hkittygirl

San Diego Serenade

2012-02-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

Playing: This is How We Live-The Summer Set
Reading: Variations on the Word Love by Margaret Atwood

Over winter break, my brother decided it'd be fun to go to San Diego, since I'm always forcing him to go to Los Angeles. Originally, we were supposed to go to the San Diego Zoo to watch pandas be pandas, but then they were closing within two hours, so we didn't end up going. However, we did stop off at Harar Ethiopian Restaurant, where we ordered gored gored, yequanta fir fir, and the eggplant. It was all very tasty, but we had to wait around 45 minutes just for our food to come, so we won't be doing that again.

We ended up heading over to Old Town San Diego instead and it has a distinctly Mexican vibe. I was expecting it to have a vintage 1950's/1960's feel like Old Town Orange and Old Town Tustin, but this was so different, as you can see.

They had these street vendors there for the day and I loved this stall. They had all these clear glass flower pots that were just so creative. I would never have thought of decorating my flowers like this, but they're so simple and intriguing. I also like the sleek modernity of the vase with the delicate flowers. Very nice.

We headed over to the area that felt more Western and walked around. There were some really cool stores here like a Chinese antiques store, a rock store, a book store specializing in ghost stories, and a soda store. Old Town San Diego just had tons of neat stuff that I had never seen before like a store with over 100 flavors of soda.

My brother bought a chocolate bar for us to share, but we haven't tried it yet. Fingers crossed! Hope it tastes good! Then I bought my favorite crisps from this little Irish store. The lady told me, "Oh, you're going to love these! They're so good!" "Oh, I know. I used to eat them all the time, when I was in London, " I replied and her response was, "I knew you were from England the moment you opened your mouth! I can tell by your accent!" That awkward moment when someone thinks you're from England and you've really lived in California your whole life. When I told her I was in London, I meant my trip there, not me living in there as a resident and all. So there you go, that was my day in San Diego! Thanks for reading!

PS Yes, my title is a song from Tom Waits.

The Original Farmers Market

2012-02-08T17:35:00.000-08:00

Playing: This Kingdom Perfect-One Night Only
Reading: Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney

Welcome to the Original Farmers Market! This being my first time there, I looked at everything and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be and there wasn't as much fresh produce as I was expecting. However, they did have butchers who made ground beef look like hippos and that's a plus side, right?

I went to the Gumbo Pot, where I ordered the jambalaya (right) and my mum got the seafood gumbo (left). The seafood gumbo lacked meat, while the jambalaya was a bit too spicy for my liking. Although, the first half of it was rather delicious. It's a lot of food and I definitely recommend sharing!

I also ordered one order of the beignets to share with my family, they had way too much powdered sugar. While I was taking a bite, I inhaled a tad, so I choked on the powdered sugar and my brother laughed at me. They were only ok, but the Los Angeles foodie magazine highly recommended them, so who knows? Maybe my taste buds are off...

They had a vintage memorabilia store that was selling these pins and since it's never a bad time for bawdy political humor, I thought you may like this! It certainly made my brother and I chortle quite a bit, while my mum slapped us and told us to behave. Perfect family bonding tool, eh?

Just one more photo to show some cute donuts I saw. They had kitty and dinosaur donuts that were almost too cute to eat. Wish I had bought one to see how they tasted! Afterwards, I walked around the Grove and frankly, I don't see what the big deal is. There are better shopping areas closer to where I live and personally, I found it uncomfortably crowded. Apparently, celebrities like to spend time there, but I didn't see anyone, but then again I wasn't keeping my eyes open for them. The Grove was done beautifully though and it was made to look like a European village, which was pleasant. Have you been to the Grove of the Original Farmers Market? If so, what do you think of it?

Dior Fall/Winter 2010

2012-02-05T11:10:00.000-08:00

Playing: They're Not Waving-Vyvienne Long
Reading: Helped by an Obama Stimulus by Alexandra Jacobs

Ok, I know I'm very late falling in love with this show now and I'm terribly upset that there is absolutely no way I will ever see these pieces in person or own one. But here I go anyways, I'm really into the extreme romanticism of Dior's Fall/Winter 2010. I like the old English newsboy look mixed with the romantic Equestrian style.

I mostly paid attention to this collection because Youtube recommended it to me and I saw the hat on Karlie Kloss, which reminded me of the hat I bought in New York. (Pictures to come.) I had seen a few photos from this show in my magazines, but for some asinine reason I didn't watch the show or go onto style.com to look at all the photos or anything.

The wonderfully poufed hair ending in a braid reminds me of Dante Gabrielle Rosetti's paintings. I love the extremeness of this hair style and how terribly romantic it looks. It looks messy, but pulled together and these are the times, when I wish I could be a white person that has classic beauty and mounds of brown hair like Keira Knightley or like Ksenia Kahnovich up above.

Look at that, they look like porcelain dolls. There's something darkly romantic about this collection and the way Galliano presented his models. Almost like their lighter than air or ghostly. Stop me, if I'm talking nonsense please.

These are the types of gowns that I want to wear and dream about during class. I can't find a word more perfect to describe this other than romantic. I'm not one of those people who chases romance, so stumbling upon this collection and discovering something that is truly romantic to me is pretty amazing. The lightness of the gowns and how they trail behind the girls is simply wonderful. So what do you say? Let's be darkly romantic and look like we're from another century. This is seriously competing for my favorite Dior show ever and it makes me miss John Galliano even more.

New York Day 5

2012-02-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

Playing: Little Trip to Heaven-Tom Waits
Reading: Style.com/Print Spring 2012

Started off my morning the same way as usual, just walking around and enjoying the sights. When we headed over to the Metropolitan Museum and found ourselves in Little Germany. We stopped off at Heidelberg to grab lunch and I got the recommended Apple Pancake. It was extremely tasty and massive, so I gave some to all of my family members. I wasn't expecting it to be so dessert like, but I'm not one to complain about having dessert for lunch, now am I?

Once we were done eating, we walked to the Metropolitan Museum to see the Egyptian exhibit, which I read about in a book. Ever since reading about the temple they have, I've wanted to visit it. It was wonderful and I loved how the fountain surrounded it!

This central court area, not sure of the name, was really beautiful! The glass ceiling allowed plenty of natural sunlight to come in and the statues were magnificent. I think this might've been my favorite area in the whole museum, but I can't say for sure, since I there was no way I could fit the whole museum in one day!

When I walked out of the contemporary art section, I saw these Japanese tourists sleeping. It was kind of hilarious, when an employee asked the two of them if they were feeling alright. The two of them looked so startled and the employee was genuinely concerned for them.

The medieval weapons area had so many suits of armor, which scarily, were my size! I stood next to them and most of the suits of armor were my height or just an inch higher, so that means, I'm as tall as the average medieval male! I really liked this section, which made me feel odd because I was one of the few girls there that was enjoying it as much as the boys...

We then headed off to the Roman art exhibit, which was lovely, but our dinner reservations were coming up soon, so we had to zoom through this area. There was this really good artist there that was sketching all of the statues. I should've asked the man for a picture, but I thought it would be rude of me to disturb him, while he was drawing.

We then took a subway over to Bobby Van's to celebrate my brother's birthday. We ordered the porterhouse with sauteed mushrooms and creamed spinach. You can't tell by the photo, but they overcooked our steak majorly. We ordered medium rare and received medium well. I've been to Bobby Van's twice and both times, they overcooked my steak, but my brother and father insist that the steak is really good, when done right, so I'll have to see. Thank you for reading!

New York Day 4

2012-01-31T17:43:00.000-08:00

Playing: Abolish Confusion-Patrick Wolf
Reading: The First Millisecond of a Nuclear Explosion is the True Face of Atomic Death by Jesus Diaz

I started off my day at the 9/11 memorial with my family. It was much larger than I thought it'd be and the last time I was here was a month before 9/11 actually happened, which is a pretty odd thing to think about. I suppose I'm lucky I went when I did. After we saw the 9/11 memorial, my family ran off to SoHo to see some stores I wanted to see (such as the Alexander Wang store).

We stopped off at a trendy Vietnamese restaurant called Bun SoHo and I got the Pho Beef because I was freezing and needed to warm myself up. It was good, but for some reason, I felt like it needed more flavor or something. It just tasted bland after the first few bites.

Then I waltzed off to the Marc Jacobs store to further worship this man's work. The Marc Jacobs store in Hawaii was disappointing, since it only had handbags, so I had to visit the one in New York. I was surpirsed by how casual it was and at first, I thought I went into the Marc by Marc Jacobs store instead. Either way, I still oggled over the clothing and tried some on only to have to give it all up back to the sales person. Definitely worth going back to!

After hearing Lily tell me about Dylan's Candy Bar and seeing it on Food Network quite a bit, I decided that it was mandatory for me to go visit one of the world's largest candy stores. Took awhile to get there from SoHo using the subway, but we got there eventually and the colorful windows certainly helped.

When my brother and I spotted the fudge, we figured why not get something? Fudge is easy to bring back home on plane, so it made perfect sense to get some. We got chewy praline, salted peanut, caramel apple, peanut butter explosion, raspberry chocolate, and chocolate chewy praline of which the best was the salted peanut.

Afterwards, my brother and I grabbed a quick snack at a road stand. The chicken kebabs were actually pretty tasty, but if I were to get another one, I'd skip on the hot sauce. Got too spicy for me after awhile, so my brother finished mine.

Luckily I got to go see How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying before Daniel Radcliffe left. This musical was recommended to me by my musical lover friend, Katrina. It was extremely humorous and Radcliffe blew me away because I never knew he could sing and dance so well. I wish I had seen more musicals, while we were there because there are actually quite a few I would've liked to see.

Since my brother and I were starving after the musical, my parents took us to Carnegie Deli to get a huge meal. To tell you the truth, Carnegie Deli isn't my favorite restaurant in New York, but I like to go because it reminds my parents of when they lived in New York. However, I do like their chicken broth with matzo balls and noodles very much. Usually, my whole family shares one order.

How could you not get a pastrami sandwich there? I shared this with my mum because it's impossible for me to finish one on my own. My grandfather is a rather strong willed person and when he first came to Carnegie Deli, he refused to share a sandwich with my dad, even though my dad kept telling him to share one and when the sandwiches came, my grandfather glared at my dad and said, "We should've shared one. Why didn't you tell me?" Needless to say, my dad just rolled his eyes.

It was quite late by the time we finished dinner. In fact I think it was close to midnight, so we just walked around New York looking at all the Christmas decorations. I especially liked the huge tree at Rockefeller Center. I liked how it wasn't as full as the trees in California, which get extra branches tied to them (I suppose all Californians like plastic surgery.), because it was closer to its natural state. I can see myself living in New York one day, just not when it starts to snow. What do you think?

New York Day 3

2012-01-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

Playing: Boston-Augustana
Reading: A Modest Proposal by Jonathon Swift

Started off our morning at St. John's Cathedral, which is still being built. Inside they had so many different displays, just trying to raise some money to finish it. It was awfully dark inside and at some places, you couldn't even see the ceiling.

We went to Sylvia's Barbeque, where I got the Ribs and Fried Chicken Combo with Baked Mac and Cheese and Candied Yams. The ribs weren't my favorite because I prefer mine smoky, while these were tangy. I did like the fried chicken and mac and cheese, but it was by far, the candied yams that blew me away. They're probably the best I've ever had. According my parents and brother, the collared greens there were the best they've had.

Afterwards, we went to Central Park, where they were having a Holiday Craft Fair and I fell in love with this one booth. I wanted every single one of their pocket watches, but I was good and only bought one. I received my first pocket watch five years ago, so I was glad to buy another.

While at the Holiday Fair, my brother and I bought a De Throwdown Wafel from Wafels and Dinges. With spekuloos spread and whipped cream, it was one of the best things I ate the whole time I was there. My brother and I weren't going to buy one until we saw that they had beaten Bobbly Flay in Throwdown, so we had to get one. It was absolutely amazing.

And hey everyone, this is the rock from Limitless that Abbie Cornish was running down, when she was running away from the antagonist's helper. I have no idea how she did that in heels because even in my sneakers, I had a hard time going at a fast pace. (Although, I do blame it on my over sized jacket.)

Since these are the only ducks I could find in Central Park, this is the best photo I can give you. The importance of this? Holden Caulfield was wondering where all the ducks go during winter. (High five for nerdy allusion?) I passed this pond, while walking to the zoo, which I'll probably talk about later on.

I really wanted to visit FAO Schwartz because it's an amazing toy store with brands I've never even seen before like these Tonner dolls. All of them had the most elaborate outfits and I wanted them for them for myself. I simply loved how detailed they were.

For dinner, we headed over to PJ Clarke's for a "Handpicked" Jumbo Lump Crab Cake Sandwich. Although delicious, it was rather small especially for the price. Considering it was pricey, it should've been big enough to fill me up. I ended up eating the rest of my mum's dinner to fill my stomach.

Before sitting down for the opera, I walked around the Metropolitan Opera Shop. I love all the props they have and the clothes. My dad used to get my CDs and children books from their website, when I was smaller. I really wanted these binoculars and when asked what I would do with them, I told my parents, "I sit in the back in most of my classes, so these would help me see the board!" My dad liked the idea, but my mum said no. So until we meet again my lovely opera binoculars, please keep me in mind.

My dad had bought us tickets for La Fille du Regiment, which was absolutely hilarious. I used to go the opera once a month, but the production I went to went out of business. I really liked how the Metropolitan Opera's costumes were really complex and well thought out. Also, I'm kind of obsessing over these chandeliers they have hanging up. They have at least a dozen of them throughout the building and I'm wondering if they'd notice one missing. Really want one for my house. What do you think? Can I get away with it? Thanks for reading!

An After Christmas Update

2012-01-25T14:11:00.000-08:00

Playing: Celebrity Status-Marianas Trench
Reading: January W
Hello everyone! Today is just everything I've been meaning to share with you and just some photos I want to show you. Nothing big or incredible, but nonetheless, a post about what I was up to on my non-busy days during winter break.

Over my winter break, I went to Little Tokyo to take my brother to my newest find, a nice restaurant called Wakasaya in LA, specializing in fish bowls. I got mine with chopped salmon, negitoro, and maguro. The chopped salmon is my favorite and the maguro is sublime and melts in your mouth practically. At first, I found the negitoro to be too slimy for my liking, but if you get it with some green onion or their don sauce, it's really quite delicious. However, after my brother and I were done eating, we were still hungry because the bowls are very small. Since the portions don't leave you full, it's actually on the expensive side.

The next day my brother and I were just being lazy and decided to go grab the Honey Baked Ham for New Year's. Afterwards, we went to the gardening store across the street and looked at fountains and fruit trees, even though we knew we weren't going to buy a thing from there. So we walked over to Cavanaugh Park because I'm an extreme Something Corporate/Andrew McMahon/Jack's Mannequin fan. "Cavanaugh Park" is a song Andrew McMahon wrote about the times he spent pondering life at this park and I think this is my fourth time wandering over to it. The first time I went there on purpose and the three times afterwards were just accidents. It's not a big park, a very local kind of park, but I still go there just because well, Andrew did.

And because I like to organize my objects and take photos of them, here is my Christmas haul. I got two perfumes, L'eau D'Issey and Burberry Brit Sheer. I really like wearing the light Burberry, but the L'eau D'Issey is too strong for my taste. I meant to write down the Florale version on my wishlist, but I made a mistake, so my mum will probably use it now. Then I received the Coraline, Big Fish, and 9 DVD's because I'm a Tim Burton fanatic and had to grab some more of his movies. I also got the Big Fish book, since that's my absolute favorite Tim Burton movie. My parents also got me some CD's I've been begging for from Patrick Wolf and One Night Only, some of my favorite musicians. No store near me sold these, so I couldn't get them myself and had to rely on my parents to grab them from the wonderful thing called the Internet!

This year I didn't exchange gifts with my friends because we agreed upon it, so I only exchanged gifts with two friends I believe and one of them was Christine. She feeds my cute Japanese obsession. My brother took one look at my gift and exclaimed, "Why do we have so many zombie bunnies? When is it going to be enough?" Haha, it's never enough. I love the Frixion pens she got for me too because I used to always borrow her pens, so she probably got annoyed of me asking her to borrow them so much. Oh, she knows me too well!

I know this is really late, but what did you get for Christmas?

New York Day 1

2012-01-23T17:50:00.000-08:00

Playing: Slowmotion/House-Patrick Wolf
Reading: Rare Ultra-Blue Stars Found in Neighboring Galaxy's Hub
For my first day in New York, we didn't even get into the city until late at night, so we didn't do much that day. We mostly just dropped off out baggage at our hotel, the New York Palace, and unpacked everything. Then we waited in line for a taxi and when we go to the front, some actor from Driving Miss Daisy cut us in line. The person working there recognized them and gave him the next taxi they could get, so I was left there with my family feeling awfully confused.

Once we got a cab, we headed over to Little Italy, which is my favorite area for great food. I love their festive light decorations and how they set up outside vendors to help celebrate Christmas. I wish there was a Little Italy in LA for me to go to. Then I wouldn't have to fly all the way out to New York.

We went to my dad's favorite restaurant there called De Gennaro, where I ordered the Fettucine Alfredo Con Pollo. I love their Alfredo sauce and it was the perfect thing to warm me up my first night in New York. The chicken was tender and the Parmesan on top added a great bite to it.

Then I went to my favorite bakery ever, Ferrera Bakery. They have the best cannolis in the world and I love their chocolate coated shells. Once I had these, I could never eat another cannoli on the West Coast again. These are seriously the highlight of every trip I've ever taken to New York and I go to this bakery multiple times per trip. I think I went four or five times this trip and each time I bought half a dozen, which I shared with my family obviously otherwise I would be obese I believe.

This is actually a photo I took on a different day, but look at all the flavors. You can get chocolate covered shells or plain shells with chocolate or vanilla ricotta cheese. If you don't like ricotta, you can get a whipped cream filled one flavored with mint, vanilla, chocolate, or raspberry. I personally prefer the vanilla ricotta cheese one with the chocolate covered shell. The whipped cream ones aren't nearly half as good.

Afterwards, since it was late and we couldn't really do anything other than look at the city, we just walked around 5th avenue, looking at all the Christmas displays. This was Cartier's display and I thought the bow was a cute idea because it made the whole building look like a gift. A building filled with fabulous diamonds and jewelry? Sounds like my mum's dream come true! Here's a hint to all men looking to please their girlfriends, diamonds are a girl's best friend. Hope I just improved all of your dating lives! Until next time, have a nice day! (And wish me luck on Finals!)

New York Afternoon+Night of Day 2

2012-01-22T18:19:00.000-08:00

Playing: Forever Young-Cash Cash
Reading: Big Fish by Daniel Wallace
On the afternoon of Day 2, we met up with my uncle, aunt, and their twin daughters. It took us to find them because their were so many tourists at the place we agreed to meet at. Surprised we found them at all. My yellow pants and my cousin's lime green jacket probably helped us find each other.

When I look at the ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center, I think about Holden Caulfield's date with Sally Hayes. Yes, I am going to make a nerdy allusion. Anyways, I have plans to go ice skating here with one of my guy friends, when I'm older. He will wear a red hunting hat and hopefully, teach me how to ice skate.

