Joshua Tree National Park is Pretty Cool

Mood: Tired
Playing:I Write Sins Not Tragedies-Panic at the Disco!
It's been forever, since I last listened to that song, but it's still so good. I love the music video because of the theatrics and the obvious circus influence. I have a fascination with the idea of a darker circus, but I think I've been influenced by Alexander McQueen and Something Wicked This Way Comes...Sorry for going off topic because what I'm really up to is to tell you about my trip to Joshua Tree National Park(March 20th). I go there once to twice a year and it has served as inspiration for both Andrew McMahon and Gerard Way. In fact, in the "Na Na Na" music video, they're fighting with laser guns at the park. Pretty cool, eh?

I started off my day getting lunch with my family at The Rib Co. My dad and I shared a plate, so no, I am not a complete and total fatty.

It was a pretty chilly day and the haze was thick, so I couldn't see as much, as I had hoped. Usually the sky is bright blue and you see the mountains in the background, which are only a faint outline in this photo.

The trees look like they're from an earlier period in time. Possibly one, where dinosaurs still roamed the planet. (Sorry, I have dinosaurs on the mind. We're talking evolution in Biology and we spent quite some time on dinosaurs.)

I went there, hoping to see the blooming Joshua trees. Unfortunately, they were all dried out, so there were little brown skeletons left, a remainder of the once beautiful white flowers.

Even though it's a desert, there's still a little dam there built by Native Americans. For some reason, every time I go there, I have this vague memory of me dipping my feet in the dam and a blue dragonfly landing on my knee. I'm not sure, if it's the same place because it is a very early memory and the water isn't too clean, so I can't imagine my parents allowing me to do so. I'm leaning towards it might've been a dream because when I try to remember it, it feels very surreal to me.

On clear days, you can see all the way to Mexico. No joke. They have a picture with arrows pointing to different hills and mountains and one of the mountains is on Mexican land. They have sunrise masses at Joshua Tree, so I hope to make it to one soon. I just think it would be so pretty.

High five for alternative energy? The white fans sticking out of the ground are actually windmills used for alternative energy! I think they look pretty cool, but I really wonder, how much energy can one of these make? My science teacher from 6th grade talked about how we should put them by the ocean because it's so windy there and I remember raising my hand to say, "If I spent millions of dollars on my house by the beach, I would not want one of those by my house. Wouldn't it ruin the view? What would happen, if it fell on my house, huh? Would I die?" I feel bad for my teacher. That's probably why he hated me. I used to ask stupid "What If" questions a lot. Haha, anyways, I hoped you enjoy this post and I created a new tag called "Visit This Place" because I noticed that I write a lot of posts talking about how wonderful this place is and how you should visit it, so I made a tag for it! Sorry for not posting in over a week. I've been busy exercising (Shocking, I know!), reading, and or course, trying to finish the blanket I'm knitting for an orphanage.

What's new in your life? I've been careless lately and haven't been keeping up with all of the blogs I usually comment on.

"What Do You Say We Leave For California?"

Mood: Neutral
Playing: Dance to This Song-KevJumba, Wong Fu Productions, and David Choi
Well, this post is going to be pretty short, but I thought I'd share with you some photos of California...I live in California and I drive all over the place, so I obviously take a lot of photos. I hope you like them because to me, California is so pretty!

As you can see, it was very cloudy the day I went to Point Loma, San Diego. Imagine how beautiful it is on sunny days! When you're there, you can go whale watching or go look in the tide pools.

Down by San Pedro, there's a huge Mexican community, so if you go to the harbour area, you can get great seafood. It sure is expensive, but it's delicious. All around the area, you can grab fresh seafood like fried fish and Mexican style fish/shrimp. Also, there's a lot of Mexican drinks and food there, so it's kind of fun. Sometimes, they even set up a mini carnival!

I know this probably doesn't make you want to travel to California because I know how much the Gyaru community loves Forever 21. This just shows how the USA really lets us exercise free speech. When John Galliano gets out of jail for his Hitler remarks, he should move here! He can say whatever he wants and he won't get in trouble with the government. Here, a simple apology would do!

In California, we have beautiful sunsets and a plethora of palm tress. Do you have pretty sunsets where you live? If so, I want to see photos!

In Corona Del Mar, there's a great little place called Sherman Library and Gardens, were there is a great koi pond and so many beautiful gardens. It's pretty small, but it's also really cheap. $1 for 16 year olds or younger and $3 for people over 16. I want to say it's for free on Mondays, but I'm not sure. It even has a cute little crepe restaurant and a store filled with cute cookbooks and other fun things.

Would you like to make a post for me about why your state/country is beautiful? (Include photos!)

PS My title is from a Metro Station song. I don't claim copyright over it. Also, on a serious note, let's send our prayers to Japan and all our family/friends there. I'm so glad that Riho is safe along with my other friends' families.

