Yosemite

(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

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

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

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!

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

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

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