My dad and I admired the suits in Ferragamo's window, while we walked to Trump Tower with everyone else. I really like men in suits and my dad likes wearing suits, so we often discuss suits together. Advice from a man (and by that, I mean my dad)? "Buy Burberry, it's classic and makes you look trim."

I never understood the purpose of Trump Tower because it's too closed off to be a shopping center and too big to be a fine dining place, but I like how everything is reflected in the copper walls. I like the angles the patios make, when they intersect. I also like the outdoor gardens, which overlook the Burberry, miu miu, and Dior stores.

While inside, we decided to get some warm coffee to help us fight the chill. Drinks were on me and when I told the guy that my name was Audrey, he wrote down Hagi. Either his spelling or my pronunciation is really off. When they kept yelling, "Hagi," I didn't pay any attention until they yelled it eight times and I realized it was my order.

We took the subway to Little Italy, which is my favorite place in New York to go to for meals. My goal is to try every restaurant there and so far I've tried five of them, I think? We decided to try Casa Bella Ristorante, where I ordered the Papardelle Alla Funghetti. With five different mushrooms and homemade pasta, this made a hearty dish that felt cozy too. I like how they put shitake mushrooms in it and how spacious this restaurant is. Most restaurants in New York are too crowded for my liking. Afterwards, my dad and uncle bought a bunch of my favorite canolis from Ferrera Bakery. Then our two families separated, so my relatives could catch a train home and we just walked around admiring the city.

Jack's Mannequin's People and Things Tour

2012-01-19T20:56:00.000-08:00

Playing:She's So High-Tal Bachman
Reading: Just Before the War With the Eskimos by JD Salinger
So for my birthday and my friend's birthday, we went to go see Jack's Mannequin with The Academy Is... and Lady Danville. I took my good friend, Rebecca, with me because her birthday was two days before mine, so we had to celebrate our birthdays together and her favorite band is The Academy Is...Since The Academy Is... broke up and was replaced by Scars on 45 for this tour, does that make them The Academy Was...? They should've at least waited for this tour to end before breaking up because I felt really bad, when Rebecca let me know they broke up. They could've sucked it up for a month more, since this was our first time going to see them. Pssh, whatever.

It was held at the Fox Theater in Pomona, CA and it was my first time going to this theater, so I was really excited to see that it was an old-time theater with beautiful architecture and lighting fixtures. (I'm quite the architecture nerd. I kind of want to be an architect, but more for the design part, not the math part.) This is my 4th time seeing Andrew McMahon live and I will spare you the love story that I have told my readers so many times. Either way, I was extremely happy to see him again.

Lady Danville was the opener and they were so endearing. I loved their set and how they sounded good, even when they were playing acoustic! I loved how funny they were and how they seemed like a great group of friends. After the show, they were posing with fans at the merchandise booth and I wanted to get a photo, but the line was too long and I was hoping to catch Andrew. I've actually been listening to their music, ever since I saw them live.

Scars on 45 came all the way from England to replace The Academy Is... and I really liked their music too. They were charming, but I'm not sure if it was their accent charming me or if it was their personality. Either way, I liked them. I liked how they kept on joking around about how in England they only have two fans and they're the mums of two of the members. After the show, the members were outside selling CDs, but Rebecca and I thought that no way the members would be out walking around with us fans, so we left. Then we realized it was them and thought, "We should've taken a picture with them, huh?"

When Jack's Mannequin got on stage, there was a lot of fan girling coming from me and a plethora of screaming from me. I can't help it; I just love this band way too much. What can I say about them that I haven't already said? They had a new bassist because Dr. J left, but other than that, their performance was just as great as always. Andrew's dancing was as spastic and charming as ever. He's still the best musician I've ever heard and I still think he's great at connecting with the audience. I STILL LOVE HIM TREMENDOUSLY, so there's nothing new...

Part way through the show, Andrew asked Bobby Raw, "Is is it time for the lights? It's time to turn on the lights. These are meant to blow your mind. I'm sorry if anyone feels cheated for not having thee lights on for the first half of the show." Then, bam! Christmas lights lit up his piano and the microphone. Andrew, why are you so adorable and charming? You're personality is kind of geeky and I love how you always wear collared shirts whenever I see you. I always have to include the songs played at a concert, so that I can remember every little detail, so here goes the list:

Release Me
The Mixed Tape
Holiday From Real
Amy I
The Resolution
Hostage
Kill the Messenger
Television
Spinning
Hey Hey Hey (We're All Gonna Die)
Restless Dream
Swim
Bloodshot
My Racing Thoughts
I'm Ready
Bruised
No Man is an Island
Hammers and Strings
Dark Blue
La La Lie

He played for almost two hours and I count every hour that I've heard him live as some of my best hours spent. I don't know why I keep on going back or why I find his shows so much better than anything else, but I do know that I'm going to go back again. I'm going to keep on going back until I meet Andrew McMahon and even after that I'll probably keep on going. He is my biggest inspiration and I want to know who your biggest inspiration is? Is it one of your parents, your friend, an actor, a historian, etc? (By the way, I linked the videos I took for some of the songs, so if you click on them, you get to see my videos!)

New York Morning of Day 2

2012-01-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

Playing: Not a Love Song-Ross Lynch
Reading: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Day 2 was terribly cold and even my relatives that came to join us, who live in New Jersey, thought it was freezing. I could not feel my toes that day and my brother would tease me every time I stomped my foot on the sidewalk to get some feeling back. According to the news it was less than 20°F that day and the coldest I've ever experienced in California is 36°F, so it was definitely a shock to my system.

I chose Lily's Restaurant for breakfast because it was so wonderfully artsy. Everything was organic and sustainable with statues and paintings decorating the whole place. Although a tad too pricey for breakfast, my whole family enjoyed their meals very much. I got the smoked salmon on bagel, which was served so nicely and as you can see, I started to spread the cream cheese before I took a photo. I really enjoyed the yellow tomatoes in it and the whole wheat bagel for a change because I usually get mine with red tomatoes and on a garlic bagel.

After our breakfast, we just walked around and waited for my relatives' train to come in. I love the sleek glass skyscrapers and how they seem to stretch on and on. I love geometric buildings because they just look so clean and modern. These buildings are one of the many reasons why I love New York so much.

We ended up going back to our hotel to get a hat for my dad, so we went to the Eden Fine Art Gallery because I had been wanting to go. Super playful and imaginative, but not something I would buy. It reminds me of the art you see at festivals and such.

When we got back on the street, we passed American Girl, which I loved when I was in 4th-6th grade. I love older fashion, so I always enjoyed looking through their catalogs and my parents actually got two dolls for me. Although I don't play with them anymore, I have found memories of them and the 19th century clothing I bought for them.

We just continued to walk around and we found this nice pocket with a clever fountain. I quite like the statue in the middle of the fountain. I love how New York has all these little pockets filled with art. Wish my town was more like that.

Although this trip, we tried to avoid the super touristy areas, we still had to stop at Times Square because I adore the feeling of life happening there, the pulse of life and so on. I also like looking for people from foreign countries there. I eavesdropped on French tourists' conversations and passed it off as "practicing" my French skills.

We turned down a street and came across Famous Dave's, which is supposed to be known for excellent BBQ and it was rather good. My brother and I shared the Southside Rib Tips with Drunken Apple and Mac N' Cheese. The rub was so good that we didn't even use any BBQ sauce, but I didn't like how one bite, the meat would be tough and the next bite, it'd be all fat. This restaurant must be pretty well known because when I texted my uncle to let him know where we were, he texted me back with, "I've been wanting to try that place. My friends say it's really good and I think I could go for a second lunch, so I'll join you guys." My uncle is friends with foodies, so must be good, right? Stay tune for the rest of Day 2!

"School's Out Forever, School's Been Blown to Pieces"

2012-01-13T18:16:00.000-08:00

Playing: Divine Intervention-Patrick Wolf
Reading: Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes by JD Salinger
Hello everyone! Although I'm back in school now, there was a time when I was free of school, if only for two weeks. This year was the first year, where I did not have an early out for school before Christmas break, even though everyone else in my school district got out at lunchtime. I just spent my day taking tests and counting down the minutes until I was out of school.

From Left to Right: Hans, Adam

As soon as school was out, I ran off to Hans' house with Adam, Austin, and Sophie just to hang out and be teenagers together before I had to get on a plane for New York. We pretty much just sat around and listened to records, while talking about "vintage" music and movies. Hans still has everything on records and VHS tapes, which proves I'm not the only one still using VHS tapes.

From Left to Right: Hans, Sophie, Austin

Sophie and I decided it'd be fun to dress up as kitties, so I brought kitty ears over and I learned that one of my pairs looks more like hamster ears. So Sophie was a hamster and I was a kitty that day...

Since Hans has so many random props and costumes lying around, we literally horsed around, putting his horse mask on him. Sophie decided to prove how ridiculously flexible his mask is by slapping him across the face. (Don't worry. No Hans was hurt during the course of us messing around.)

For the majority of the time, Sophie tried to figure out how to ink wash and then attempted to teach me, while I stared at her confused. I ended up just trying to do watercolor paintings by using some markers plus Sophie's ink and then using water to blend it all. Sophie worked on filling in her comic and Adam just drew random faces. My artistic mediocrity is showing right now, especially when compared to their work.

While Sophie, Adam, and I continued to paint, Austin tried on Hans' hats and just played the guitar with Hans. Overall, we just sat around and did whatever struck our fancy that day. For once, we didn't have to worry about having to finish our school assignments or any of that and we could just relax. I wish I could relax more often and I suppose most students do, but we're all tied up with too much homework and studying to do much.
PS I was supposed to hang out with them again today, but I got sick. High five for having severe stomach cramps, anyone?

Black Friday

2012-01-11T16:14:00.000-08:00

Playing: All I want for Christmas is You-My Chemical Romance
Reading: After the Quake by Haruki Murakami
Hello everyone! Wow, this is so late and to tell you the truth, I am extremely behind on mu blogging. I've been doing more this school year than ever before, which means I have more to blog about, but less time too! Crazy contradictions! For Black Friday shopping, I went the day afterwards with my friends to avoid all the traffic and psycho shoppers.

We spent more time messing around at Forever 21 than anything else because Forever 21 has so much clothing that we just had to play dress up. I styled Tina in as much black as possible to try to make her look Gothic. A few hooker dresses and layers later, she looked non-scandalous and here she is! Unfortunately, my camera doesn't take decent photos in the dark or in poor light, so the other outfits I made for her in all black came out blurry...

Afterwards, we went to Champagne bakery to get a quick snack. Unfortunately, my cake was very plain in its flavor and I got bored with it quickly. Tina experienced the same problem with her cake, so we just messed around with our cakes trying to make a snowman out of it.

From Left to Right: Tiffany, Tina, Joanne

We just stayed outside, trying to decided which store to go to next and made several attempts to feed the sparrows that were flying past us. Tiffany, Tina, and Joanne all pulled out their Asian peace signs, when I asked for a photo. I shouldn't tease them about that, since I do that sometimes too...

You probably can't see anything clearly, but Tina allowed me to draw a Harry Potter scar on her forehead and Tina drew one on Joanne's forehead too. Then Tina decided to draw a heart on my cheek and put a surfeit of blush on me. You now know what I look like after I run a mile...

I ended up bringing my mum back to the mall to get me the items I had wanted, but was too cheap to buy. I feel tremendous guilt for buying things other than food, so I need my parents to be there to tell me it's alright. Karl Lagerfield for impulse was 50% off, so my mum bought the two tops that I had wanted originally, but was too cheap to buy. Heh heh, now I have three pieces from his collaboration!

After that, my mum indulged my interest in whimsical pants by purchasing a pair of mustard jeans and a pair of maroon jeans from Mango for me. I've worn the maroon pair quite a bit already and I like how they actually look good with quite a few different looks, but the mustard pair are a tad harder. The only thing about buying colored denim is they bleed in the washing machine, so now my family has multicolored towels and sheets...I wonder how much more my denim collection will grow. Hopefully not too much because whenever I wear these pants to school, I get queer looks from everyone.

Have your purchased anything of great interest recently?

Alexander Wang Reveal

2012-01-09T17:01:00.000-08:00

Playing: I Would Do Anything For You-Foster the People
Reading: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
If you remember my other post, then you'll remember that I got a little something from my parents from the Alexander Wang flagship store. It was like an early Christmas present from them and the Big Apple.

Ooh, what could be inside? A purse? A plane? A male model?I like that it came with a storage bag because boxes can take up a lot of room, but I don't want to leave my goodies out in the garage or in my closet to collect dust or deal with weather, so a storage bag is perfect and desirable for me.

It's shoes! Beautiful leather shoes with a low heel. My mum is trying to curb my heel addiction by no longer allowing me to buy heels and by trying to find cute flats for me. I can be fairly adamant with my mum, so we compromised and got shoes with a very low heels.

A nice chocolate brown pair of flats with classic black patent leather cap toes make a great addition to my collection of black footwear. I must try to move out of the black zone.

The side buckles keep it looking different, but now I need to find socks that don't cover the back of my foot or maybe I'll wear these with tights. I've only worn them out once, but they're extremely comfortable. These shoes actually run a tad big because I'm usually a size 36 or 36.5, but these fit me just fine and they're a 35.

There were only two pairs of these shoes left in 35 and 39, so I'm glad I got them and not someone else. There was a girl there that looked like Annasophia Robb and was wearing a panda hat that was planning on getting these, but then she decided they weren't her style. Her mum wanted them so badly but was a 37, so these were too small, but the 39 were too big. Both of them were glad, when I decided to get these.

Just one more detail shot. I like the discreet branding on the bottom and how it isn't too flashy like the bright red of Louboutin shoes. I just really love how Alexander Wang will take something classic and put his spin on it. I like how these shoes look simple until you see it from the side and how there's no way to know they're from him unless you look inside the shoe or at the sole of them. Even my Converse are more flashy with their brand names than these and I like that.Thanks for reading and I'll try to get something more interesting out to you!

2011

2012-01-03T19:01:00.000-08:00

Playing: She's So Lovely-Scouting For Girls
Reading: The 9 Lives of Carine Roitfeld by Eric Wilson
Hello everyone! How is 2012 treating you so far? No apocalyptic occurrences yet other than the Japan earthquake, right? I've seen other people doing this and I thought it'd be a great way to wrap up 2011 and say hello to 2012. So much has changed for me this year and all for the better I think other than my increased school work load.

January-I spent the first day of 2011 with my friends, Tiffany, Tina, and Jackie, at Tina's house for a fun-filled sleepover that you can read about here. I spent the first hours of 2011 singing along to My Chemical Romance with some of my best friends watching me, while My Chemical Romance performed in Times Square.

February-I realized that getting kicked off the lacrosse team was a good thing because it transferred me to regular PE, where I met some new friends, bonded with old friends, and climbed lockers with all of them. During the month of February, my friends and I decided to make our school a playground for our adventures.

From Left to Right: Tina, Me, and Hyeajoon (who is hiding from the camera)

March-March was a great month for me. I celebrated making it to state for History Day, made a bunch of bows for St. Patrick's Day to pass out to friends, shoved my friends and myself into lockers, and let loose for Tina's birthday by playing a food version of Russian Roulette.

April-I visited the Winchester Mystery House, while I was up in San Jose to compete in History Day. I ended up not making it to Nationals for History Day, but I had a great time running around San Jose and San Francisco.

From Left to Right: Me, Tina, and Tiffany

May-I introduced myself to all of my blog readers for the first time. Probably not a big deal to any of you, but it was a step in my life to start posting photos of myself on this blog. Does it make me more real? In terms of what was going on at school, the only major thing I did was go to this asinine Academic Team Banquet. It was basically all these teachers saying their extracurricular academic activity was the best and that you should honor the students that participated. By honoring, they meant scolding the students whenever the students tried to talk to one another to make the banquet less boring.

June-I started to hang out with Sophie more and went to an art gallery opening with her. I also went thrifting and cooked with her, Aadil, and Austin that month. Plus, this month had to be great, it was the start of my summer break!

July-I returned to Hawaii for my grandparents' 50th anniversary and visited a lot of relatives I haven't seen in years. My dad took me to all the places I had seen and eaten at, when I was little, and to all of the places he hung out at as a teenager.

I also went to the FIDM workshop with my friends, Jessy and Mindy, and made some new friends named Ali and Alex. We all got to meet Nick Verreos from Project Runway and I decided to cover up my face because I looked derpy in the photo. Five points for Gryffindor if someone can figure out where the face is from!

I also got to meet Peter S. Beagle, the author of The Last Unicorn, at Anime Expo. When I was little I would watch The Last Unicorn over and over again. We rented it from Blockbuster every time we went and my parents bought the VHS tape for me and then I never watched it again...

August-I visited Istanbul with my family and experienced a whole new culture filled with bright colors, friendly people, and fresh, delicious food.

September-I spent my last days of summer exploring my town with my friends. Just tried not to think about school and enjoyed the time I had left. I also visited the Tim Burton exhibit and went up to Northern California to drop my brother off.

October-Seeing My Chemical Romance for the first time was great and I loved them so much that I want to buy some more tickets to see them again. Celebrating Halloween with Sophie, Aadil, Austin, and Adam was equally fun.

November-I celebrated my birthday to the extreme this month going to Long Beach, seeing Andrew McMahon, and with my family at home. I also attended the Sweet Streets art gallery opening as seen in part one and two!

December-Seeing New York during Christmas time was amazing and all the decorations looked extremely festive. New York definitely has a different feel to it during the holidays and I hope to go back soon!

How was your 2011?

"I Have Fallen In Love"

2011-12-31T17:12:00.000-08:00

Playing: Flightless Bird, American Mouth-Iron&Wine
Reading: A Man Young and Old by William Butler Yeats
Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2012 turns out to be a year full of wonders and happiness for all of you. (Wow, I'm so cheesy!) My recent trip to New York was filled to the brim with running around and visiting all of the places my family adores. On my list of must see things were tons of stores that I've been wanting to visit including Alexander Wang. Now my friends make fun of me because I love Alexander Wang so much. What's not to like? He's talented and very handsome. Enough of my day dreaming, here we go onto the pictures!

After walking around SoHo and going through the normal "Dad, I'm hungry" conversation, I finally found the Alexander Wang store. I ran up to it and was ecstatic to find it. "Audrey, aren't you hungry still? Want to grab lunch?" my dad asked. "No, food can wait until after this," I told him.

Heh heh, isn't it glorious? I heard he's opening more stores in Europe and Asia, but I really want him to open one in Los Angeles for me. If he did, I would love him even more than I already do. I must come off as a creeper right now, huh? Well here's a disclaimer, I'm not a creeper.

You're not supposed to take photos in the store, but I did because I'm sneaky like that. So I guess this is top secret stuff, since they didn't want these photos to be taken...Literally everything on this shelf is something that I would love to have, especially those black boots and buckle purse in the lower left hand corner.

And one more photo to show how beautiful his store is. It was so spacious, clean, and modern. I loved how all the employees fit the Alexander Wang image: androgynous and beautiful. This store along with my favorite Italian bakery were the two main attractions for me in New York. Fashion and food, what great things!