Food Haul (the Best Kind of Hauls)

Mood: Bloated (I ate too much at dinner time!)
Playing: Madame Butterfly-Malcolm McLaren
I haven't made a post in so long and I feel so guilty. I also feel bad that I'm giving you the same excuse that I give every post: nothing exciting is going on in my life. On the brighter side of life, I have been buying some pretty good stuff lately, which only contributes to my chubbiness and slows down my mile time! I need to take my PE testing soon and if I fail more than one of the tests, than I have to retake the class. I'm so scared that I'll fail more than one test because I'm a slow runner...I really hope I pass! Wish me luck!

I went to my local British grocer (the cheaper of the two of course) and bought some goodies. I've never tried the Blackcurrant Tarts and I love blackcurrant flavored things, so I had to grab them. I hope they're tasty like the chips I bought. My favorite chips from England are the Cheese and Onion Walkers crisps, but the store didn't have any left. I had to buy the Hula Hoops and the French Fries in the same flavor instead. Are these products any good? I don't know, but I'll find out soon!

I went to my Chinese supermarket and grabbed some snacks to munch on. The lychee drink is delicious and has coconut jelly in it. I highly recommend it! The itsy bitsy bottle makes it even cuter and sweeter. Pocky is always good, so there's not much to say about those. The Kuai Kuai Corn Snack is surprisingly good. It has the same consistency and texture of a Cheeto, but it tastes sweet and much like artificial strawberry. I have to admit, I like them more than I thought I would. Not to mention, the packaging is too cute!

Drug stores always have the best flavors for Pringles. I was just walking around Rite Aid one day and I saw these. I felt mindblown. Unfortunately, Tina and Tiffany mentioned that the Onion Blossom flavor tasted like wasabi and now I can't eat it at all...

Over the weekend, I bought my first Betsey Johnson piece ever. I love how retro it looks and the big, round, black buttons on it. It's pretty cozy too and I can assure you of this, you won't have to worry about people wearing the same outfit as you at school. I bet Willy Wonka would be proud of this sweater.

I'm currently reading this biography on Yves Saint Laurent and it is so good so far. I find it really interesting because it covers so many subjects from theatre to fashion to life in France. I also took out biographies on Karl Marx, King Henry XIII, and Lewis Carrol. The Lewis Carrol one was so boring. It kept on saying stuff like this, "Oh life at his college was like this at the time, so his life might've been like that, but wait, I'm not too sure!" At least, that's how it was in the beginning, so I just looked at the pictures. Mr. Carrol was a good artist, though, and it impressed me...I need to put To Kill a Mockingbird down, so I can finish the Yves Saint Laurent biography! I like To Kill a Mockingbird much more than I thought I would. Have you heard Maroon 5's version of "Pure Imagination?" You know, the Willy Wonka song? I don't like how they made it sexual...

Have you had any good food to eat or read any good books lately? I always love talking about food and books, so talk to me!

Cute Stuff ♥

Mood: Neutral
Playing: You & Me-Justin Blais
Hello readers and nonreaders! It's been quite a long time, since I've last blogged. Truthfully, it's because nothing interesting has been going on and I feel guilty subjecting you to photo dumps! Therefore, I have been desperately trying to come up with stuff to write about...And all I could come up with is a post that has no cohesiveness whatsoever! Well, first of all, the song I'm currently listening to is way too sweet. It's so sweet that I think it makes me wonder, if Nick Santino wrote it for him! (On second thought, Nick's music is still sweeter...) I even linked it for you, so go listen to it, but finish reading this first!

This is so late, but whatever. It's my Christmas present from Sophie! I like how the tissue paper gives this photo an icy feel. She made the octopus bookmark for me and she'll be selling some of these at the craft fair we're doing.

The Sephora collaboration with Hello Kitty is pretty darn cute, even though it is fairly expensive. I couldn't resist the nail polish because the bottles are too cute. I also wanted the Hello Kitty perfume bottle because it was both pretty and cute, but it was $55. I ended up getting the roller ball one. I haven't worn it to school yet, but it smells so wonderful!

Look what I saw, while I was shopping. What is it? Oh, let me show you what it is!

It's a Missoni San Pellegrino bottle! Who knew that drinks and designers do collaborations? Crazy, huh? I didn't buy it, though, because I personally don't like the taste of plain San Pellegrino. I prefer the lemon and orange flavors...Odd isn't it?

I tried to bake Rilakkuma bread, but it came out looking all bloated. When I stuck it in the oven, it looked all cute and well proportioned and then, well you can see what happened. After I let it cool, I picked it up and the head fell off. Someone is definitely hinting at me that it's time to give up on Rilakkuma bread.

Have you ever tried baking character bread?