LACMA

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

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...

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?

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

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

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 :)

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.