While going through the store, I found something that makes me very happy. They only had two left and I'm so glad I was able to grab it. There definitely will be a post to reveal my acquisition to all of you. Anyways, I hope 2011 was good to you and that 2012 will be even better. I have to go now because I have to go help my dad cook dinner for us and our guests. Cheers to all of you!

PS Title is taken from the song "I Would Do Anything For You" by Foster the People.

Rune Boutique Debut Party!

2011-12-29T10:59:00.000-08:00

Playing: Swimming Pool-Freezepop
Reading: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Celebrating the works of Rune Naito and kawaii culture, Rune Boutique was an amazing party held at Royal/T Cafe in Culver City. I found out about this party from the Sweet Streets Gallery Opening I went to and decided to bring a crew of friends with me. Tina and Tiffany came along like last time, but this time, we had the joy of bringing along Sophie.

After waiting in line for over two hours, the first things my friends and I did was go to the pop up shop because I was dying to buy a star clip from 6% dokidoki. We ended up all buying something, but boy can Tiffany spend! Haha, she bought the most out of any of us! I spent some time talking to another girl about 6% dokidoki by the clothing rack and she was joking about how she should use her college fund to buy all of the cute clothing they had.

While on my way to the register, I saw Onch and he waved at me, so I went over to talk to him for awhile. Sophie took one look at Onch and decided that Onch is the most adorable person we've seen. How can you not love someone who wears a Moschino-esque teddy bear necklace? (My camera cannot take photos in the dark...)

Once Sophie and I were done shopping, we headed to the back to see what was going on and the other two joined us later on. Unfortunately, we're all fairly short, so we couldn't see over the crowd. I had to stand up on my tippy-toes and put my hands way up high with my camera just to see what was going on. Luckily I was able to grab a photo of 6% dokidoki creator, Sebastian Masuda, without dropping my camera.

I'm wearing a Pins and Needles blazer, a Full Tilt headband, a Full Tilt scarf, BDG jeans, an Ann Taylor LOFT top, Converse sneakers, and a Burberry purse. You probably can't see my pins, but I'm wearing a Mighty Harajuku pin, Mr. Toast pin, and a U2360 pin.

Before we left, Tina and I grabbed a photo with Yuka and Vani. They're so colorful and cute! They were very nice and I was surprised at how tall they are. I'm so glad I got a photo with them, since we didn't get to see Kyary Pamyu Pamyu perform. Originally, they said she was going to perform at 9:00PM, but then by 11:00PM, they were saying she would perform in half and hour and we were all starving.

From Left to Right: Sophie, Tina, and Tiffany

We were expecting food trucks, so we didn't eat beforehand, but then there weren't any, so we left early for dinner. Since it was pretty late, there weren't many restaurants to eat at, so we just ate at Honey's Kettle fried chicken.

I guess we're pretty lucky to have gone to Honey's Kettle that night. Ethan Peck, an actor from 10 Things I Hate About You, was there. Tiffany kept on asking me if it was him and finally I told her to just go and ask! It's cool how you can just walk around LA and find celebrities, as long as you watch enough TV and read enough gossip magazines. He was really quite funny and super excited that we recognized him. I suppose it would be pretty cool to be recognized by your fans.

When we were leaving, Sophie looked up at the sky and pointed out this ring around the moon. How unusual is that? I'm surprised that my camera behaved and was able to capture the ring. Does anyone know why this happens? If so, please let me know! If you want to see more event recaps, check out these from other bloggers!

"You've Gotta Swim"

2011-12-24T12:47:00.000-08:00

Playing: Smell-Tom Milsom
Reading: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Awhile back, I believe it was November 11th, I went down to Long Beach with my friends, Daniela, Chelcee, and Clare. We had a day off from school, so we decided to do a little celebration for my birthday. Wow, I actually celebrated my birthday three time this year...Once at school, once with my family, and once with Rebecca.

We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific first and we brought a dog leash with us because we thought it'd help us keep track of each other and that it was funny. It wasn't such a good idea because the leash kept on hitting each other people at the aquarium, so we stuffed the leash in Chelcee's purse. Now that I think about it, I do a lot of things that seem funny at the moment, but aren't that funny later on...

Here you can see Chelcee giving me the look that says, "Really, Audrey, really?" You can see Daniela in the black coat taking photos of the fish and shark. We were outside trying to figure out which one of us should get pushed into the tanks to swim with the sharks. Jokingly of course.

Afterwards, we went on an adventure through Down Town Long Beach looking for lunch. I still can't get over how beautiful Down Town Long Beach is now. It used to be so sketchy, when I was little, so it's great to see it all clean and happy now. I love all the buildings down there. You can see glossy office buildings and retro-styled parking lots. It's just very interesting.

I really like how Long Beach kept some of their older things to like this carousel. It's from the 1960's I believe and I just always find carousels to be very magical. So many books have emphasized the magic of these that I now automatically think there's something magical about them. Also, when I was little, I always had to go on the carousel at Disneyland and my parents thought it was funny how I chose that ride out of all the rides.

Afterwards, we walked to the light house and just sat and hung out. It was fun to just roll around in the grass and count how many couples were making out there and just be typical teenagers there.

Chelcee and I ended up laying around on the ground soaking up the sun, when it did come out. The four of us just acted like our younger selves for some time. Although it may look like Chelcee and I were tanning, we were actually telling each other to be quiet and were making terrible jokes.

The clouds started to roll back in signaling that it was going to rain again, so we ran back into the aquarium for shelter. Then we just goofed around some more and waited for our ride to bring us back home. By the way, I jsut got back from New York, so expect some posts about that.

Happy Holidays!

Anadolu Kavagi

2011-12-12T21:26:00.000-08:00

Playing: The Future-Patrick Wolf
Reading: Where I lived, and What I Lived For by Henry David Thoreau
I keep on going through my photos from Turkey because during the school year, I always think about the places I've gone and the places I want to go to. Whenever I think about traveling, it immediately brightens my day because I like to dream about going back and about bringing friends there one day. I like thinking about other places, so I keep on looking at my old vacation photos. I really want to share with you this fishing village I visited with you today.

It took me about 45 minutes to get their by boat and it was a very enjoyable ride. The scenery was absolutely stunning and made me rethink what I considered to be the most beautiful place I've ever been to. (Venice still ranks number one, though.) I love how they have garages for their boats and how they're wide open. I just like the idea, if you know what I mean.

When I got onto the island, I walked past this adorable home that had the most creative yard I've ever seen. It had all these puppets arranged in a storybook manner and I just liked how it reminded me of this one ballet I loved as a little girl called Coppelia. Haha, I keep on imagining these puppets coming to life. Obviously I need to make friends with the owners of this home.

The main attraction is the view at the top of the hill. It has a stunning view, but it took us awhile to climb up there. There were so many stairs and after awhile, my legs were killing me. If you're in decent health, you most definitely should go climb up to see this. Remember to bring ice cold drinks with you, though! While I was up here, I practiced my French with this boy from Japan. It was fairly humorous to me that I'm from the USA and he's from Japan, but our common language is French. How does that work?

There's a fort at the top too, but it's been closed off for awhile, so none of us could explore. It's interesting because I believe it was the Romans that built it. Don't quote me on that though because my memory is a tad fuzzy at this point...

After I climbed back down with my family, we decided to get lunch and we sat down at this restaurant that had the most beautiful view. I loved how clear the ocean was and how you could see all the fish under the sea.

Pretty much all of the restaurants on Anadolu Kavagi offers the same food for around the same price, so my family chose the one with the most pleasant view. All of the restaurants offered fresh seafood dishes prepared simply, but nicely. I ordered a seafood feast, while I was there that came with fried calamari, fried oysters, grilled fish, and a salad. It was all very good, but nothing remarkable.

I spent around four or five hours there and saw the whole village, so while we waited for the boat to come by again, we looked around the convenience store for snacks, but I ended up leaving with a Turkish Vogue instead, which I still haven't looked at yet. Stupid homework is keeping me too busy to take a peek...Overall, this town was a very pleasant stop and I recommend it, if you're in Istanbul for more than a few days. The boat ride itself is wonderful because you get to see so much and it just feels very magical at the moment.

Shoes, Shoes, and More Shoes

2011-12-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

Playing: Sinking Ships-General Fiasco
Reading: For Esme-With Love and Squalor by JD Salinger
I was inspired by SEA OF SHOES latest post, where she shows her favorite shoes from this season, at least the sale shoes. So I went through my magazine cut outs, my look books, and my internet URLs that I've saved on my email to come up with this short list of my favorites.

1. Rag & Bone Classic Newbury Booties. I love the shorter chunky heel and that lovely purple color.
2. Yves Saint Laurent Jinny Suede Wedge. I like how the heel looks like it's leaning back and how the suede pieces resemble smooth pebbles.
3. Chloe Embellished T-bar Ballerina Flats. I'm not one to dream about flats, much less t-bar flats, but these Chloe flats look so sweet with their sparkly bows and are perfect for the holidays.
4. Alexander McQueen Sculpted Resin and Leather Sandals. These sandals look light as air to me and remind me of Greek goddesses. What's not to love?
5. Thakoon Velvet Ankle Boots. When I first saw these boots, it was love at first sight. Anything velvet and in navy blue make me want to melt, but a wonderful silhouette and simple buckle detailing as well? Perfection.
6. Alexander Wang Alice Rabbit Heels. This simple ladylike heel gets a real kick with the rabbit tassel. This heel is just too fun, but it's ladylike too.

7. Chloe Wedge Bootie. These can be dressed up or down and actually look like they could be comfortable. Great outdoorsy feel to them, but the leather and sude combo keeps it luxe.
8. Dolcce & Gabbana Sequined Patent Leather Shoes. I really adore brogue style shoes and I love the glittery top and the buckles.
9. Marc by Marc Jacobs Mocasso Tassle Boots. High heeled menswear style shoes have a librarian feel to them in the most darling of ways and I really like the dark chocolate shade of this particular pair.
10. Lanvin Escarpen Heels. The simple black allows the gold cutout heel to really shine and the double buckle looks doll-ish, but not too dolly. From the front, it'll look normal, but the side will surely have people complementing you all the time. Standout heels that will go with everything are hard to come by.
11. Miu Miu Trompe l'Oeil Ankle Boot. I prefer the glitter pair, but these are beautiful as well and much more versatile. The glitter boots are very much for the party scene, but these can be worn anywhere. I especially love the curved heel.
12. Acne Leather Spin Boots. I am super in love with curved heels right now and I like how the leather cutouts remind me of woodblock printing pictures. In a way, it reminds me of a sea monster.
13. Bottega Veneta Medium Brown Suede Peep Toe Booties. Love the minimalist design of this boot and the shade of brown is a great neutral for your everyday outfit. I think it would look great with blue-ish grey nail polish.

Sweet Streets Part II

2011-12-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

Playing: Down With Me-Days Difference
Reading: In Search of a Good Family by Jane Howard
This post is kind of late, so I hope you don't mind. I've been getting behind on my blogging because of school and I'm sorry that I keep on telling you this. Haha, now on to the point. This time I thought I'd share the art at Sweet Streets instead of just the crazy awesome people I met.

The first painting is by Aguru Mukai and the second is by Kayo Tamaishi. I really like the coloring techniques on these, especially how Tamaishi decided to leave her body uncolored.

I loved the delicacy used on these pieces by Hiromi Sato. I loved the ornate paintings and the frame made them look even more darling.

The painting by Rudy Fig is beautiful and I love the fanciness of her outfit and the frame. Miss Kika's Pretty Persian Parfait is just to cute and lovable to not talk about.

If that cat in Bei Badgirl's painting existed, it would be my dream cat. I love the chubbiness of the little kitty, just as much as I like all the details put into Yumiko Kayukawa's painting of two lolitas having a picnic.

My photo of the artist's name for the first one is so blurred that I can't read it, so if you know the name, let me know. I liked the contrast of the formal frame and then the brightness of the actual painting. The quartet of painting by HIME+YOU are incredibly adorable and I love how each of them are different, but they all work well with each other.

I liked the dreary color palette of this painting, since it was so different from everything else there. I really liked how Ayami Kawashima made it both melancholy and cute. I also find the way the water blends into the sky to be quite fascinating.

Suzuki Suzuma painted Tina's favorite piece. She wanted plushie versions of the two bunny characters, so I think I'll attempt to make them for her...

I really liked the mixture of new and old in Misa Tsutsui's pieces. The borders are incredibly traditional in their color palette and then the painting is painted in all pastel colors, so the contrast in interesting to me.

I really liked this one because the artist only used a pencil and colored pencils, so it had the most simple materials, but had so much delicacy in it that I really liked this artist's work. I feel like I've been very superfluous today, so don't feel bad if you skip reading this and just look at the pictures.

And just in case, you missed the fashion show, I videotaped it for you. Sorry that I was talking through it and that it's sideways. My camera right side ups all my photos, so without thinking, I just shot it like that. I'm so sorry. Hope you enjoy the video though!

Honda Civic Tour

2011-11-30T16:28:00.000-08:00

Playing: I Would Do Anything For You-Foster the People
Reading: Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut by JD Salinger
Hello everyone! If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know how much I love My Chemical Romance and how concerts are just about the most exciting things I go to. I always get so psyched for concerts and I've been wanting to see My Chemical Romance for five years now, so you can only imagine how excited I was for the Honda Civic Tour with My Chemical Romance and blink-182. I went to the October 1st show at the Honda Center.

Sorry for the cruddy quality of the photo, but it was dark and we were using a cell phone, so what were you expecting? In this photo, you can see how awkward Breanne and my smiles are. Hehe, and how pink I am. I kind of forced Breanne into going because everyone that wanted to go with me refused to pay for their own tickets or they were busy already. And then Breanne popped out of nowhere and told me she'd go! Yes, goal reached!

The opening band was Matt and Kim, whom I had never heard of before that day. I actually really liked them. They were so lively and fun and their music was actually really good! I can't get "Daylight" out of my head. I would totally go see them again.

When My Chemical Romance got on stage, I was freaking out because I love them so much. The only thing that sucked is that Gerard Way is supposed to be the "savior of the broken, the beaten, and the damned" ("Welcome to the Black Parade"), but then there was a group of football players from my school sitting like four rows behind me. I really doubt that the football players have ever been broken, beaten, or damned at school....I don't know. I'm just a nerd like that, where I feel like having cool kids at the concert for the misfits kills things. Anyways, My Chemical Romance played:

Na Na Na
I'm Not Okay
Planetary Go
The Only Hope For Me is You
Mama
Helena
A Song From Their First Album (Can't Remember at the Moment)
Teenagers
Famous Last Words
S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W
Welcome to the Black Parade
Cancer

My brother was at the concert across the stadium from me with his friends, so we were texting each other about our opinions and he made a list of songs they should've played.

Ghost of You
I Don't Love You
Sing
Dead!
Desolation Row

Partway through their show, they tossed all of these balloons up in the air and although it looked cool, I was thinking to myself, "THEY'RE BLOCKING MY VIEW OF GERARD, MIKEY, FRANK, AND RAY!" Heh heh, I'm so weird at concert.

I usually really like blink-182, but when I saw them live, I didn't like them that much. All of the music blended together and it was hard to tell, when they started a new song unless they said they were starting a new one. They were funny and all, but I probably wouldn't see them again. I prefer their recorded versions of their songs...Also, I felt like the lights were distracting after awhile and this is one of the few photos I have, where the lights aren't glaring at me.

After the concert, we heard these girls saying My Chemical Romance was going to be at this trailer, so I ran off to see them, dragging Breanne with me. Silly me gets fooled so easily. The slightest promise of meeting someone I like and I go running off. While I was waiting there, this guy came up to me holding up a Boomer mask and asked, "This is cool, right? Blink-182 is the best, right?" And I was like, "'Course!" Then when he walked away, I smiled and muttered to Breanne, "Not as cool as My Chemical Romance."

When we crossed the street to get to our ride, we were surrounded by all these fans screaming at each other and it was so crowded. Needless to say, it was awesome.

What's the best concert you've ever been to?

Sweet Streets Part I

2011-11-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

Playing: She's So High-Tal Bachman
Reading: Down at the Dinghy by JD Salinger
I found out about Sweet Streets through Geeky Glamorous and I'm so glad I went because it was so much fun! I've been trying to find more events that appeal to my interest and I've found so many throughout LA, but it's hard to find friends with the same interests to go with me. I was super excited when I found out my friends, Tina and Tiffany could go. I'm actually going to split this up into two separate posts of who I met and then the art because I don't want this post to have a thousand photos in one post heh heh.

I talked to Kawaii Goods once again, but this time we had a real conversation. She and I were freaking out when we saw Tavuchi. She is so friendly and we talked for awhile about her business. It was really interesting to see what she did to advertise and she taught me a tiny bit about Tavuchi too.

Tavuchi came out to greet all of us and she looked absolutely adorable! I find her story to be very inspiring about how she didn't see anything on the streets that she liked, so she created her own! I love the idea of creating a whole new style and being successful at it. She was so nice and everything about her was adorable, even the way she talked! It was funny when Tina heard her speak Japanese because Tina didn't know she was from Japan, so she got all excited because she wanted to speak Japanese with her.

I'm wearing a Calvin Klein blazer, an Ann Taylor LOFT sweater, BDG jeans, an Alexander Wang purse, Converse, and a scarf handmade by me.

When we got inside, Tina rushed up to the Chubby Bunny X Spank! wall and told us that she wanted a photo, so we all pulled out our Asian go to pose, the peace sign. Haha, Tina is adorable, so how could I say no to her, when she wants a photo? Tiffany is the one in the middle and Tina is the one with the denim jacket and pink glasses. We're like an at&t commercial with us going from tallest to shortest!

I saw Chubby Bunny and I love her and her hair! I love how she's expanding her brand with all her collaboration, but seriously, she always has the coolest hair and it's always multicolored. Wish my parents would let me do that!

I realize I look like a mess in this photo, but I was running around looking for my friends and then I saw Twinkie-Chan! Twinkie-Chan is someone that has really inspired me to craft more and I had to take a photo of her to show her biggest fan, Sophie, that I met her. I invited Sophie, but she couldn't go, so definitely next time!

I saw Onch on Paris Hilton's My New BFF and I have loved Onch ever since then. Onch is so adorable and lively and just plain fun! After Tina and I asked for a photo, Onch was like, "That was so much fun! Take more! Take more!" He was just so nice and I want that coat of his! Later on during the show, Onch came running up to my friends and me with necklaces and gave one to each of us. For a second, Onch thought there wasn't enough, so he offered to mail us one but then he found one more. Lucky us, huh? Before we left, Onch came up to me and hugged me goodbye, so needless to say, meeting Onch in person only made me love him more.

I didn't talk to Julie Doll or Kira Kira because both were busy managing the Spank! pop-up shop, so I only grabbed a photo of those two. They're so adorable and I liked how their outfits were contrasting in style (one kind of spooky and one sweet), but both were adorable at the same time!

