through the rest of my homework.

I rewarded myself for surviving Week 1 by going shopping online. I bought these boots to spice up my spring/summer wardrobe:

Above, Steve Madden's Gimbal, in cognac leather. I'm normally opposed to heeled boots, but cowboy boots are definitely an exception. Oh, how Steve Madden warms my heart.

The Perfect Man

2009-04-01T16:35:00.000-07:00

If I haven't gushed to you about it already, P got me the best birthday gift in the history of birthday gifts. She ordered both High School Musical 3 and Twilight on DVD. <3

Monday night, we watched HSM 3 and fell in even more in love with Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. That level of perfection should not be allowed. I mean, who can say no to a boy who serenades you, then dances you on a rooftop in the rain? Last night, we watched Twilight. I can't decide whether Edward or Carlisle Cullen is more perfect. All I know is that there were quite a few moments last night when P and I both stopped breathing due to overwhelming amounts of "dazzling."

Anyways, over spring break, my male friend asked me why all girls seem to be in love with Twilight. I explained to him that heterosexual females tend to fall in love with Edward because he is the perfect man. He then asked me to define "perfect man." I've since been compiling a mental list of qualities that should be found in the perfect man, who, in my case, would be a cross between Troy and Edward (If I had it my way, 80% Edward and 20% Troy).

The Perfect Man...
- serenades you on your balcony
- brings late night picnics of pizza and chocolate-covered strawberries
- dances you on a rooftop (rain is optional)
- drives 1,053 miles in a rundown truck to see you
- appears in a tree while dressed in a tux
- frequently dazzles you
- composes music inspired by his love
- looks delicious in classic Ray Ban Wayfarers and tousled hair
- saves you from other vampires who want you dead
- gives you piggyback rides to various romantic locations
- sparkles in the sun (meadow is optional)
- sneaks into your room at night to watch you sleep
- leaves love notes that feature lines like "Look after my heart - I've left it with you."

...The list will probably grow later. I can't ignore my math homework any longer.

word vomit

2009-04-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

I have a few things to say. It's probably going to pour out like word vomit, but I'll try to organize. Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

Last Saturday, I went to the Gilroy premium outlets with S and family. My favorite store there has got to be the American Apparel outlet. The things there aren't cheap, but they sell at significantly cheaper prices than the regular retail stores. American Apparel has grown on me ever since I took the LA cluster last fall and found that American Apparel is the only company that really takes care of its workers in the garment industry of LA.

Above, American Apparel Mélange Jersey Pocket Skirt in Heather Grey, purchased for $20 at the outlet.

Above, American Apparel Fine Jersey Double-Brested Cardigan in Lapis, purchased for $28 at the outlet. Don't you just love the brilliant blue?

Sunday, my thoughts revolved around Paris on my trip back to LA. As I was sitting at Gate A1, I listened to Air France's stream of announcements in fluent French on repeat. I then turned around and saw this beauty behind me:

This picture was taken through the airport window (I apologize for the dots). Just seeing the word "France" brought me back to last summer in Paris and I was happy that Virgin America's happy little terminal was right next to Air France's. I also happened to be reading Paris Hangover, which is about a New York fashionista who decides (on a whim) to pack up her life and move to Paris to pursue her dreams in fashion and find a French Prince Charmant.

Monday signaled the beginning of a new quarter. I like to think I got lucky with my teachers this quarter. Case(s) in point:

Weisbart (Math): Donald Duck is getting dressed in the morning. He has 5 shirts, 4 hats, and 3 watches. How many ways can he get dressed? By the way, did anyone notice that Donald Duck is missing something... like pants? Donald Duck is a little pervert.

Ioudina (Stats): There's a statistic that 25% of Americans suffer from a mental disorder. You and three other friends are all Americans, and they're all fine. So, you're the retard?

Hardinger (Chem): Emergencies come up, I understand. For example, maybe your cat eats your car keys on exam day. You either have a really small set of keys or a really big cat. Or maybe a really big cat tiger eats your cat that ate your car keys.

Phelan (Life Science): I like my students to get to know me so you guys will work a little bit harder for me and a little bit less for your other professors. Yeah, I don't give a shit about your other professors. You can tell them I said that.

Tuesday was an uneventful, but relatively good day. Let's leave it at that.