I bought a pin from the Spank! pop up shop, but I wanted so much more. I wanted the hair things, the dresses, and the accessories. I pretty much wanted everything, but I told myself I had to limit myself, so I only grabbed a pin. All the hand outs and flyers were jut so colorful and fun that I thought it'd be great to decorate my walls with them. The pretzel necklace is the gift from Onch I was talking about and it's super cute. Haha, I like anything inspired by food. (I normally don't take much photos of me, so it's weird to look at this post and realize that almost all the photos have me in it. I don't really like to have photos of myself taken because I always look derpy in them.)

12 By 2012

2011-11-24T17:22:00.000-08:00

Playing: No Man is an Island-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: The Laughing Man by JD Salinger
I decided to take part in the 12 by 2010 project by Hello, Friend because I figured that if I posted the things I need to do on my blog, there's more of a push for me to do it because I know that you'll know. If you take part in this, let me know!

bold = finished!
italic = in progress

Update my closet and clean out all the junk I haven't used in years and the clothes I probably won't wear again.
Go to Christmas mass. Every year my family says we'll go and then we never make it on time.
Write short stories about my friends for their Christmas presents.
Write more letters to my friends and answer their snail mail faster.
Start going through all the recipes I've wanted to try and make them!
Go to the desert to take photos with my friend, Sophie.
Watch My Week With Marylin with Jackie. There are so many films I've wanted to see and I never got a chance to see them, but I will not be missing this film. I refuse to miss this movie. (Edit-It's rated R, so my mum and Jackie's mum won't let us go!)
Go to LA more and all the events that go on.
I will try to make my outfits more complicated and fashion forward. I must up my high heel pain tolerance and my going down the stairs in heels ability.
Finish reading the pile of books on my night table.
Get more interesting blog posts out to my readers and get more followers!
Raise my grades in all my subjects because it can't hurt, right?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you all have a great meal and a wonderful day! What are you thankful for?

(Last Edited on December 26, 2011-I realized that some of these will never be completely completed because they're about improving something, not actually finishing something.)

Halloween

2011-11-20T16:46:00.000-08:00

Playing: Quelqu'un m'a dit-Carla Bruni
Reading: A Perfect Day For Bananafish by JD Salinger (I've been obsessing over Salinger's short stories.)
Happy belated Halloween! I know this is super late, since it's been almost a month. Believe it or not, I've been inundated with schoolwork lately, so I just don't have the time to blog that much. I'm going go to try to do a whole bunch of drafts today, since I finished my homework early today. This year Halloween was very different from most years because it was so last minute. It was literally the night before me calling Sophie and asking her if I could join. Haha, it turned out great though after I finished all my homework.

At 9:00 PM on October 30th, my dad literally came in with a pumpkin and was like, "LET'S DO THIS!" Since I had a late start the next day, I was able to stay up and carve it. I decided to go for a simple pumpkin inspired by the entrance to the Tim Burton art exhibit. However I realized that without paint it would be hard to get all of the lines and designs right, so I simplified it majorly.

Heh heh, I wore my costume to school the next day because Sophie told me too and when I first showed up to Algebra, a whole bunch of us were in costumes and we were greeted by our teacher asking us, "Aren't you too old to be dressing up for Halloween?" All of us were in shock and told her that of course, we aren't too old and that she should cancel our homework for that night. Then when I got to the rest of my classes, I thought everyone would be dressed up and barely anyone was, so I was teased a bunch. When we got to PE, I had no idea how to store my wig and wig cap, so I hung them up neatly. Does anyone know how to store a wig, so that it won't tangle a bunch? Right now I have it hanging on my staircase.

Finally nighttime came and I ran over to Sophie's place to meet her and Austin. Then we waited for Adam and Aadil. I was super excited to see Aadil (pictured above) because I hadn't seen him in almost a year. He let Sophie and me dress him up as a cat surgeon. You can't see his kitty ears in this photo though. I'm not super close to Austin and I just met Adam, so I felt too awkward to ask them, if I could put photos of them on my blog, so you won't be seeing any for now.

Once all of us got together, Sophie's dad took some group photos of us together using his fancy camera and we ran off to act like little kids. Sophie is dressed as minun and her boyfriend, Austin, went as plusle! How adorable, right? I liked how all of our costumes were homemade that night or put together with clothes we all owned already. I wish I could put a photo of Adam up here because he had the best costume. He was a gentleman cowboy. Haha, it was awesome. As you can see, people decorated their houses and in one neighborhood, there were these huge spiderwebs stretching across the street.

I was actually dressed as Coraline that night and I know my hair is wrong. (I bought the wig before I figured out what I was going as. All I knew was I wanted a wig, so I grabbed a cheap one and then decided on Coraline.) This costume was literally created on the day before Halloween. I pinned a bunch of stars onto a black sweater in my attempt to look like this. Then we added glow sticks to Aadil's glasses and I became Lady Gaga for a second or two. (By the way, don't you like how Aadil is smizing in this photo?) We just sat down and joked around with each other after we were done trick-or-treating. While I was playing around with my wig, I remembered how much I liked having super long hair and I decided I want straight across bangs. The only problem I have with getting blunt bangs is that people at school will call me fobby or think I'm a fob, when I'm not. Since I'm Asian, blunt bangs are considered fobby, while on a white girl, it's considered indie. What the heck? I'm fully American, but I don't look it, so I can't get blunt bangs without being called a fob. Lame, right?

How was your Halloween?

By the way, follow me on tumblr!

"Baby Is It Real Or Just a Sign, It's Summertime"

2011-11-09T20:31:00.000-08:00

Playing: Restless Dream-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe
I'm trying to clean out all the photos on my computer and organize them, so I figured I might as well do a bunch of posts of all the random things I've been up to. I have so many snaps from summer that I've been wanting to put up on my blog, but I couldn't come up with a a cohesive post, so now I'm just going to do summertime posts.

At the beginning of summer, I went to Chelcee's birthday party, where we went swimming and had a bonfire. Chelcee always has the best birthdays because she invites so many of her friends and she always has so much good food. We pretty much just bum around swimming, playing volleyball, and doing whatever we feel like. We were supposed to bring our homework to burn, but most of us forgot or didn't know we were supposed to, so we just burned Chelcee and Tanya's homework.

Later on in the summer, I was walking around a park in my town looking for baby ducks because baby ducks are always around during summertime and look what I saw. People like to fly some weird kites these days. It looked like a long black plastic tube they were flying. Almost like a jumbo garbage bag.

When my mum's laptop broke, I went off to Best Buy to the Geek Squad team to get it fixed. It was taking forever, so I roamed around the store and got some cheap CDs and earphones. Unfortunately, these Hello Kitty earphones are really uncomfortable and the quality is rubbish. The We the Kings CD is pretty good, but not as good as the first two and the Warped Tour CD I bought because it was so cheap and they had a Hellogoodbye song on it.

Over summer, my brother wanted to go to Koreatown in LA for lunch, so we grabbed lunch, but then we saw the Barney's New York Warehouse Sale at the Los Angeles Convention Center. We had no idea that it was going on, but we were so excited! Unfortunately, most of the stuff there was too expensive and the more affordable stuff was more affordable for a reason. A lot of the stuff that wasn't extremely expensive were the items that were damaged or were unbelievably large/small. Since I'm super small, I thought I lucked out because there were tons of size twos! The only problem was a lot of the stuff has holes in them, so I left with nothing. My dad was the only one that lucked out that day.

Down at Santa Monica Pier, there's this one pelican that's always there. You can get real close to it, but it'll never budge. You can literally put your hand an inch away from it before it'll fly away. Some people like to feed it french fries.

My dad and I were thinking about buying more kois for our koi pond, so we went down to our favorite koi store to look at their selections for that summer, but we couldn't find any that we absolutely loved. However, I do like how baby kois will rush up to nibble at your finger, if you dip your finger in the water. I think it's so adorable. Haha, my adult kois will only come up to me, if I have shrimp in my hands now. One day, I should introduce you to all of my pets!

Do you have any pets?

By the way, the lyrics from my title are from "Summer Time" by The Click Five.

Project Runway Finale

2011-11-02T18:17:00.000-07:00

Playing: Safe and Sound-Kyosuke Himuro Feat. Gerard Way
Reading: Talking to Girls About Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield
The Project Runway Finale was very disappointing and I'm questioning myself as to why I watch Project Runway. Three out of the four seasons that I have watched have ended in my disappointment with who has won. The only person that has won, where I believe he completely deserved it, was Seth Aaron and I still completely stick to my original opinion that Mondo Guerra deserved to win. This season angered me the most because I purposely skipped my school's homecoming game thinking to myself, "Joshua or Viktor is definitely going to win and that will be really satisfying to see Anya go home!" on the bright side, at least I went to the water polo game that day to watch my friend from another school play.

Viktor Luna's collection showcased his perfect tailoring and his good taste. I think in terms of what I would want to spend my money on, this was the collection is the winner. I can see myself wanting almost all of the pieces in the collection.The prints totally remind me of Alexander McQueen S/S 2010 and I loved how he edited the photos he took of Mexico to create these beautiful prints. I don't think it's fair how the judges criticized him for making so many black and sheer pieces. They told him to put in a plain black outfit for the white jacket. Then Michael Kors said sheer is used as a shock factor, not for multiple outfits, but I have seen many designers like Valentino and Alexander Wang do multiple sheer outfits in one collection. I also truly believe that in terms of long term success, Viktor has the best chance of moving himself in the same direction as Christian Siriano. To see the rest of his collection and where I got the above photos from, click here. Viktor also has a blog, which you should check out.

Joshua McKinley definitely has some amazing ideas and he's full of them. He knows how to push the envelope and how to create new and exciting looks. Overall, I felt his show was the most innovative and I loved his use of plastic because it's something I can see Christopher Kane doing. His collection was unconventional, but also something that I can see people buying and wanting. I love the blazer in the first photo and I would definitely wear that. In terms of having the ideas, Joshua has them and he can make them happen. The one thing the judges kept on saying is, "This is a design competition, not a sewing competition." Well, both Viktor and Joshua can sew and they have the ideas! Since I couldn't find any good photos to showcase the whole collection, I used the one from this website.

Even though Anya won, I truly don't think she has the best collection. I agree that her dresses looked nice, except for the 4th one in the collage, which looks like a potato sack, but they all look the same. All of them had that insanely deep v-neck that isn't realistic for anyone to wear unless their name is Paris Hilton. I live in Southern CA and I've never seen people wear clothing like this. The other thing that bothered me a lot about her winning is the fact that in the past, other contestants have lost for showing the same thing at fashion week as they have shown the whole season and Anya has shown what she calls "a consistent point of view" and the judges never saw anything wrong with her showing the same Caribbean thing again and again. Also, do you really believe that Anya can translate to F/W? Real designers have to do both S/S and F/W, but this whole Caribbean look doesn't work in the fall, winter, or even in the city. Let me end my rant with a few concluding sentences because I won't want to leave you hanging or anything...Overall, I don't think Anya deserved it compared to Joshua or Viktor, who can sew and have the ideas. Also, no one wears Anya's clothes and I don't think she's all that creative. She sews what the same look as the clothes she buys for herself. It just isn't fair. Even though you probably don't want to see her whole collection because it's so repetitive, I'm gonna link it anyways, since I got the photos from here too.

Who designed your favorite collection?

PS I'm so lame for choosing a TV show over homecoming. And I know that I used tons of run on sentences in this post and that it's pretty long. Also, I purposely didn't show Kimberly's collection because her collection didn't add anything to this post. To avoid copyright issues and all that, let me say this, I don't own the images and I have linked the source of where I've gotten them from. However, I did put the first and last collages together.

San Francisco

2011-10-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

Playing: Nothing Left-One Night Only
Reading: Talking to Girls About Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield
Hello everyone! How has your day been so far? Well I just wanted to use up my San Francisco photos, so that I can get started on the the Berkeley photos and what I've been up to this school year. During summer there seems to be so much time and once the school year starts, there never seems to be enough. Funny isn't it? It'd be great if you could ration time and sleep through out the year. Like when I'm doing schoolwork and stay up late, I can use three hours of sleep from summer to keep me going. I think that'd be pretty great.

I started off my day in San Francisco at this steakhouse my brother enjoys. It's called Tad's Steakhouse and I have to admit the price is very reasonable for such a large meal and it tasted really good. My brother goes here with his friends whenever he craves steak. We were actually going to try the Thai place right next to the steakhouse, but the line was too long and we were freezing, so we decided on steaks.

I walked around Union Square with my family because I'm just naturally attracted to going inside stores that I can't afford. I like to dream about shopping at these places, when I become a billionaire. Haha, I just need to invent something amazing. While I was walking around, I had to check out Barney's New York. Barney's is my favorite department store because of Barney's Co-Op. I always have to go look at the Alexander Wang and Helmut Lang stuff.

Because I'm naturally attracted to food, I stopped off at Williams Sonoma too. They have such interesting products like these Star Wars pancake molds. I think if I bought these molds, I would eat pancakes more. Goodness, I'm such a geek sometimes...

I decided to go see Neiman Marcus because I had seen the beautiful stained glass on COCOBELLA BALLERINA and had decided it's a must see. After I remembered the lobster club Lisa gets there, I kind of regretted getting steak for lunch. Aww, next time, right?

Also, I made Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp right before I went to San Francisco and it tasted really good. I probably made it in less than 20 minutes and it was just so easy. Highly recommend it, if you like lemony foods. Now off I go to watch One Night Only and My Chemical Romance music videos!

Do you like to cook?

My Day in LA

2011-10-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

Playing: Never Be the Same-One Night Only
Reading: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
I was going through all my old photos and I forgot to show you some photos from my day in LA from summer break. It's sad looking back at these photos because I would love to make trips to LA almost every weekend like I used to, but this year I have so much homework that I have to stay home every weekend. Sigh, the glamorous life of a student!

It's the Tim Burton exhibit entrance! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take photos inside, so I'll just tell you about it. It was a mixed media exhibit with statues, paintings, sketches, short films, and so much more! I wish there was some way for me to smuggle a sketch home. Just one, that's all I'll ask for.

They had inflatable characters for you to take photos with and that was about all you could take photos of. There were a lot of interesting people at the exhibit like this one girl that looked like a candy raver or something. It was cool to be at an art exhibit, where you truly have something in common with everyone there, a shared love for Tim Burton.

I grew up with Tim Burton, so it was so fun to see all the sketches that he had made for his films and the statues he had used for his stop action films. I love him as much as the Japanese love Hayao Miyazaki. Tim Burton always amazes me, so I would love to meet him and his girlfriend, Helena Bonham Carter, one day. They're so creative together and I want to thank them for making such a huge impact in my life. I want to make it back to see this exhibit one more time, but homework will probably keep me from going...

This isn't part of the Tim Burton exhibit, but it is at LACMA. It's a huge metal square with these semi-transparent tubes hanging down. Everyone there was running through it because it was just so cool and there was one couple making out in it, which was pretty awkward...Also, at LACMA is a display on the Sultan's jewels right across from the Tim Burton exhibit, so you should check that out too. They have jewels from the Topkapi Palace!

Afterwards, I wanted to go to a new fried chicken place for dinner that I had read about in People magazine called Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken.It was so good and I had never put honey on my fried chicken before, so it was interesting to try that. I have to bring my brother back because both of us enjoy a good fried chicken!

I also went to Little Tokyo for lunch and stopped off at the Sanrio to grab some cute stationary. It's Hello Kitty in a gothic lolita style outfit! I love it, but my mum's reaction was along the lines of, "You're getting odder and odder between buying gothic Hello Kitty stationary and going to a Tim Burton art exhibit..." Oh mothers, they worry too much sometimes...In fact, my mum is fretting over me right now because I'm getting over my cold.

Who do you prefer, Tim Burton or Hayao Miyazaki?

Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival

2011-10-14T18:07:00.000-07:00

Playing: About You Now-One Night Only
Reading: What White People Like by Christian Lander
While watching Youtube, I kept on encountering ads for this Anatolian Cultures and Food Festival, so I decided to go. I've been craving some of the foods that I had, while in Istanbul, so I figured this must be a great chance for me to go all food crazy. (By the way, I have a bad cold/fever, so this post might not be coherent because I tend to have a hard time focusing, whenever I'm sick.)

The first thing I did at the festival was run off and grab some food. It was surprisingly affordable. My whole family's meal cost $28 total and we got more than just what's in the photo. A lot of the food was homemade by people and their family members, so the food isn't actually from a restaurant. I found that pretty cool because it feels more legitimate. The vegetable dishes were surprisingly good and I was shocked that I liked them because in general, I hate veggies.

This wrap was actually really delicious. It had spicy chicken, onions, tomatoes, sourberry, and some sort of greens in it and it was so good. It was basically a Turkish burrito. I love the fresh onions with sourberry taste. It's just so fresh and tangy.

The main reason I went was because in the commercial, I saw the Turkish ice cream. Turkish ice cream is so amazing because it's chewy and stretches with you as you bite it. I just love the texture of it and how creamy it is. Unfortunately, this stall doesn't have a store or a restaurant I can go too...I was hoping for pistachio or lemon, but they only had vanilla and raspberry. Still very delicious.

Since I never got a picture of the ice cream stretching, while I was in Istanbul, I had to take a photo this time. Look at that stretch! It's like cheese on a pizza! Turkish ice cream is seriously the best ice cream I've had in my life and if you ever have the chance to try it, go for it! According to some people, the ice cream stretches because it's made out of goat milk, while others say it's because they use a seed that is only grown in Turkey to make it strechy.

They had a whole booth on the Turkish Van cat and I fell in love with it. I love how it likes to go swimming and take showers with you. Also, it enjoys eating melons, watermelons and chocolate. How adorable is that? Not to mention that one eye is blue and one is yellow. I love it when people/animals have different colored eyes. I don't know if this website is important, but it's the website that was on the business card for this booth.

What was really impressive was that this festival set up all the major tourist attractions of Turkey and the major cities, so that you got a feel for what Turkey is like. It was fun going to the Istanbul section and thinking, "I've been there!" It really made me want to go back and explore more or Turkey. It also made me miss Istanbul a tad.

This artist is so impressive. He does all his art by gluing down rocks and pebbles to paper. It must take him an awfully long time just to complete one of his pieces. You should check out his website to see all of the amazing pieces he's made. It was interesting just to watch him work. Overall, this festival was very interesting, had great food, everyone was extremely kind, and I'll definitely be going back to it next year. Compared to the Japan festival, this one was just so much more open, well prepared, thought out, and the prices were so much more reasonable.

Where do you get your favorite ice cream from?

Jack's Mannequin's People and Things

2011-10-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

Playing: Amy I-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: Peoples and Things lyric booklet
There are very few things that I am able to keep on looking forward to for months and months. It's not because I have a short attention span or anything. I just have a lot of homework and tests to think about, so it's hard for me to think about how great something upcoming in my life is. However, Jack's Mannequin CDs, concerts, music videos, and anything Andrew McMahon related can keep me excited for months. I've been looking forward to getting Jack's Mannequin's new album, Peoples and Things, for two or three months now.

And it arrived this past Wednesday. I was kind of fangirling over my package until I realized, "Oh (insert word of choice here), it's been raining all day and my package is soaked!" The brown cardboard box it came in was sagging all over the place and was such a mess that I poked my finger right through the cardboard to open my package. Usually, poking a cardboard box and trying to open it does not work for me, so that's how soft the cardboard was from the rain.

Luckily, the CD and the postcards were wrapped in plastic, so they were in good shape still. Unfortunately, the lyrics booklet was soaked through and some of the ink ran. I stuck paper towels and napkins in between each page, so that the colors wouldn't run any more onto the other pages. I find it pretty interesting that the postcards were wrapped and the booklet wasn't. They should've wrapped both though because technically this package could've been mailed anywhere in the world. And anywhere in the world could be raining...I emailed them asking for a new autographed booklet two days ago, since I paid quite a bit of money for this package and the booklet is ruined. I'm still waiting for a reply.

I liked looking at all of the postcards and thinking about which places would be fun to visit. I love the earthy, retro feel of all the postcards and I'm probably too lame to mail them. I'm probably going to put them up on the walls of my room or something. Once I get all my posters up, I'll put these up too. I've been listening to this album nonstop for awhile and I really love all of it. It truly is a mixture of the upbeat Everything in Transit and the more serious Glass Passenger.

Do any of you remember my post on Joshua Tree National Park? And how I mentioned that it served as inspiration for Andrew McMahon. Well, here's some proof that I wasn't lying. On his postcard for California, he has a picture of Joshua Tree National Park at sunset. Pretty cool, huh? I am going to a Jack's Mannequin concert soon with my good friend, Rebecca, and The Academy Is... and Lady Danville will be there too, so I'll have to listen to some more of their music once I'm done memorizing this album. One day, I have to meet Andrew McMahon...I never thought I'd be one of those people that keep on seeing one musician again and again, but now I am. This next concert will be my 4th time seeing Andrew live.

Is there any musician that you keep on going to see? How many times have you seen them?

Chocolate and Seafood in San Francisco

2011-10-02T13:24:00.000-07:00

Playing: The Days-Patrick Wolf
Reading: Elle Spring Summer 2011 Collections
I really haven't been up to much lately other than homework and studying. I think it may have been a bad idea to take two APs and an Honors, especially since the Honors is in my worst subject...I took a test in Chemistry today and finished off a very hard math problem and got the answer right, while most kids ran out of time and had to guess. Then when I got home, I was chatting with a friend on Facebook and he told me that I forgot about significant figures, so I actually got it wrong...I really hate myself sometimes. I'm truly sorry for my lack of posting, but the truth is I don't have enough energy or time to post after I'm done with homework. I pretty much just eat and go to bed now. To get my minds off of things, I want to do a post about something I did over summer break.

I went to the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory for the first time, even though I've been to San Francisco multiple time. The line was so incredibly long, but it was worth it, so I could smell all the lovely chocolate.

I ended up sharing the Presidio Passion with my brother, but the whole time I spent waiting for it, I kept on thinking, I should've gotten the classic sundae because everyone around me got that and it looked great. However I am very happy with my choice. The fruit in it helps to lighten up the heavy chocolate.

We decided to walk to Pier 39 afterwards and the walk was freezing cold, even in my sweater. Obviously, I need a windproof jacket next time I go. I saw a segway tour group and it made me laugh because segways remind me of Weird Al.

I posted pictures of the sea lions at Pier 39 last year, but I wanted to do another photo because they're just so cute. This one drunk lady was yelling all sorts of things at the sea lions...It was quite humorous at first, but then it started getting annoying.

While walking around, I just decided to take a photo to show you the touristy center of Pier 39. I like the carnival theme, but it's a bit odd, considering everything else is themed around a fishing wharf. Still, it's pleasant and I like walking around this area.

The real reason my family goes to Pier 39 is for the food. We love to have seafood, so we decided to try the Pier Market, which was owned by the guy that came up with the idea of Pier 39. The clam chowder was pretty good, but I still prefer Manhattan clam chowder over New England.

My brother had been craving a lobster sandwich the whole day, so he grabbed a lobster sandwich, while I grabbed a crab melt. It was very good, but I found it too rich after the first half, so I encourage sharing or skipping on the clam chowder, if you're going to eat this. Also, squeezing some fresh lemon juice on it really brightens up the flavor.

What book are you currently reading?

I'm reading Catcher in the Rye for school and so far, I love Holden Caulfield. We could be best friends. My mum's response to that was, "You're just like your father. You like rebels and odd people." My English teacher told us as we go on, through the book, we're not going to like him as much, so that makes me pretty upset.

"The City That Doesn't Sleep"

2011-09-27T17:09:00.000-07:00

Playing: Lonely For Her-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

Since I haven't had time to blog, I thought I'd share something I had to write for school. I had to write a small essay about a place that I'm in love with and describe what we love about it, so this is what I wrote.

Frank Sinatra’s velvety smooth voice sings over the radio, “I want to wake up in the city that doesn’t sleep.” For me, it’s the same; I want to wake up in the city that never sleeps. New York, New York is a magical place, a blend of history and modernity. New York is my favorite city in the world, especially during spring. Gothic churches dot the landscape and hide in between sleek buildings that stretch forever into the sky. From the creamy cannolis at Ferrera Barkery to the saltiness of a pastrami sandwich at Carnegie Deli, the list of superb food is endless. Even the parks are special in New York, especially Central Park. Central Park’s lake, which thawed at the beginning of spring, is filled with hundreds of plump ducks swimming about in the blue green water. Flowers are starting to bud and the ground is still damp with the melting snow. Rickshaws are scattered throughout Central Park, waiting to whisk you away.

At night New York truly comes alive. The air is cold, but a pleasant sort of cold and the wind has calmed down to a mere breeze. Art galleries stay up all night for the young and restless, while the older, sophisticated crowd can enjoy operas at the brightly lit Carnegie Hall or musicals on Broadway. Although, these all add to the charm of New York, my favorite is Times Square late at night. The neon lights light up the pitch black sky and the ever-present crowd. Street vendors shout at the tourists to buy their special deals that range from anything like socks to turtles. Everyone is so excited to be in Times Square and you can just feel the happiness emanating from everyone. It’s truly a magical feeling to be in a place, where everyone is just so glad to be there. New York is a symbol of American strength, wealth, and fashion. It’s a place for dreamers of all kinds to get their start, whether it’s on Broadway or on 5^th avenue. It’s a place that sells dreams and makes them.

By the way I created a tumblr that will consist of all the things I love: whimsy, fashion, and whatever else I like. Click here to see it and please follow! Also, leave your link in the comments, so I can follow and check out your's!

Fashion's Night Out

2011-09-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

Playing: Neverending Story-The Birthday Massacre
Reading: Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck
I went to celebrate Fashion's Night Out for the first time. Last year I couldn't go because of homework and this year homework almost stopped me, but I was determined to go! It was only my first day of school, so I zoomed through my homework, got changed into something semi-comfortable and picked up Jessy to go! Jackie was supposed to come, but last minute cross country stopped her, so she'll just have to come with us next year.

Here's the proof that I went to Fashion's Night Out and not just on any other random day, so here you go, a photo of the Jimmy Choo store. Jessy and I went to South Coast Plaza because I really wanted to go to Burberry. (Burberry is my love.)

Most of the stores celebrated by giving out free champagne, appetizers, or desserts. Like Max Mara gave out cupcakes, but I didn't try any of them because I hadn't eaten dinner yet and didn't want to spoil my dinner. Chanel was doing free manicures and nail painting, but Jessy and I skipped on that to look at the new Chanel flaps. A lot of stores had DJ's going on, which made it hard for Jessy and me to talk to each other about what we loved this season.

I just wanted to show you a photo of Jessy's outfit because I loved her skirt! It was so flowy and it looked amazing, when she walked. We were looking at Marni and this was actually my first time going in the Marni store. Love the coat racks!

While we were walking around South Coast Plaza, we saw this man carrying a huge wedding dress and Jessy told me the guy was on Project Runway. It took me awhile to get my camera out and that's why the photo is of his back. I wanted a picture of his face, so I could try to figure out who he was, so if you recognize his design aesthetic and know him, let me know!

Jessy was wearing wedges and I was wearing my uncomfortable vintage boots, so we had to take some breaks, as the night wore on. (OH PUN! GET IT WORE, LIKE CLOTHES? Excuse my lame sense of humor...) We sat in the Gucci store because Gucci's gowns are amazing and because we were making our way to miu miu and Louis Vuitton!

This is the only photo of me I go that night and it's a photo of me with my chubby cheeks smiling awkwardly in the Gucci store. I love how half of the photo is of a Gucci trench coat. By the way, if I moved to New York City or London, I think I would start a trench coat collection. I really like how you can wear a plain top, skinny jeans, boots/Converse, and the trench coat and look completely pulled together!

Of course, the best part of going to Fashion's Night Out was people watching! This lady had a bunch of interesting pieces on, but it didn't go together smoothly. I think each piece was good on it's own, but all together? Really, it was a tad much for me. I was going to ask her for a photo, but then I felt bad asking her for a photo, when I knew I was going to say her outfit was too much...

Overall, the evening was a nice way to spend time with my friend and to forget that school had started. It also gave me an excuse to go into so many of the stores I had never been into before. I grabbed tons of catalogs like I always do, when I go to the mall. I seriously love these things. It's like having a book with the whole season's looks. Chloe's are especially nice and last season, Prada and miu miu had wonderful ones. I'm still waiting for miu miu and Prada to get their F/W 2011 catalogs in and for Burberry to mail me mine. The people at miu miu are so nice. One of the salesmen saw that Jessy and I had a lot in our arms, so he grabbed us bags to put them in. Free advertising for them, but so convenient for us! Since Jackie couldn't come with us, I decided to give her one of my Max Mara catalogs. I hope she can come with us next year.

How did you spend your Fashion's Night Out? Leave me a link of your day, if you did a post on it!

Istanbul Archaeology Museum

2011-09-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

Playing: Don't Ask Me-Ok Go
Reading: Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources (Chapter 2 of my AP World Textbook)
I'm going to try to post, while school is going on, and try to get through all my Istanbul memories before they become fuzzy. Trying to sort through my Istanbul photos proved to be more work than I thought, so that's why these posts take me awhile to write out. I went to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum on my second to last day in Turkey and it costs 10 TL to get in, which made it one of the more inexpensive tourist attractions.

The main building of the Istanbul Archaeology Museum is home to many classical statues and things from Mesopotamia. There are burial artifacts too on the basement level from the Romans, I believe. I only looked at the basement level and the first floor because any higher than that was uninviting. The staircases weren't lit at all and it was rather dark, so I wasn't sure, if I was allowed to go up. The only reason I went was because my brother had gone up already. When I saw him, he told me he'd been on the 2nd and 3rd floors already and there really wasn't anything worth looking at. At the time I went, they had a special exhibit on the Roman Empire and the Sultans' jewels on the first floor, which were very impressive.

Across from the main building was a building dedicated to Muslim arts and the Muslim style of living. This museum was definitely more impressive than the other one, but I think I liked it so much because it's brightly lit using sunlight and it's very free and open. It was actually the home of someone before it was turned into a museum.

And then while I was inside, I decided to sneak in a photo of me using the Floo Network. Obviously, I'm off to go save the world with Harry Potter. (Excuse my derpy smile and awkward wave.) Seriously, there were a lot of wizard-y things in Turkey like the turrets on the mosques, the towers that peaked out of the city skyline, and the fire places that look like they're part of the Floo Network!

My brother and I were feeling a bit ill from being dehydrated, so we grabbed some drinks and a sandwich at their cafe outside. They have one outside, but the outside one has lovely seating that overlooks the royal gardens. I loved the Peach Nestea they had in Turkey because it was more nectar like. Also, you can see, the audio tour system they use at the museum in the background. It's actually triggered by where you move. It'll turn on and start talking to you, when you enter the right room. Be warned, the cafe is expensive and my brother and I felt a tad ripped off. One sandwich and two cans of ice tea for 22 TL? Outrageous!

There are so many stray cats and dogs in Turkey and I loved having them around, especially the cats. I kind of miss the random cats, since I've returned home. I actually carried around food in my purse for the cats because I enjoyed feeding them so much. We ended up giving the kitty half of the sandwich we bought...

Then we headed back in to the main building to look at some of the Mesopotamian tile work. It's so cool to have seen these in real life because I learned about this stuff four years ago in history. I was surprised by how much I remembered about them and I find it amazing how they didn't just put these tile works on a plain wall, but added their own tile work to complement it. Overall, this museum was very nice, although a bit stuffy and warm during summer, and I think if you do have the time, you should visit it.

How's school treating you?

PS School isn't treating me well. I have tons of homework and tons of challenging classes to take. I no longer have the time or energy to craft, read as many blogs as I used to, or continue my John Steinbeck marathon. I was trying to read every single one of his novels, but school has momentarily stopped me. However, I'm still finding time to cook on the weekends.

End of Summer Shopping

2011-09-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

Playing: Stereo Hearts-Gym Class Heroes Feat. Adam Levine
Reading: The Language of Composition (Chapter 1) by Renee H. Shea, Lawrence Scanlon, and Robin Dissin Aufses (AP English textbook)
One of my posts that got the most comments was my End of Summer Shopping I did last summer, so this is my attempt to make this an annual thing. It's kind of interesting to see how different my gets are this year compared to last year. No cutesy graphic tees or hair things...Maybe I'm dressing more boring now? Or maybe I'm just changing?

My stylish friend, Jessy, introduced me to American Rag Cie and I've been loving it. I grabbed an interesting sweatshirt from Mike Gonzalez there and a grey knit tank top dress by American Vintage. I haven't worn dresses/skirts to non-formal events in a long time. In 4th grade, I realized how great jeans are and I haven't looked back since! So this is my attempt to wear non-jeans once in awhile...

At Urban Outfitters, I grabbed a cardigan from BDG and a lace button up shirt from Sparkle and Fade for only $10! I've been into primary colors, so this was my attempt to incorporate them into my wardrobe. Also, I love lace and button up tops, so this shirt was pretty great for me. I like how it's lace, but it's not white or black like most laces. (Edit-The lace shirt is horribly made. I wore it for one day and the seams started to get fussy and the elastic in the lace is popping out, so it looks like there's clear hair growing out of it. I will definitely not be buying another Sparkle and Fade product in the near future.)

Nordstrom's junior department has been so disappointing for me. A lot of the clothing feels cheap and ill constructed. I expect Nordstrom to sell higher quality clothing than what I used to find at Mervynn's. A lot of the brands there, I haven't even seen ever since Mervynn's went out of business. I grabbed the striped nautical sweater by rubbish at Nordstrom and then headed to Barney's Co-Op. Barney's is so lovely. I love almost everything there, but things are a bit pricey and I feel guilty buying expensive goods, so I only grabbed this red and black striped top from Splendid. I took a picture of the back because the back is the best part. I love how they did the stripes. Oh my, it seems I've bought three striped things already...

Now these two items are my pride and joy from my shopping extravaganza. I bought a sheer grey button up from Karl Lagerfield for Impulse. Karl is such a genius and I wanted so many things from the collection. However, I could only get one, so this is what I got. I wanted a top that had Karl Lagerfield's image on it, but I knew my friends would think I'm wearing just any elderly man's image on my shirt...Since it was rather expensive, my mother decided to get the Macy's card, which gets you 20% off one purchase and 15% off the rest of your purchases, so I decided to grab this Giorgio Armani perfume I've been eying for awhile. Acqua di Gioia has been my favorite for a long time, so I'm delighted to have gotten it. For awhile I was thinking about getting L'eau D'Issey instead, but I decided to go with my long time favorite instead of my new infatuation.

Have you bought anything cool lately? It doesn't have to be clothes. It can be a cool appliance like a panini press...

PS I feel like I'm running behind on my posts because I haven't even finished my Istanbul photos or started on my Northern California trip...

Adventure at McDonald's!

2011-09-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

Playing: Slipping Under-William Tell
Reading: Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources (Chapter 1 of my AP World Textbook)
Summer is over! School is here and that is most unfortunate! Let's go back to the good ol' times and by that, I mean summer. One of the best things I did was spending a day with Sarah and Rebecca. We went swimming, but I don't have any photos of that, so I'll show you what we did afterwards.

We ordered a 50-piece Chicken McNuggets and a large thing of fries for only $13.23. What? You don't believe me? Well, look at my receipt! I've been wanting to order a 50-piece for awhile, so this was pretty cool.

Most of my friends like to hate on McDonald's because "the food is unhealthy and their Chicken McNuggets are made of seagull meat!" Oh calm down. I don't mind and McDonald's couldn't get away with seagull meat in their food. Even if they do put seagull in, it still tasted good and I've never gotten sick from it. Rebecca and Sarah agree with me that we love McDonald's! I was expecting one big pile of Chicken McNuggets, but instead, we got five 10-piece boxes.

To our surprise, we finished it all. Originally, we were planning on bringing some home...How we did this is beyond me, but I'm actually impressed by how much the three of us ate. You guys probably think we're disgusting now, huh?

While walking home, we decided to take a different way by going through these bushes my neighborhood planted. It's like a perfect path back there. However, I had trouble walking because the ground was covered in leaves and I was wearing flip flops, so it was slippery. Sarah led the way with Rebecca and me following.

Sarah wanted to get a photo of the three of us, so she hung up her camera on a branch and it looked kind of cool, so I took a picture. My friends and I love to make fun of those artsy people that are wannabe photographers by acting like them. "OH LOOK HOW DEEP THAT IS! IT'S SO EMOTIONAL AND DEEP! YOU JUST CAN'T UNDERSTAND!" I exclaimed, when I saw the photo. Rebecca's response?

"NOT AS DEEP AS THE MATTRESS THERE!" We saw two mattresses, a chair, and a table in the bushes. Who would dump that there? Just toss them in a dumpster. So, as you can see my friends and I are such hipsters and so indie at the same time! (Sarcasm)

I parted ways with the two of them because we live in separate directions, so it made no sense for me to walk to Sarah's house with them, when I lived in the opposite direction. While I was walking I home, the sky looked great, so here's the photo to prove it...Like I said, we're so artsy!

How was your summer break?

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

Playing: Get Back-Alexandra Stan
Reading: StyleWatch September 2011
School is starting on Thursday, so I'm a tad nervous. I hope I have tons of classes with my friends and that my teachers are understanding. Hopefully, my classes will be interesting and won't be too stressful. Once school starts, I will try my best to blog as often as I have during summertime. However, I can't make promises because I'm taking lots of AP and honors classes this year.

On Saturday, I did some charity work at South Coast Plaza for the Festival of Children and guess who I saw there? Hello Kitty! I love Hello Kitty, so I just had to take a picture of her made out of canned food! It's amazing what people can do with the most ordinary of things.

I went to Pink's Hollywood because I've been seeing them all over Food Network. I tried the one at LAX, but I really wanted to go to the real one. It's cool how the person that takes your order also makes your order. It's like an assembly line.

Mushroom and Swiss Dog, Mullholland Drive Dog, Lord of the Rings Dog, and Onion Rings

My family and I are pigs. We ordered three hotdogs, a burrito, and an order of onion rings. I have to admit that their onion rings are some of the best I've ever had. The Mushroom and Swiss Dog was good, but compared to the others, it was only alright. The Lord of the Rings Dog was tasty, but it was basically a hot dog with onion rings and barbecue sauce. Since it's named after some of my favorite movies, I still had to get it. The Mullholland Drive Dog was the best one I got that day. It come with three slices of bacon, grilled onions, mushrooms, and nacho cheese. It was absolutely delicious. The chili cheese dogs are what they're known for, which I got at LAX, and it's probably my second favorite after the Mullholland Drive Dog.