Today, I found my way to Boelter 9413 for my second Stats discussion. My TA, Miles, might be the cutest TA I've ever met. On our first day, he brought coffee for us so we'd stay awake through discussion. Yesterday, he sent us an adorably nerdy video of how to get to the Boelter room. Without it, I probably would have gotten lost, given up, and gone back to the dorm to nap. Instead, I followed to video to the top of Boelter hall and found an amazing view of South Campus.

Above, the UCLA Court of Sciences like you've never seen it before. Who knew South Campus could compare to North Campus in the aesthetics department?

Happy Birthday, AS!

2009-03-27T23:53:00.000-07:00

This morning, I made my final drive to Palo Alto to take the final test for my lifeguarding course. It took me and hour and a half to drive there and back. It took me twenty minutes to take the actual test. Le sigh.

Tonight, I got out of my schleppy clothing and ditched my recent hermit-like behavior to celebrate AS's birthday with a dinner at Joe's of Westlake. Why AS chose that restaurant to host his birthday dinner, I have no idea. The food wasn't exceptional, though it wasn't bad. I was fairly impressed with the service, considering we had a party of twenty-three. I had a lot of fun watching S act drunk and getting to know the people around me. I just felt bad for the birthday boy, who got caked in the face five times.

Here's a picture of San Francisco that I took on my cellphone sometime last week.

I think it's a pretty epic shot of my favorite foggy city.

Reasons I can't stop smiling:

2009-03-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

1. I watched Slumdog Millionaire with some friends after dinner last night. I rarely say this, but I think the movie should have elaborated on the "happily ever after." Still, Slumdog lived up to its hype and was a really amazing movie.

2. It was almost 70 degrees in Palo Alto and wind speed was 10-15 mph. That was beyond heavenly compared to the 55 degrees and 30 mph wind that we had to deal with for the past two days.

3. I wore a two-piece swimsuit today and my black-and-white tanline from the one-piece is gradually fading. I'm still tanning at the speed of light, but at least it's an even, all-over tan.

4. We practiced managing spinal injuries and backboarding in the deep end in lifeguarding class today. I'm not sure why this makes me happy, but it does.

5. I officially got promoted to head lifeguard in Brisbane! So now I know I'll be in the city this summer.

6. I had a delicious Asian dinner at Fat Wong's Kitchen in Millbrae. The cooks there just have a way with food.

7. I just finished watching Definitely, Maybe. I can't even begin to explain my love for movies that make me cry.

8. Origins is going green(er)! Beginning in April, bring in an empty cosmetic bottle to a participating Origins store, and get a free Origins product sample. Read all about it here.

shopping adventure

2009-03-19T23:20:00.000-07:00

Once again, I've managed to exhaust myself shopping. I'm currently loving Marc Jacobs, particularly the Marc by Marc Jacobs specialty store on Fillmore. Their ever-friendly, extremely knowledgeable, and all-too-accommodating staff always has me going back for more. H has been wanting to visit the store for quite some time now, and I think her lust has rubbed off on me. Check it:

Above, Marc Jacobs Rat Tote, $28

Above, Marc Jacobs Monocle Necklace, $11

Once again, I find myself thankful to be in San Francisco, the greenest of cities. I've tried thrifting in LA, believe me, but nothing nothing really compares to thrifting in San Francisco. I like to say that you haven't really thrifted until you've gone thrifting in the Mission. Check it:

Above, one well-loved vintage Dooney & Bourke over-the-shoulder mini, thrifted at Clothes Contact for $12.

I then ventured downtown in search of lingerie because I realized last night that I've been neglecting that essential part of my wardrobe. I walked into the Aerie store at American Eagle and got suckered into applying for their a-list card. I then got suckered into buying lingerie at a special discount via the a-list card.

Above, the Emma bra, originally $42.50, purchased for $20. It comes with matching undies.

The following is a picture of the UCLA campus taken on my cellphone while I was walking to my last final. Seeing the warm and well-kept campus really lifts my spirits in a weird way.

Flying Virgin

2009-03-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

My flight was delayed last night. I sat onboard my pink and purple fluorescently lit Virgin plane and waited over an hour to take flight. What happened? SFO refused to lift their ground stop, meaning they would not allow airplanes from other airports to land until they decided it was safe. Good thing Virgin has an excellent entertainment system. I fell asleep watching free episodes of Family Guy and didn't wake up until I was thousands of feet in the air.