Pink's also has a great selection of vintage sodas, so I grabbed a Peach one, which was too sweet. I should've gotten the Bubble Up! I used to drink Bubble Up! all the time, when I was little.

Afterwards, I went to the Griffith Park Observatory because lately, I've really been into space and stars. One day I would like to go to space, but not until it's perfectly safe and foolproof. I'm too scared of being lost in space forever...

Griffith Park is also great for hiking and looking at Los Angeles because the view is great. You can see the Hollywood sign in the background. There were so many tourists taking pictures with it in the background including a French and a German family! I love seeing foreign tourists wherever I go...

While I was driving around, I saw a Blockbuster, so I had to go run in to grab some movies. All the Blockbusters by my house have closed, so seeing this one made me happy. I grabbed Sixteen Candles, Beetlejuice, and Big Fish because I love 80's movies that star the Brat Pack and I'm trying to watch all of the Tim Burton movies. I also bought The Breakfast Club at Blockbuster and Gillian let me borrow The Blind Side. All of theses movies are great, but Big Fish was the best. It's an adventure that took a lifetime to make. (You'll understand that statement, if you've watched it.) I actually want to buy Big Fish now...

What did you do this Labor Day? What type of movies do you like?

Sawdust Festival

2011-09-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

Playing: Tonight Tonight-Hot Chelle Rae
Reading: Vogue September 2011
This summer I went to Sawdust Festival for the first time after I got back from Istanbul. Sawdust Festival takes place in Laguna Beach along with many other art shows like Pageant of the Masters. This is my second summer attending at least one of the festivals going on, but I was kind of disappointed...

Made in Heaven by Missy sells little fairy key chains and ornaments. The set up was interesting and I liked the lights and crystals draped across the ceiling inside. It looked like what would happen, if you gave your daughter a tree house. Or if Tavi was given a tree house...And I mean that in a good way.

They had some really creepy stuff there too like this painter's roof. It was crowded with old toys and random memorabilia. I wonder how much the people at these booths can make in one summer. I really didn't see people buying any paintings. The people who sold jewelry sold some, but now a whole lot.

These paintings by Bonn were a lot of fun. They reminded me of the Mexican paintings, only with brighter colors. They had several paintings of fat cats that I thought would look great in my room, but I can never get myself to spend a lot of money on paintings.

Lupe's Floral had the best ceramic things there. I loved all the mushrooms and how bright everything was! They had frog pots too for your mushrooms? This reminded me of my friend, Sophie, who used to be interested in mushrooms. It'd be cool to have a garden full of these.

Jones had these amazing pots that you use to separate eggs. Not only humorous, but useful too! At first, I thought it was all a joke, but then I read the description and I was shocked in the best of ways! I think that these pots would make great gifts for your close friends. Weird? Completely so.

They have an area, where you can sit and listen to whatever band they have there. The area is quite lovely and they have a waterfall going, which I found very unexpected. I suggest eating there because all the stalls looked very interesting and it's all very cheap too. I think the main reason I didn't enjoy this festival as much is because it's aimed at an audience that's old enough to be my parents and/or my grandparents. Also, it's not so much of an art festival, but more like a craft fair. If you're into crafts and are in the area, this is a pretty good way to spend your afternoon. The admission is fairly cheap and it's interesting enough. However, I don't feel like it's a must see.

Quick Update

2011-08-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

Playing: Miss You-The Feeling
Reading: Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck
I've been busy lately trying to finish up all my summer assignments for school. I'm almost done with all of my summer assignments except for a few questions on Chemistry, which I'm going to ask my dad about and some maps for History, which Clare and I are planning on doing together. I have a study group this afternoon to help us double check answers, ask for help, and get boba! I'm trying to cram so much into the last few days of summer that I'm starting to get stressed. Not to mention, my laptop is having a hard time charging and stuff.

I went to Little Tokyo, Chinatown, and Olverra Street in Los Angeles in one day! It was extremely hot, so my family and I were like slugs, when it came to how fast we went. While in Chinatown, my family bought some dried plums and the people there were very nice and gave us a bag full of Guava candies for free. Then in Little Tokyo, I went to Q-Pop Shop hoping to buy a pair of fingerless gloves I saw there a few weeks ago. They no longer had them, so I grabbed a Mighty Harajuku pin.

In Little Tokyo, they have all these wishes tied to trees. Some are really sweet, while others are funny. One person wished for "super powers or world peace would be a decent alternative." I liked reading all of them and I was tempted to buy a piece of paper for my wish. If you go to Little Tokyo now, they have all these wish trees everywhere!

Towards the beginning of summer, I went to Amina's birthday party and Erica was there! I met Erica through Rebecca and I loved her shoes. They're floral Doc Martens. I was tempted to hunt down a pair for myself.

Someone my dad knows makes all these animals out of vegetables in her free time as a hobby. She made a duck for me because I really adore ducks. She made it out of squash and carrots, so I was pretty amazed. It always surprises me what people can make with simple things.

I was walking around Old Town Tustin awhile ago and I ran into this house. I love it, especially the stars in the window. I would love to buy this one day, when I'm a billionaire. It would be lovely to move into a Victorian style house...

I've had this song stuck in my head for the past few days because of P o o p e r. I first watched Kyary on P o o p e r's blog and I think Kyary is adorable. I love all the weird faces she makes. (To see them, click here.) I can't help, but like her. The Japanese still come up with the most interesting and cute singers. I saw her on the cover of a magazine yesterday and I almost bought it...Noticed how many times I was tempted to buy something in this post? I've also been exercising self restraint this summer. I need to be extra harsh, when I go clothes shopping.

Istanbul Street Foods

2011-08-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

Playing: Muppet Show Theme Song-Ok Go and the Muppets
Reading: The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Istanbul has so many interesting street stands all over the place and it really does make for good eats! Most of it is pretty cheap and ready to go, so it's perfect for a snack or in some cases a small meal!

All over Istanbul, you'll see brightly colored tents and booths selling ice cream. Turkey's ice cream is so different compared to the ice cream we have here in the states. It's made out of goat milk, so it's stretchy and kind of chewy. When you bite into it, it will stretch with you. It's unlike anything I've ever had and it's absolutely delicious. All the booths have the same flavors: raspberry, lemon, pistachio, chocolate, caramel, vanilla, and strawberry. I always got lemon and pistachio or raspberry and pistachio because those flavors are harder to find here. There are little kids, who will beg you to buy them some by pointing at the vendor and then at themselves. My dad bought some for the kids. However, I was having a dumb day and I thought the kids were telling me that the vendor was their dad.

Everywhere you go, there are people selling boiled and grilled corn. Some also sell roasted hazelnuts, but there are more corn stands. The corn and hazelnuts alike are kind of mealy. Corn, where I live, is sweet, but the corn sold on these stands are more mealy and dry. For 1 TL, I can't really complain and my family did buy corn more than once.

By the sea (and I saw one at the subway station), are people with buckets selling raw mussels. You buy one and the vendor cracks it open for you to eat. You can squeeze lemon into it, if you like things tarter. No one in my family tried this because we were too scared of food poisoning. On the last night we were in Turkey, we saw this boy eating them. He ate around 10-12 in a row and he was so fast! The vendor couldn't keep up with him.

This was probably one of the odder things that I saw. They take a wooden skewer and spin melted sugar candy around it. You can pick from orange, lime, lemon, raspberry, or cream, but I got a mixture of all of the flavors. It's like a lollipop that's kind of melted. You can bite into it and it's extremely sticky. The portion is small, but since it's so sweet, it's OK. Definitely worth trying and how could I not, when the vendor had such sick hair?

What do they sell all over your country/town? In southern California, you can find frozen yogurt and cupcake stores everywhere!

The Fair (Again)

2011-08-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

Playing: My Racing Thoughts-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: Horseradish by Lemony Snicket
Last year I did quite a few posts on the Fair that comes around and this year I didn't take as many photos because the food I ate were the same things as usual. I always get my favorites, so this year I decided to show you some of the art that was there and a little Alexander McQueen exhibit they had. I think this shows that fairs can be more than a feasting zone with wild rides.

Jim Jenkins had several pieces on display. All of them were moving pieces and some played music too. The house on this one moved back and forth, while the lights switched on and off with the birds flying. Not the most amazing piece of art, but certainly very interesting and creative.

This was another Jim Jenkins piece of two carrots dancing, while the globe rotated. I personally liked this piece because the carrots whistled retro tunes to you. I think I liked this one more based on the humor than anything else.

Ben Walker has the most beautiful splatter paint cherry blossom trees. I liked this one especially because it looks as if the tree is floating in the sky and I love surreal stuff like that.

I loved these sad robot paintings and I thought of Wall-E and the robot's search for love. Really, the only facial feature are the eyes and yet it shows so much emotion. A lot of people were taking photos of these paintings by Tommy Orosco and I believe one of them won the blue ribbon for it's section.

In the collections section of the fair, someone collected Alexander McQueen pieces and she talked about his exhibit in New York City.She had three outfits, two pairs of shoes, and a clutch. I'm highly envious of this collection and I would love to own all the pieces. Next year, I should enter my Hello Kitty collection or my Burberry collection.

What do you collect?

Basilica Cistern

2011-08-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

Playing: Amy, I-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: Light Boxes by Shane Jones

While in Istanbul, the weather was incredibly hot, so my family decided to save this for the afternoon, since it's cool inside. It's the largest of all of Istanbul's cisterns and was quite interesting. The cistern is where they stored water in the old days and it supplied water to all the fountains strictly through gravity and going downhill. Doesn't it remind you of Phantom of the Opera?

What I find interesting is how fancy it all is and why would they make it so beautiful inside, if they had no idea that people were going to visit it as a tourist attraction? The water must've been pretty clean because no sunlight ever reached the water, so there was no chance for algae to grow or anything else...

There are actually a lot of fish that live in the cistern's water now, so someone has to be feeding them. I loved how many there were and there were actually some really fat carp in the water too.

The main attraction they show are the Medusa heads that help supports two of the columns. They keep on wondering why the builders would do that and also why the heads are upside down or tilted to the side. In my opinion, the builders were probably thinking, "We need some stones about this height, so these heads work great! Oh and if we tip them upside down, they'll be even more sturdy!"

Now the best part is that the cistern holds concerts. I would love to see My Chemical Romance playing here, but giving them a stage this small would be a crime. A crime, I tell you. They need room to run around and dance and be angst-y and stuff. By the way, did I mention to you that I'm going to a My Chemical Romance with Blink 182 concert? And that my friend, Breanne, is coming with me? We have cruddy seats, but the good seats cost over $200, so you know...

Head down to Mavi Cafe, which is right down the street, for some delicious and decently priced food. Your meal comes with pita bread, French fries, salad, mint yogurt spread, tomato/cucumber mix, and a spicy garlic spread.

The tavuk kebap is absolutely delicious and it's served on top of chewy rice. However, I ate the chicken in the pita bread with the spicy garlic spread and the tomato/cucumber mix. The price is decent and the owner is fairly friendly. He actually remembered us, when we walked by later on in the week. The other thing I loved about this cafe was how brightly colored it was! All the tables and chairs were painted in fun colors like sea green, sky blue, rose, and yellow! I hope you're enjoying my travel write ups...

Forum Istanbul (+Haul)

2011-08-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

Playing: My Racing Thoughts-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: Japanese Children's Favorite Stories by Florence Sakade

One of the last places I visited in Istanbul was Forum Istanbul, Europe's largest shopping center and trust me, it's absolutely huge! If you're staying in Istanbul for a week, go for it and see what all the locals are like. If you only have a few days, it's probably not worth it...Not many people could speak English there because it's not a tourist spot. My family and I were the only non-Turkish people in the mall, which caused a lot of people to yell, "Japon? Japon? Japon?" at us. Most people were very friendly though and a few came up to my brother or me to ask us where we're from and when we told them the USA, they asked us what it's like here.

On the highest floor, they have a massive food court with the normal fast food chains that are popular in Turkey like McDonald's, Burger King, and Simit Sarayi. All of the people here are so trendy and a lot of them reminded me of American teenagers.

The bathrooms were different from what I've seen in the United States because they sell perfume and toothbrushes. I noticed that a lot of the people in Turkey are very careful about their hygiene compared to other places I've gone to. In the public fountains, a lot of people wash off their feet, hands, and faces, so I just thought the toothbrush was also interesting...

The main reason we went to Forum Istanbul was because my brother kept on seeing ads for the ice museum called Magic Ice, which is located on the bottom level. It cost 20 TL ($12) to get in, but a family costs 50 TL ($30). Be sure to ask about the family discount because the girl didn't mention it until we started to pay. Also, they only accept credit cards that have a chip on it. I'm not sure what chip they mean, but none of our credit cards had it, so bring cash. Overall, the ice museum was very nice and it revolved around vikings, so you learn a lot about them. Everything is written in both Turkish and English. They put a huge fluffy poncho on you to keep you warm and at the end, they offer you complimentary drinks in cups made of ice.

I didn't buy anything from this particular mall, but I wanted to share with you what I bought. The blue, red, white, and black scarf is 100% cotton from the Grand Bazaar. The other scarf I got from an attractive guy at a store a few stores down from my hotel, Orient Express. He was around my age and it surprised me how many people around my age were working at these stores. In my country, most people my age don't have jobs, but in Turkey, the kids are sent off to work as soon as they're old enough...

I bought a pair of wizard-y looking blue earrings and my mum bought a pair of black earrings that I picked out for her from a young lady working a small stand in Anadolu Kavagi. She was extremely friendly and packaged them for us in a cute little bags. She sits right by the landing, where you get off the ferry, with all her merchandise. I'm starting to regret not buying the green pair because deep down, I'm a Slytherin. Just kidding, but I seriously do wish I bought the green pair too because it'd be great for dressing up. Now I have to go as a Ravenclaw. I bought an evil eye bracelet from a small store by the Blue Mosque. Originally, I had sewing plans for the beads on the bracelet, but I feel bad taking it apart, so I probably won't. The only problem with going to Europe is I always regret not buying something, but Katrina told me that's just more of a reason to go back one day. Until next time, güle güle!

By the way, I reached my two year anniversary five days ago!

What Do You Do?

2011-08-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

Playing: Can You Feel It-One Night Only
Reading: Harper's Bazaar August 2011
My friend, Rebecca, was wondering what I do with my time during summer break and it made me think about what I do. This summer I've spent an inordinate amount of time traveling and I'm not quite done for the summer too. I went to Hawaii and Turkey already and I'm still going up to Northern California soon too.

I've been doing charity events like planting plants for my city, where I ran into my good friend, Sarah. When I'm not doing charity events, I'm hanging out with my friends doing normal teenage-y stuff like watching movies, playing sports (badly), going to the mall, and just walking around town. I've also spent time with my partner in crime, Tina, trying to get through all our makeup hours for art class no matter how torturous it feels.

I've been obsessing over Olivier Green because I've been watching Project Runway. Did I mention he has the most charming British accent? An Asian boy with a delightful accent, who loves fashion and can sew! Does it get better than that? I love boys, who love fashion.So far, there's only been two episodes, so I hope he doesn't turn out to be a jerk or a cruddy designer. He won a challenge and seems very pleasant so far. Fingers crossed! Also, I think this is going to be a great season for Project Runway and Tim Gunn makes the show so much more interesting!

I just bought tickets to see Jack's Mannequin with The Academy Is... and Lady Danville. I'm pretty excited to see Andrew for the fourth time. He only gets better for me. I'm trying to convince my friends to go to the A Rocket to the Moon concert with me and the Blink 182 with My Chemical Romance concert. I'm super excited to see My Chemical Romance! It's Gerard Way! He wrote my favorite comic book series and he's part of one of my favorite bands! I saw A Rocket to the Moon already, but I want to see them again, so that I can sing "Like We Used To" really loudly. I hope Breanne and Chelcee can go to the Blink 182/My Chemical Romance concert with me.

I've been doing my summer assignments too for the Honors and AP classes I'm taking next year. Haven't started my science ones yet, but I'm almost done with English and halfway done with History. I should restart on my schoolwork soon. Why would I post a picture of me studying and doing homework, when I could put a picture of Olivier writing?

My friends, Amina and Rebecca, have been writing me letters for years now, so I've been writing letters too! I've started to use all my cute Japanese envelopes this summer, but I can't use them for Rebecca's letter because my letters to her never fit in them. However, I've started to perfume my letters to Rebecca to make them extra nice. For Rebecca, this is our 3rd year writing letters and for Amina, I think we just reached our 1 1/2 year mark?

I've also been watching a lot of the movies that I've been dying to see. Never Let Me Go had three of my favorite actors/actresses of all time, so I had to watch it. The ending was so incredibly sad that I almost cried, while watching it and that says a lot. There's only been two movies that have made me cry. Other than Never Let Me Go, I've also enjoyed Date Night, 27 Dresses, and Red Riding Hood. There were two movies my brother introduced me to this summer that I loved and they're Moulin Rouge! and 500 Days of Summer. I watched Moulin Rouge! three times in one week and it happens to be one of the movies that I cried at.

What have you been doing this summer?

Photos of Olivier are screencaps from Project Runway: Season 9 Episode 2 and the Jack's Mannequin picture is from here and the Never Let Me Go photo is from here.

Mission San Juan Capistrano

2011-08-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

Playing: I Don't Want a Job-Something Corporate
Reading: What White People Like by Christian Lander
Yesterday I spent the day playing badminton and tennis with Tina, Tiffany, and Vivian, so I didn't get to organize my photos from my trip. So, this is just going to be a quick little post about what I did in between Hawaii and Turkey. I like showcasing California (even though Jerry Brown is destroying CA) and the USA because I love my country and where I live. Also, California has a lot of Mexican influence because California was part of Mexico before it became an American state in 1850.

The mission consists of some ruins, beautiful gardens, and a church that still holds mass. It's very beautiful and you should grab the audio tour because it's free and you learn so much more with it. The inside of the church is very elaborate and it has a special room for St. Peregrine, the patron saint of cancer. Many people go there to pray for recovery of loved ones or themselves.

Outside there are many native Californian plants and two koi ponds. Many people get married here or take their wedding pictures here. On the day that I went, there were four brides and a wedding party, so they set out tables and a stage.

Right across the street is Pedro's Tacos, which sells delicious Jarritos in a wide range of flavors. I got Tamarind, which is often found in Mediterranean food. Who knew Mexicans like tamarind too?

For $2 each, you can get tasty desserts like churros and flan. I highly recommend the churro, which has a caramel filling. Very tasty and unexpected. The flan was prepackaged flan that you can find at any Mexican supermarket, but for $2, what do you expect? My brother got a burrito and said it was very good, so go try Pedro's! While I was there, I ran into a guy I haven't seen for three years. He didn't remember me...No one seems to remember me, when I say hello to them. Oh well, he wasn't a close friend, so whatever!
Oh, here's some stuff you might like:

Gucci's First Kid's Collection (Super adorable and great, if you can afford it! If you can't, just check out the pictures! The kids look so cute and well dressed.)
Momiji teams up with Hello Kitty!