I was starving by the time I arrived at SFO at 10:40pm. As soon as I walked out of the gate, an attractive gay couple just in front of me embraced and engaged in some very public displays of affection, which simultaneously made my heart smile and distracted me from my hunger. Oh, how I've missed San Francisco.

Anticipation

2009-03-15T23:20:00.000-07:00

If you subscribe to LIL J, you probably already know, but I thought I'd spread the word anyways because everyone loves free things. Bare Escentuals is giving out a FREE SAMPLE of their SPF 15 mineral foundation set, complete with a mini kabuki brush! Just pay $3.95 shipping.

I took my chem final today. It was death, but on the upside, it's my last general chemistry final (unless I failed it and have to retake the class). Next quarter, organic chemistry!

My last final is math, tomorrow morning at 11:30am. I can't study seriously for it because I've already finished packing and am so excited to go home. I can already feel myself taking off for SFO. My plans for spring break include lifeguard training, followed by dates with Mommy's cooking and movies from Netflix. Ahh, the good life.

Good luck on your finals! :)

win some, fail some

2009-03-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

Wins:
1. Yesterday, I found the question mark button on Qwerty (it's next to the zero key). That makes texting so much easier!
2. The laundry room finally opened up so I can do my two loads of laundry today.
3. Bluetoothing pictures back and forth between my phone and computer is amazing!
4. My chem lab TA accepted my friend request on Facebook. My life is now complete.

Fail:
Chem final in T-minus 21 hours and I'm on Blogger instead of studying.

On the bright side, I'm figuring out the organic molecule building set. I feel like a small child playing with Legos... I made cyclohexane in chair conformation:

as well as ~~cyclohexane in boat conformation~~ a boat paddle:

I think my Tour Eiffel mouse pad in the background is another win.

math goddess

2009-03-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

I woke up for Math, my only class today wondering what we could possibly be learning just three days before our final. Class this morning was dedicated to reviewing for the final. I remembered and understood all of the topics reviewed this morning, especially because Tamara used extremely simple equations to demonstrate each concept. What I have trouble with is applying the knowledge of these concepts on exams when I'm given difficult equations. It's not the concepts I have trouble with, it's working with difficult equations that refuse to produce understandable (anti)derivatives. That said, I could still be asleep right now.

Dear Tamara,

We all know you're a math goddess, but the rest of us are not. Most people can't visualize 3D shapes with a given equation and domain. Most people can't mentally do u-substitution or integration by parts. Most importantly, most people can't correctly guess the A, B, and C coefficients for partial fraction integrations. Please keep this in mind when writing our final? Kthanks.

Love,
Your disgruntled 9AM lecture

A Lesson in Frangrances

2009-03-11T14:41:00.000-07:00

P and I have always had suspicions that our roommate, D, used men's cologne. In an effort to change her masculine scent, we purchased Victoria's Secret Love Spell eau de toilette for her on her birthday. She liked it so much that she used it out in a month's time, then returned to her manly ~~ways~~ sprays. We've asked her to please open the door or window when she sprays her "perfume," but I don't think she understands the concept of not suffocating the rest of the world with her stench. It's hard for P and me to pretend that she doesn't exist when her stench is everywhere.

Dear D,

I know you find it difficult to take daily showers, nearly impossible to brush your teeth daily, and refuse to do laundry once a quarter, but masking your various odors in cologne is not the solution. Here's a simple lesson in fragrances that even you ~~and your jerk boyfriend~~ would understand.

Above, cologne titled "M7," designed for men by YSL.
Below, perfume titled "Daisy," designed for women by Marc Jacobs.

Now, as a female, you do not buy cologne unless it is for a male friend. As a normal person without legitimate olfactory impairment, you do not cover yourself in said cologne until you reek of the odor. As a roommate, you do not leave the door and windows closed to incubate the offensive odor in the shared room. Instead, opt for a feminine scent that the rest of the world can agree with. Perhaps a few squirts will do the trick.

Love, M

Swift fever

2009-03-10T23:14:00.000-07:00

1. Taylor:

This is "Fearless," by Taylor Swift. I didn't like the song at all when I first heard it, but it's grown on me - so much that I've had it on repeat in my head for the past two days. Maybe it'll grow on you, too. I've decided that I really like Taylor Swift's music, even though she [still] generally sings country music and [still] looks like a cat.

2. Guitar: I've been playing a lot of guitar lately - so much that the blisters on my left fingertips have hardened into calluses and have begun peeling. Gross, I know.

p.s. As I strolled back from campus to the dorms today, I walked behind a boy who had two keychains on his backpack - one, a miniature plastic model of the human skull and spine; the other, a plastic Winnie the Pooh in a rubber elephant suit. This is why I love UCLA.

Meet Qwerty

2009-03-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

I got up at 7am this morning to take my chem lab exam at 8am. I thought the was reasonable, but that's what I thought last time and ended up getting a perfect C. So maybe it wasn't so reasonable. Who can tell me why we sprinkle salt on the roads during snow season? No one cares? Yeah, that's what I thought.

My Motokrzr keeps dying on me. The speakers only go off when the phone is in alarm setting, so I can still use it as an alarm clock, but it refuses to ring for incoming calls. The vibrate kind of just goes off when it wants attention. Thus, I'm getting a new phone (it's in the mail). Behold, the Motorola Q:

It was described on Motorola's website as "the first no-compromise QWERTY." I'm not sure what that means, and I'm not sure why other phones would compromise anything... At first glance, I thought it looked a lot like my graphing calculator, not that I really care. I'm just glad the phone has a texting keyboard. Yesterday, I learned via Wiki that "Qwerty" refers to the traditional keyboard layout. In any case, I think Qwerty is an awesome name for a phone.

I've got tons of work to do. Time to revise my final essays, do math homework, and study for chem like crazy. Why is the quarter system allowed to exist when tenth week such hell?

Do you like honey?

2009-03-08T20:24:00.000-07:00

I normally don't have any honey, but I've decided that I like it after this weekend. I had a lot of Honey this weekend.

1. Puppy:

2. Jessica Alba-style:

3. With Flax:

I'm currently blasting my music in an [unfortunately unsuccessful] attempt to annoy D enough to drive her from the room. The roommate from hell likes to talk on her phone on her bed at decibels loud enough to shatter windows. This is irritatingly distracting when I'm trying to do homework. It doesn't matter that I couldn't care less about her or her pathetic excuse for a boyfriend; all I hear is her voice droning on and on about nothing of importance. I guess I should turn the music now that P is back in the room and I can't hear a thing she's saying. Well, it was a valiant attempt. I'm so ready to move to Sproul.

Honey

2009-03-07T23:51:00.000-08:00

Remember how I said that my relatives spoil me when I visit them in LA? Well, that hasn't changed. Last night, I went to my grandparents' house for home-cooked Chinese food. Even without eating meat, it was pretty darn good. My aunt and uncle make it easy for me to be a vegetarian because they don't eat meat either. That's win.

Today, I watched Pirates of the Caribbean with my cousins and Honey after watching a webcasted chem lecture and giving up on writing my essay. My uncle let me play with his vintage guitar (he's had it since he was in college!) and complemented me on my ability to tune by ear. We then went grocery shopping and got frozen yogurt at the new Yogurtland here. Yeah, this place is pretty much heaven.

My cousin recently adopted a maltipoo that's just over 8 weeks old. Her name is Honey and she is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Update

2009-03-05T16:07:00.000-08:00

This is post number 70. I wish I had said something witty about post number 69, but I didn't realize I had posted so many times already. Nothing has been happening lately. Well, things have been happening, but I've been too sleep deprived to really notice.

I've started swimming again. I'm reneweing my lifeguarding certification over spring break, so I need to get back into shape for all the 500m's I'll be doing. That said, goodbye, spring break! I'm spending the whole week in class, and by the end of each class, I'll be exhausted, soaking wet, and covered in chlorine. On the bright side, I'll have a job this summer. Hello, income!

I am moving to Sproul Hall next year. I am leaving Dykstra, leaving the crap elevators, and leaving the roommate from hell behind. Not that I didn't enjoy Dykstra, I mean, getting to know the people on my floor has been amazing. But really, comparing Dykstra to Sproul is like putting Motel 6 up against the Ritz. I'm so excited for next year's housing, but then I remember that I still have to finish this winter quarter and live through the spring quarter.

Spring quarter, I'm taking four classes: Math, Chem, Life Sciences, and Statistics. There's token South Campus for ya. I'm just glad I won't have to write any essays for ten whole weeks. I'm so over writing.

Over the weekend, P and I went to the sculpture garden and staged a photoshoot. Running late as usual, we didn't spend that much time there, but we did end up with a few flattering shots.