What I Ate in Hawaii

2011-08-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

Playing: All Across Virginia-Cities and Clouds
Reading: Can't Buy Me Love by Jonathon Gould
Most of the places I ate at in Hawaii were places my dad went to as a child or spur of the moment decisions, so I cannot give a thorough review of what the whole island had to offer. While in Hawaii, my family always tries to go to the same places we go to year after year. Next time I go, I will try the Egyptian place and more of the Japanese places.

Zippy's is a chain fast food restaurant in Hawaii that I always go to. I usually get the saimon or the Zip Pack! The food is a good price and great for a picnic at the beach. The saimon is standard, but the Zip Pack is delicious. It includes fried chicken, BBQ beef, and other delicious meats.

Gulick's Delicatessen is my dad's favorite place on the whole island. We always grab some food from there before we go the beach. I got garlic chicken, spam musubi, shrimp tempura with teriyaki sauce, and some sort of chicken noodle. I highly recommend the noodles and shrimp tempura. The musubi is standard, but it still tastes good. The garlic chicken was a tad too tough for me, but the flavor was delicious!

At Shimazu Store, they offer up some delicious shaved ice that's so finely shaved, it feels like powder. They thoroughly soak your shaved ice in syrup, so every bite is fruity and delicious. What you see above is a small guava and passion fruit shaved ice with creamy hapia on top. The small is huge and I highly recommend paying extra for the bowl otherwise your shaved ice will tip over.

If you're tired of Asian food, then head to Good to Grill. I got the Garlic Ahi, which was very tender and delicious. The fries were good and were served with a wasabi mayonnaise. The mashed potatoes I can't really remember, so they must've been average...

At Chibo Okanimiyaki, you get to create your own Japanese pancake with whatever you like and it's the same price no matter what. I got mine with scallop and prawn, while my mum got her's with scallop, mochi, and cheese. Both were delicious and there was actually a lot of seafood in both of them. It's definitely aimed at people from Japan because both of the waiters we had could only speak ok English and most of the other diners were Japanese. The menu was easy to use, but half of it was in Japanese.

Outside Leonard's looks like a dump, but the food is really good. My dad has been going there, since he was little. The Portuguese donuts are extra dense and chewy. There's so much sugar on them that my fingers looked crystallized by the end of eating them.

Tsukiji offers a Japanese/seafood buffet. My grandparents think the food is "classier and fresher" than the food at Todai, but I beg to differ. I thought the food was only ok and a lot of the food didn't taste all that fresh to me. The sushi had so much mayo sauce on it that you couldn't really taste the fish in it and the udon (pictured above) was not freshly made. The fish cake was dried out. However, it is a family place and you could see little kids there and grandparents too. At night, it becomes a nightclub for all you crazy party animals.
I just got back from Istanbul, Turkey and I loved it. At the moment, I'm suffering from jetlag. I woke up at 5:00 AM and in Turkey it would've been 3:00 PM, so I woke up starving. I need to organize my photos, but I'm probably going to do a lot of posts on it because I loved Istanbul!

Oahu's Chinatown

2011-07-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Playing: Miss You-The Feeling
Reading: Time Vol. 178, No. 5 2011 (August 8, 2011)
I go to all the Chinatowns that I can find because I like to compare and contrast. I've been to the San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, London, and now the Oahu Chinatown. This one was actually really nice compared to the New York City and Los Angeles ones, which are kind of gross...San Francisco's Chinatown has nicer buildings and feels more like China than all of them and the one in London, I can barely remember anything because I was so little.

This is probably the most popular building in this Chinatown because it's one of the few with Chinese architecture. According to my dad, this is where all the tour buses drop people off.Overall, this Chinatown was very clean and neat. It was fairly big and expanded over a large area of land.

My family grabbed some Chinese BBQ pork from Fong's Meat Market. The meat was very juicy and tender compared to most Chinese BBQ pork that I've had. However, it was chopped into cubes, while most of the pork I've had has been cut in slices. I don't think that really makes a difference, though.

Poke is a raw fish salad served as an appetizer in Hawaii. At Ishimoto, you can get it in many variations, such as Spicy Tuna or Kimchi. While you're in Hawaii, I highly recommend trying poke because it tastes great and Hawaii is the only place that sells it. Think of it as a sashimi salad.

My dad would always get me a lei, when we came to Hawaii from Cindy's Lei and Flower Shoppe. You can actually watch the girls make it in front of you and all of the flowers are fresh, so it smells great. There's a wide variety of leis for both men and women. If you want one that'll last forever, they have ones made out of Kukui Nuts.

At Ohana Market, you can buy fresh lichi and dragon eye along with other fresh fruits. They sell drinks and smoothies there too, including boba. My family got pineapple coconut water instead and some lichi. Both were absolutely delicious and refreshing in the humid weather.

I Love Country Cafe/Bakery serves up interesting flavored mochis, such as banana and guava. I bought the guava and it was delicious, although a tad too sweet after awhile. They aren't that big, but for $1, what do you expect? Since it's so sweet, I doubt you'll want more than one mochi roll. Even though, I only showcased the food in Chinatown, there is much more such as the typical red paper lanterns and the good luck charms that every Chinatown has. There are tons of touristy things too like paper parasols and Buddha statues. If you're looking for nice jade jewelry, then there are stores for that too. Hope this made a decent guide for you, should you decide to go to Hawaii!

Which Chinatowns have you been to? How'd you like them?

By the way, I probably won't be posting because I'm going to be out of the country soon. The hotel I'm staying at says they have free Wi-Fi, but I'm not sure how well it'll work, so I doubt I'll be able to post for a week or so. I'll try to write a few posts before I go and post them throughout the week. Even if I do post, I probably will not have time to reply back to comments.

Valley of the Temples

2011-07-26T11:40:00.000-07:00

Playing: Your Song-Elton John
Reading: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Whenever I'm in Hawaii, I always visit Valley of the Temples to see the wonderful Buddhist temple they have there. Even if you're not Buddhist, you should go because everything is so well thought out. Even the gift shop is nice. In no way does it feel touristy there because well, not many tourists think to visit a cemetery for a Buddhist temple. When you drive up to Valley of the Temples, it is a cemetery, but keep on driving towards the back, where the temple is.

It costs $1-$3 to get in and you walk down a beautiful, red bridge and while on the bridge, you get to see all of Hawaii's natural, tropical plants. The thin trees that look like anorexic palm trees are actually papaya trees.
My dad grew up on Hawaii and he told me that, so I'm assuming that's true.

Behind the temple, you can see Hawaii's famous mountains that you may have seen on Lost. The temple itself is quite impressive and is very peaceful.

The temple houses a large Buddha in the middle and like most Buddhist temples, you must take off your shoes before entering. This is the main thing people come to see, but there's much more.

If you go into the gift shop, you can buy a bag of koi food for $1 and feed the koi. There aren't just koi there. I believe there are some sort of tilapia in there too. My little cousin, Kenji, enjoyed feeding the kois, but he enjoyed feeding the birds even more. If you hold your hand out to the blue-grey birds and stay still, they'll eat the koi food right out of your hand.

There are several wild black swans that live there. They're beautiful creatures and I haven't seen these in awhile, so I had to grab a photo. So many people were trying to get photos with the swan, but I don't suggest that because it'll run away. Once you've looked around the temple and fed the koi, you can still walk on the trails and look at the huge bell there. I hope you liked this post. I'm trying to make my blog a tad more informational and helpful. Maybe interest you in some travel, eh?

A Note to All Shopper: Visit Waikiki and Alo Moana

2011-07-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

Playing: Nature Boy-David Bowie
Reading: The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories by Tim Burton
From the night of July 6th to the early morning of July 10th, I was in Hawaii on Oahu. I have so many relatives on Oahu, probably hundreds of them! It's been around 5-6 years, since I've visited Hawaii. Whenever I visit Hawaii, it's for family reunions and family problems. The only time I go is when there's a huge party or a disaster. Contrast, much? Luckily, this visit was for a happy occasion, my Grandparent's 50th Wedding Anniversary. I might do a post on that later on. I'm not sure yet. However, I took pictures at the DFS Galleria and at the Alo Moana mall for all my readers because I think you'll all value the cuteness of it all.

Oh my goodness, look at that! I love Marc Jacobs and he is one of my three favorite designers in the whole wide world. He's a genius. What can I say? I was so ecstatic to find both a Marc Jacobs store and a Marc by Marc Jacobs store because there's none close to me or within driving distance. I can't believe they have one in Waikiki's DFS Galleria.

However, I didn't buy anything from the store because everything I wanted was winter clothing and my mum was not willing to buy winter clothing for me, when it's over 80 degrees outside. The one thing I was thinking about getting was this necklace that says MARC, but then my mum pointed out to me that everyone will think I'm dating a guy named Marc. Silly kids at school think every guy's name on your clothing is your boyfriend. I had to explain one time that, "No, Andrew McMahon is a singer, not my boyfriend. Just because I wrote his name on my arm doesn't mean he's my boyfriend."

I had to go to the Sanrio store at the Alo Moana store. In fact, that was one of my main goals to get done, while in Hawaii. This cute mosaic welcomes you into the store.

The inside is just as cute with the Sanrio logo and a tanned Hello Kitty. Is there anything more cute than Hello Kitty?

Here's a note to travelers, Sanrio sells adorable postcards. In fact, I had to buy a few for my friends. I hope they got them and they didn't get lost in the mail...

I bought some stuff for myself and a small gift for Rebecca. The deco stuff was such a good price, so I couldn't pass on that and I love omusubi, so I couldn't pass on the little Hello Kitty charm. Yes, it does look like sushi, but the pink stuff on top is really Spam. Then the stationary pads were adorable, so I bought one for Rebecca and one for me. Both Waikiki and Alo Moana have tons of designer stores, so if you're a heavy duty shopper, visit these two places. In fact, I'll join you, when you go.

Who's your favorite Sanrio character?

Last Post for AX 2011

2011-07-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

Playing: Everything is Ending-Chameleon Circuit
Reading: Harper's Bazaar June/July 2011
Ok, this is my last post on Anime Expo 2011! I know, you're all probably tired of seeing my photos, but I shall continue anyways because AX is just so much fun! All of these photos were taken, while Alicia and I were on our way home. (Like when we were walking out of the building and waiting for our ride to come...)

There were actually two soldiers, but only one made it into this photo because of where I was standing. I love how people were going up to pose with them and it wasn't the normal SMILE FOR THE CAMERA poses.

This was one of the best things I've seen in awhile! It's a green R2D2! I'm a huge Star Wars fan, so I had to take photos of it. Apparently, this was at Comic Con last year? The owner took a photo of Alicia and me with it, so I was wondering, does he have a website? Because I want that photo really badly.

I turned around and this guy was just standing there, so I kind of freaked out. His makeup is so believable and grotesque...It seriously impressed me. Several of hist friends were also bloody with him.

This girl is really pretty. I liked her whole costume, especially the boots and socks. I wonder how she did her eye makeup with the zipper and blood. How do people do that? My friend, Amina, told me they use gelatin or something...

This girl looked so cute and she was so polite. When I asked for a photo, she was sitting down, but then she asked me, if I'd prefer her to stand up or do any special pose. I felt really odd asking her for a photo because I was the only girl to ask for a photo. Don't blame me. I can't help valuing cuteness so much!

When I asked for a photo, he explained he's not dressed up, so I'm assuming he dresses like this all the time, which is really quite epic. It was embarrassing for me to explain that I knew he wasn't dressed up, but I cared about fashion a lot and how punk is SO FASHIONABLE this season. (When I do all capital letters, I do it to show how I know I sound so silly...) He probably thinks I'm a creeper now.

This group of punky, visual-kei people amazed me. All of their outfits were so detailed and they even had shockingly colored contact lenses to top off the whole look. The brown haired girl is really pretty with her elfin features. I love how they all got dressed up with each other. One year, I want all my friends to dress up with a similar theme like school girls, sailors, or something else that's cute. Hear that Amina, Rebecca, Alicia, and any other person that may be joining me? We're getting dressed up next year.

This girl looked so peaceful sitting up in the tree with everyone taking photos of her. After we were all done photo bombing her, she started to eat her dinner/snack and I felt bad for interrupting her meal...I love how her skirt looks in this photo, don't you? That's it for almost all of my AX photos. I only have two more, which are going to be for a special post. I hope you all enjoyed my AX posts and I hope I get to go next year!

Did you attend AX?

So AX Was Pretty Fun...

2011-07-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

Playing: If I Die-Something Corporate
Reading: Cannery Road by John Steinbeck
AX started off with a rough start for me. Alicia and I were a tad late and we spent two hours waiting to get our passes in the registration line. Then my friends, Mindy and Emily, texted me to warn me that they were being evacuated from the building because of a suspicious box that just might hold a bomb. Why would anyone bomb AX? That's so lame. Imagine going to jail and talking to the other inmates about the hardcore thing you did to wind up in jail and all you have to say is, "Oh, I bombed Anime Convention." How lame...But then again, everyone looks kind of sketchy at AX according to Mindy!

To help pass time in the registration line, Alicia and I looked at how everyone was dressed. I liked this girl's headband a lot and she's extremely gorgeous. For some reason I kept on running into her once we got into Exhibition Hall. Some people even took pictures of Alicia and I, while we were in line and throughout the day! I understand why people want pictures of Alicia because she's so pretty, but I looked like a mess that day. The heat was killing me.

This was the first cross-dresser I saw that day, so I had to take a photo. And answer me this, what's better than a guy dressed as a maid, who can actually pull the look off? Yeah, nothing's better than that at AX.

My friend, Daniela, saw this picture on my Facebook and she loved it. These two guys were so funny. I love how both of them are dressed as girls, but kept their stubble! They're dressed as the nurses from Pokemon, right? Sorry, I don't watch as much anime as others...

I'm not sure what character this guy is dressed as, but I thought his costume was intense. How does he drive home? How does he go to the bathroom? How does he eat lunch? So many unanswered questions!

"Things so ridiculously cute, it'll blow your mind for reals." I liked this sign and everyone else did too. Practically everyone stopped to read the sign and had a good chuckle, while looking at this stall. I didn't buy anything, but I still liked this stall.

Hehe, this guy made me laugh. I love how you can see his friend laughing at him in the back. The two of them were working in Artist's Alley and when I asked him for a photo, he had to put his gloves and bonnet on. His friend looked at him and said, "I told you dressing up would make our booth more popular!"

My friend, Rebecca, loves Kuroshitsuji, so I grabbed a photo of these people. Click here to see her AX post. She even has a picture of the shirtless Pokemon cosplayers that I saw. The Pokemon guys were dancing and fistpumping outside, when I saw them.

To finish off today's post, I decided to end with something incredibly cute and sweet. It's Cardcaptor Sakura! She was simply adorable, so everyone just had to crowd around her and take pictures! I'm going to do one more round of AX photos and then I think I'm done.

If you could dress up as anything or anyone for AX, who would you go as?

Lolitas at Anime Expo

2011-07-13T17:50:00.000-07:00

Playing: When God Made You, He Was Showing Off-Stephen Barnes
Reading: The Tsarina's Daughter by Carolly Erickson
This year I went to Anime Expo more for the cute stuff and all the Japanese street fashions. I especially paid attention to Lolita this year because Anime Expo always has the most adorable girls there! Lucky for me, I remembered to ask for photos!

I didn't ask her for her name, but she was working the Dearie-Lou table in Artist's Alley. Last year, I bought something from her, but this year I couldn't. I had less than $10 by the time I made it to Artist's Alley and everything I wanted was over $10. Next year, I really want to get the Rilakkuma clips she was selling.

She was working the MintyMix table and I bought a little waffle pin from her. Haha, it was so cute and only cost $6. She was talking to her friend, who was taking a photo of her, so that's why she's not looking straight at the camera...She's so cute. Does she have a website?

I met Claudia from Kawaii Goods and I was so surprised. I had no idea she was going to be there. She's absolutely adorable. I wish I had saved some money to buy a cookie pin I saw at her booth. As you can probably see, I was the lamest Lolita at Anime Expo. I should probably dress up more for Anime Expo in a style I'm more comfortable with. I don't really have any Lolita pieces other than the dress, so it's hard...

I saw Oli from LemonTree and I love how she dresses! She's just so adorable! She was talking to a friend, so I felt bad for interrupting her conversation. I didn't know she was going to do the peace sign, so I took a photo while she was moving her hand. Then I felt too shy and embarrassed to take another photo...Her bows are so pretty and I love all the colors they came in.

I saw this girl, while leaving Anime Expo and I just had to ask for a photo. She just looked so beautiful and I like how she looks slightly Gothic with the black lace. I felt bad asking for a photo because she was sitting and texting someone. I felt like I was interrupting something important...I'm planning on breaking down my Anime Expo posts into many posts because I took so many photos. I'll probably do a posts with cosplayers, cross dressers, and all the cool people I met. If any of these are you and you want me to take down the photo or link you, please let me know.

Have you ever gone to a big convention? If you have, what did you go for?

Draping the Dress

2011-07-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

Playing: Swim-Jack's Mannequin
Reading: When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

First of all, I want to wish all of you a happy 4th of July! I hope you have a great day filled with family and friends and of course, great food. Tell me your plans for today in the comments, ok? Since I'm a lame person, I just stole Google's 4th of July image for you instead of creating my own. Pardon me, Google.

I attended FIDM's Three Days of Fashion awhile ago and one of my favorite classes, Draping the Dress, was one of the few classes, where I took tons of photos. I partnered with my fashionable friend, Jessy, to create all of the dresses you will see today. This one was inspired by this Dior dress and it took awhile for us to pin it all down, since it was so heavy.

We picked up the floral trend from Dolce&Gabbanaa S/S 2011, but we didn't do too well because this dress looks very middle-age to us. It might be the fabric we used or the bottom half. Either way, we scrapped this design and started on another.

Inspired by Emilio Pucci S/S 2011, this dress was our absolute hardest. The fabric kept on bunching without our permission and the pins would fall off of the mannequin on this one. I thought in the end, this was one of our better designs. Jessy did a great job on the back, while I did the front. This is the only one of the dresses, where we actually thought through both the front and back.

We were running out of time, so Jessy chose the most awful fabric we could find, but it turned out fairly nice in my opinion. The top is a bit saggy, but we could've fixed that, if only we had more time. It reminds me of this Oscar de la Renta dress. We weren't allowed to cut the fabric and there weren't any ribbons, so that's why the waist tie is so huge and fluffy.

What did you do on the 4th of July? This post was supposed to be up yesterday, but my computer was acting up, so it couldn't happen...

Most Worn Things Tag

2011-06-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

Playing: Let's Dance to Joy Division-The Wombats
Reading: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Thanks to an amazing new blogger, Florence, I've been tagged for the Most Worn Things Tag! I personally like tags. I think they're pretty fun and help to introduce readers to new blogs. So here's the only rule: Post a picture and description (optional) of your most worn item/items in each category.

Shoes and Bag-I wear my black Converse almost every single day because they go with pretty much all of my clothing and are pretty comfy. Also, I really feel like I can do anything in these and I'm ready for the day in them. I never have to worry about getting them dirty or scratching them. My favorite type of bag is a cross body bag and one of my favorite brands is Burberry, so my mum's purse from the early 1990's is my go-to bag. It's not too big, but fits my essentials. Both of these are rather beat up, as you can see...

Shirt and Jacket-I wear this jacket from T by Alexander Wang all the time with all sorts of tops, but a plain white one is my favorite. If I'm too lazy to create an outfit for the day, I toss on this jacket and a white v-neck from Saks Fifth Avenue Threads. It's super thin and soft, so I never have to worry about comfort in this top. This is something that always looks good and both pieces can be crumpled and show no wrinkles!

Earrings, Necklace, and Hand Accessory-I used to be a lot more creative with the jewelry I wore, until I had to start changing out for PE. Then I stopped wearing elaborate earrings, layering necklaces, and piling on the bracelets. It's probably for the best because I bought too much trendy jewelry. The hoop earrings I also stole from my mum and they just go with everything. The necklace is my favorite cross from Cozumel that my dad bought for me. I've worn it every single day for three years, but once in awhile, I replace it with a rosary. For bracelets, I gave away most of mine and now, I generally only wear hair things on my wrist for both myself and friends...

Lipstick/Lipgloss, Nail Polish, and Hair-I don't wear any makeup, so I guess Cherry Chapstick is my most worn lipstick? For nail polish, my favorite colors are unusual ones that go with everything, so Urban Outfitters Grey 4 and Castledew 9407A can be found on my nails, whenever I do put some polish on. Everyone puts on a topcoat, right? I use Cover Girl Clear Ice, which works pretty nicely in my opinion. For hair accessories, I wear tons of different things on my head, but there isn't one clear thing that I wear all the time, so it's my hair ties that make it for this post! I wear it because California weather follows this predictable pattern, cold in the morning and hot in the afternoon, so I need hair ties for when it does warm up.

I'm going to tag three bloggers who all dress extremely differently, but I love the way they dress nonetheless! Lisa from COCOBELLA BALERINA, insertcake from "sometimes i've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.", ThisIsAlx from ThisIsAlx, and Savannah Burton from A WITCH'S STYLE! Hope you enjoyed this post and I'm looking forward to seeing these three ladies choices!

Starbucks Sweet Treats

2011-06-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

Playing: Losing Me-Diego Boneta

Reading: The Spy Who Loved Me by Ian Flemming

I'm changing the above part from "Mood and Playing" to "Playing and Reading" because whenever I sit down to type away on this blog, I'm generally feeling neutral and I don't wish to bore you with that every single post. Anyways, do any of you remember my food reviews? Do any of you miss them? Well, probably not because the foods I reviewed were hard to find and try, right? Well, today I decided that I'll share my review on some desserts from Starbucks! Everyone has a Starbucks near them or is Starbucks only an American thing?

Really, the Peanut Butter Cupcake was the only dessert I got that I wasn't that pleased about. I personally found it to be overwhelming. The icing tasted like plain peanut butter to me and it was very strong. So strong to the point, where I couldn't really taste the actual cake. The cake part itself was a dry, bitter chocolate cake, probably meant to balance the too sweet icing. The chocolate piece on top was a plain Reese's Cup, nothing too special. Overall, I would not get this unless you're a peanut butter fanatic.

The Red Velvet Whoopie Pie happened to be my first Whoopie Pie, so I don't really know how a Whoopie Pie should be. The icing in between the cake was nice and creamy with a very smooth texture. It wasn't too sweet, which I liked. The cake was slightly dry and had a chocolate undertone. Together, the icing balanced the dryness of the cake well and overall I probably would buy this again.

The Lemon Bar was extremely tasty and had a creamy texture, which I found very pleasant. It was sour, but not too sour like other lemon bars I've had. The glaze on top is very plain and adds nothing to the overall flavor, but I suppose it looks nice. It's surprisingly good, considering Starbucks is not known for their baked goods. I would buy this again, if I happened to be at a Starbucks.

Now this Birthday Cake Pop is the reason why I even went to Starbucks in the first place. My friend, Erica, kept telling me in English class how ridiculously good it is. "Audrey, I'm telling you! It's freakishly moist and it's so good!" I understand now that Erica wasn't overreacting. She was just telling the truth. The cake is very dense and moist. It's creamy and I feel that it's really cake batter that hasn't been baked. otherwise, how would they keep it so moist and dense? Unless, they skipped baking powder or something...I can't find the words to describe this other than, this is something I crave now. Overall, all of these sweet treats were just a tad over 100 calories and around 2-4 bites each. Not that fattening and a pretty good price for pastries. I would get all of them again, except for the cupcake.

What's your favorite item from any food chain?

"Out West in Venice, Oh, California in the Summer!"

2011-06-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

Mood: Calm
Playing: Take a Look-Martin Dupont
I kind of like the idea of making song lyrics the title of my posts. The lyrics are from "Holiday From Real" by Jack's Mannequin and it kind of relates to most of this post, which is about my trip to Venice Beach and summertime.

This greeted me today, when I set about Googling things like recipes for cookies and such. It's a first day of summer sketch by Takashi Murakami! Isn't it adorable? I love the psycho look to the creatures' eyes.

There's a freak show down at Venice Beach and they use this two headed turtle to draw you in. However, my mum disapproved of me paying $5 to see humans and animals put on display, so I did not see anything more. Even if I did go in, they probably wouldn't have let me take pictures for you, so it really makes no difference...

I felt bad for the turtles. What if one wants to go left and the other right? They really have to accommodate for each other, huh? I have to admit, they were probably the most friendly turtles I've met in awhile.

Venice Beach has tons of side shows and street performers. I liked watching this man make a sand sculpture of an octopus. However, there are street performers, who do gymnastics and break-dancing. Sometimes, they drag in members of the audience to help them and I was unfortunate enough to be chosen. The guy jumped over six people and I was scared I was going to loose my head. It is common courtesy for you to give them a few dollars, but many of the shows are the same thing! They even use the exact same jokes.

Afterwords, my family and I went to one of my favorite restaurants to go to, when in the LA area. It's a Peruvian place and they make great lomo saltado, which is flambeed steak with tomatoes, onions, and such. I decided to try dessert there for the first time, so my family got two alforjas. They're basically sugar cookies with caramel in the middle and powder sugar on top. Then they decorate it with chocolate syrup and whipped cream.

Have you ever been to Venice Beach?

LACMA: Contemporary/Pop Art

2011-06-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

Mood: Relieved
Playing: Rise Above-Reeve Carney Feat. Bono and The Edge (I'm going to start linking the song I'm listening to it, so it's easier for you to listen to it, if you like.)
Do any of you remember how I went to LACMA before? If not, click here to freshen up your memory. My favorite part of the museum was the Contemporary/Pop Art building. It housed Warhols and so many cool things, so I thought I'd share a few pictures with you.

This was the main entrance, I believe. I liked the giant balloon animal and I remember seeing something like that in a fashion magazine, when I was little. All of the art here was really modern and very brightly colored. Therefore, making it my favorite.

I've always liked lights and signs because they come in such wonderful colors. At first, I failed to see what it said, but I like the "Last Chance Lost" sign now that I see it. It's ironic how it's a rather sad phrase, yet it's in such happy colors. I guess the slightly run down motel look of it makes up for that.

I loved these lit up boxes with the wires hanging out, but I was one upped by a guy. He brought in his ultra clear, high mega pixel camera to take pictures of this and I'm there with my camera that acts up in bad lighting. Haha, oh well...I think it'd be cool to have this just sit in the corner of your bedroom or in the center of your living room.

I liked this piece. The colors changed and different words were lit up as it changed. It reminded me of this book, where the main character was talking about how he'd fall asleep to neon lights twinkling outside his window...

I really don't have much to say about these pieces, other than I found them interesting and in the case of the last one, humorous...I heard there's a Tim Burton exhibit going on at LACMA and I'm dying to go. I love that man's work, so I think it would be great to get to see all of his work. By the way, I spent yesterday watching this video because I love listening to their great accents!

What have you been up to this summer?

So This House Burned Down...

2011-06-13T19:01:00.000-07:00

Mood: Stressed
Playing: We Are Golden-MIKA
Yeah, so the title pretty much summarizes this whole post. I don't have much to say other than this house burned down, so I drove down to go look at it. That's about it, but on the bright side, I got some pretty beach pictures...Man, this post is going to be rather boring, but hey, this time I have an excuse. I'm studying for Finals and I'm only posting this out of guilt for not posting in five days.

The house in the middle was destroyed completely to the point, where only a chimney was left. The people who own this house accidentally left their fireplace on and then went out to have fun. Then the house caught on fire...Interestingly enough, they had been trying to sell the house too.

I feel bad for the neighbors next door because I'm pretty sure they'll have to tear their house down and rebuild. Plus, all their belongings must be rather soggy because it rained the morning I went.

The roof sank in and it was very sad, at least to me. Their attic must've been a really cool place to hang out. I would've loved for that to be my bedroom.

The weather was weird that day. It was one of those days, where the clouds were covering up the sun, but the sun was still trying to break through.

This is the last photo for today because I need to get back to studying. Only two more days of school. I can almost taste my freedom.

Is it summer vacation for you?

The Circus is in Town

2011-06-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

Mood: Pleased
Playing: Mona Lisa-Panic! at the Disco
Last Saturday night, I went to an art gallery with Sophie. Wow, Sophie and I have been spending a lot of time with each other, huh? You must think we're lovers! Fear not, we're just friends! Let me warn you, this post is going to have a lot of photos because there was just so much! On the drive there, Sophie and I entertained ourselves by listening to 80's rock and chatting about much other stuff.

The first thing Sophie did was run to the bathroom, so I watched JNGL paint for awhile. I love how bright his artwork is and the cute creatures that fill his canvases.

Look at all his paintings! I love the twisted world that these creatures live in. The figurines on the side were absolutely adorable. Sophie and I wanted to steal them all. By the way, I had to combine some of the photos, otherwise this post would be way too long!

JSalvador's art was so cute and I love the hilarity of it. All of the superheroes stories were altered and you kind of got to see things from their perspective. You should click on the photos to read the pictures.

I liked this lamp because it reminded me of this drawing Gerard Way had done. I love how Mickey Mouse is something so innocent, yet Gerard Way and this artist gave him a dark side.

Look at that! That's hilarity in the form of fruit on the wall! The same artist did the fruit on the wall as the Mickey lamp. Many people got dressed up, but I only got a photo of this girl's top hat. If you're her and want me to take the photo down, let me know.

Click on this photo to enlarge it. Then you can see the ornate frames and read the captions. Once again, the artist, Deanna Rene Adona, twisted the accepted connotations of these fairy tales.

Even though, the theme of the art gallery was Circus, there was a lot of art inspired by Japan. The one on the left was one of Sophie's favorites and the one on the right is by Yuki Miyazaki.

Leyla Akdogan's art wowed me. I love the delicateness of all the lines and the softness to the characters' faces. They all look so innocent and the world that they live in is one I'd like to join.

I love Walt Hall's work and really hope to go to his see more of his art at another gallery (click here for more information). The birds with the top hats are my favorites. I also like the irony of teeth running away from the dentist in the bottom photo.

Here's proof that the theme was Circus. Look at those gloomy clowns by Ken Dougherty. I liked the seriousness of these paintings and the threat of danger that seemed to linger in them. The other thing that was pretty cool was the band there. There was an Asian guy with dreadlocks playing the keyboards, a guy with a beard on saxophone, and a tattooed guy on drums. Pretty intense, eh? I'm pretty sure I went on opening day, so I can't guarantee the band and all of the people dressed up. If you liked these photos and want to see them in person, you can go to 729 S. Spring Street in Los Angeles. I highly recommend it, if you're in the area. However if you're not and want to look at the rest of the paintings, click here.

Do you enjoy going to art galleries?

Let's Play House!

2011-06-06T19:28:00.000-07:00

Mood: Worried
Playing: We Didn't Start the Fire-Billy Joel
Before we went thrifting, Aadil, Austin, Sophie and I played house. It was just like kindergarten all over again. Only this time, I didn't play the pet cat and it didn't end up with all of us fighting over who should be married...

It was getting close to lunch time, so we dug around through the cupboards to try to find something for lunch. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to eat, so Sophie decided we should make pancakes. We wanted to have big, colorful pancakes, so we decided Fruit Loops were absolutely necessary.

Sophie and I made a lot of the pancakes together with Austin's help. Aadil was in the next room vacuuming and dusting. He likes things to be super clean, so he had to start making everything sparkly clean in Sophie's house.

All the cool kids are cooking pancakes with their eyes closed now. Just kidding, I just blinked when Sophie took the picture. This was my first time cooking pancakes without my dad's help, so can I get a high five for that?

Our pancakes didn't turn out as colorful as we were hoping for, but they sure tasted good! I was surprised how many pancakes one cup of mix could make!

I also made tuna sandwiches for my friends. I fried up some canned tuna with olive oil, chili powder, garlic salt, and pepper. Then I toasted the bread with butter and smeared mayonnaise on it. Aadil filled the sandwiches with tuna for me. It actually tasted really good, so I was pretty glad. I was afraid that it would turn out to be nasty or something...But everyone ate it and no one got sick, so it's all good! I'm not used to cooking without my dad, so this was good practice. I usually have him to taste my food first, so Austin ended up being the guinea pig. We thank you for your bravery.

Do you ever cook with your friends?

Thrifting With My Friends

2011-06-02T20:53:00.000-07:00

Mood: Stressed
Playing: New Perspective-Panic! at the Disco
Tomorrow I have a Biology test, where I have to label 50 structures on a fetal pig. The only thing is there's around 100 things I need to know, but there's only 50 questions, so I'm nervous as to which my teacher will put on the test. Biology tests always turn me into a nervous wreck and being sick doesn't help either. I have both a sore throat, which limits how much I can talk, and a runny nose...Today, I had a headache, while taking my history test, so I had a hard time thinking. My colds always include the same symptoms: runny nose, coughing, sore throat, slight headaches, and occasionally, my voice is altered. My voice at the moment is very deep and nasal. Sometimes, when I try to talk, I can barely get a sound out, so I have to cough before I talk to guarantee that noise will come out. On the bright side of life, I got a perfect score on my French test and I went thrifting with Austin, Aadil, and Sophie during Memorial Day weekend!

We went to a Buffalo Exchange, where Sophie and I got all excited, while Aadil and Austin were soon bored. Silly boys going shopping with girls! Sophie and I tried on so much clothing, but barely anything looked decent on us. Look at the no pile. In the no pile, there is vintage, Marc Jacobs, Marc by Marc Jacobs, clothes that people have DIY-ed, and so on. After naming all those great options, I think you know why thrifting is a good thing. You can get unique clothes and designer for less. While sorting through all the clothing, I found True Religion, Ralph Lauren, 7 for All Mankind, and so much more. The best part of this is, there's barely anything over $50 at Buffalo Exchange!

This is one of the cooler things that Sophie and I found. It's a vintage dress, but we're not quite sure what era it's from. It was only $9.50, but she didn't end up getting it. I'm pretty sure she bought a mustache ring and v-necks.

It was a rather hot day and I was an idiot and wore a sweater...So my first order of business was to find a comfy shirt to wear for the rest of the day. Lucky for me, I found a Calvin Klein shirt for only $14.

I saw this Louis Vuitton tossed aside, so carelessly in a tub. I grabbed it faster than you would believe, when I saw the LV pattern peeking out. The best part is that it only cost $18 and it's real. It was made in France and is made out of silk, not to mention, the stitching is perfect!

I saw this top on someone's blog and have been looking for it, so you can imagine how happy I was to find this shirt for $10 at Urban Outfitters. Originally it cost $58, so I'm fairly proud of my three finds and so is my dad. I wore this top yesterday and my friend Jackie liked it. This is how cool Jackie is. She liked nebulas before the Christopher Kane Resort 2011 collection came out. Yeah, she's that epicly cool. Sophie and Austin spent a lot of time at Urban Outfitters and Aadil bought a hamburger phone for his friend.

After we were done shopping at Buffalo Exchange and Urban Outfitters, Aadil took us to this great place to grab tea. I got a delicious Lychee Shaken Ice Tea, which was absolutely lovely. The best part was that you sat outside and up above, were plants. All the chairs were garden chairs and there was a couch too. If you look at the photo, you can see strands of lights, and I imagine that it must be very pretty,when lit up. I must go back soon! Hope your week has been going well!

Have you gone thrifting lately?

BAM! And Then There Was Me

2011-05-31T19:40:00.000-07:00

Mood: Proud

Playing: New Perspective-Panic! at the Disco
Hello! Well readers, this is a big day for my blog and I guess, for me too. I decided it's time to post some pictures of myself on my blog to prove to all of you that I'm a real person. Heh, does that even make sense to you? Now, I know not all of you care about this, so I decided I'll make this a post about who I am as a person.

Photo Courtesy of Sophie 2009

I am three quarters Chinese and one quarter Japanese. My mum is from Taiwan and moved here, when she was 9. My dad is from Hawaii and his side of the family is extremely Americanized. In fact, I think my dad is either 3rd or 4th generation. Even though I'm mostly Chinese, I can't speak Chinese fluently. I only know a few words, but I am learning French at school and Tagalog from my friends, in an attempt to make myself multi-lingual. Overall, I don't have many Asian characteristics other than the working hard in school part and the practicality, when it comes to life. Something odd about me is my freckles. I'm the only Asian girl with freckles that I know of and I don't get tan. If I stay in the sun, I get really pink!

Photo Courtesy of Sophie 2010

My parents constantly tell me I'm fairly "well-bred." Haha, I think it's because my mum is a direct descendant of Confucius and her grandfather was the general for Chiang Kai-Shek's air force. This is rather interesting, I think. My mum's side of the family fled from China to Taiwan with Chiang Kai-Shek in order to escape persecution from Mao Tse-Tung. Due to this, my parents think I'm well-bred. I tell people at school that I'm related to these people and they always think I'm lying, but I pinky promise, I'm not lying.

Photo Courtesy of Tina 2011 (Me with Tina and Tiffany)

I've had the same glasses and haircut for years now. I feel some change is necessary. I really want to cut it short kind of like this, only choppier and messier. I tried to fix my boring hair problem by dying it brown, but that only made me realize how dying my hair wasn't enough. I read this article in a fashion magazine (either marie claire, Elle, or Harper's Bazaar) that people who dye their hair blond have a hard time going darker later on. The author talked about how lighter hair makes your feel more optimistic and how it's a psychological thing. She was talking about how it doesn't have to be blond, any color that's lighter, makes you feel more cheerful and such. I didn't believe her until I pushed my brown hair back one day with a headband and started to freak out, when I saw my natural black hair. In my mind, all I could think about was how dark it looked and I realized, dying my hair brown might've been a bad thing. I'm going to have a hard time going back to black!

Are you going anywhere this summer?

P.S. I am very much aware of how self absorbed the title of this post sounds and this is why WikiAnswers isn't a good source for homework.Click here to see why.