Spontaneous Me

Playing: THE ARCHETYPES-MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS
Reading: Orange Coast June 2012

Hello everyone! It's so boring doing the same thing everyday and going through the same routine too, so I decided it's time for me to come up with different things to do everyday.  Yesterday, I just sat outside, photographing the bunnies in my yard that I've named Peter and Benjamin. I've been trying to get a photo of them for quite a bit of time now because it's hard to see both of them in my yard at once. I tried leaving out a carrot for the two of them and came back two days later only to find it covered in slugs. I had my brother deal with it then...The bunnies are so adorable and I like how they just sit on my lawn, munching my grass, all the time.

Over the weekend, I skipped reading in the morning to cut up travel brochures and magazines. I thought I was going to make a scrapbook of all the places I want to visit, but lately I've been thinking I should make a collage for my bedroom wall. But then I would have to take down my band posters and I'm not sure I'm willing to take those down for photos of the world. My binders are already stuffed with travel photos and different fashion campaigns plus musicians, so I'm not sure what I should do with my extra clippings.

Two weeks ago, I was reading about how Sally Hanson did some collaborations with different designers to create new nail colors, so I ran off to multiple drug stores to hunt them down late at night after less than a minute of thought. I copied down the names for Alexander Wang's collaboration from a year ago, so I had the wrong names and panicked, thinking I would never find them. Then I realized I had the wrong names, so I had to look up the new ones. I ended up buying Prabal Gurung's Loves Me Not and Barely Bluebell plus Alexander Wang's Parchment and Petrol.

Part of my plan to be more spontaneous is to not worry about consequences too much. I decided to run off to see the dolphin that got lost in the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve a week or so back instead of worrying about when I would have time to do my homework.  They think the dolphins got bullied into the wetlands, so I feel bad for the dolphin, but what could've it have done to piss off so many other dolphins?

Also, a part of my spontaneity plan is just going wherever, whenever I feel like it. I was in the mood for cupcakes, so I drove down to Sprinkles to get some and that was that. After taking a bite from them, I kind of wished I went to Casey's instead, since I really prefer their cupcakes over Sprinkles, but Sprinkles seemed like what I wanted at the moment. Maybe I shouldn't be too spontaneous and rash. I should at least give myself time to think through my decisions. If I did that, I would've been very content with my Casey's Cupcakes instead of slightly upset with my Sprinkles cupcakes...Hmm, I obviously need to work on my balance between spontaneity and thoughtfulness. Anyways, before I make this post too random and weird, thank you for reading!

State Testing is Done!

Playing: Major Tom-Peter Schilling
Reading: Neil Patrick Harris Wikipedia Page
Do any of you have to take standardized tests issued by the state? For me, I spent last week taking all of the CST's and STAR's, which are both California state exams. The problem is, the tests are too easy for most of the students in my school district and especially for me. They're almost a joke at my school and to be truthful, we make fun of the CAHSEE a lot. For example, after a tough test, we will say jokingly, "At least it wasn't as hard as the CAHSEE!" For the five exams I had to take, they gave me a total of nine hours split up into three sessions, but I only spent four hours actually taking the test. Then we're not allowed to do anything after the test because it might lead us to cheat, so we sit there with nothing to do and then the test administrators chastise us for getting antsy. It's stupid to force us to stay once we finish the test. It's also appalling what the education system is like in the USA, if it's true that a good chunk of the people taking these tests actually fail them...End rant.

After one of our testing days, I went out with Tiffany, Christine, and Tina to hang out and just go around doing whatever we felt like. We stopped off at Starbuck's to get drinks plus lunch for Tina and me. I like giving stores fake names, when they ask for it, so at Starbuck's, I'm now officially Mercedes. Next time, I want to be Celia Bowen or Asta, who are both from books that I've enjoyed.

Left to Right: Tina, Christine, and Tiffany

We then went to an Albertson's to get lunch for Christine and Tiffany, so we decided to eat our lunches inside Albertson's because real hipsters like hanging out inside of super markets. Known fact. Not really. Deal with my sarcasm, please.

We walked around Marshall's after lunch, looking for a red or white dress for me to wear to Ghazal's Fire&Ice themed birthday party. Also special about that day was that Tina and I agreed to wear our Cole Haan oxfords, so that we could kind of be twinsies together. No, my legs aren't abnormally muscular or fat. Tina is just very skinny and happens to weigh as much as a mouse. In other news, Christine told me my feet looked like cotton candy.

Once we were done looking through Marshall's, Tina took us to Styles For Less to shop for herself and to continue my hunt for a dress for Ghazal's party. Tina left with a pretty, Grecian style, white, chiffon-like dress that she'll be wearing for Latin's Toga Days at school instead of a bed sheet from now on. Most stylish ancient Roman that looks Japanese ever! Afterwards we wandered over to a drug store to look at the nail polishes and to look at how outdated this particular drug store is. It's like stepping into the 1990's, only kind of depressing.

Even though I didn't find a dress that day, I did find an inexpensive blazer at Marshall's that's very Beetlejuice in my opinion. I've been looking for a black and white striped blazer for awhile and this was the first one I found at a decent price with acceptable quality. I need to add some more interesting pieces to my closet instead of just solid colored clothing. I also like the bright pink lining because it looks like something Mondo Guerra would do.

Oh and here's a bonus photo. Read what it says, I'll wait. I love the Engrish mistake made here and how this was not at a foreign market. I usually find this type of stuff at Asian and Persian places, but this is a great example of what I was ranting about before. The American school system. What you gonna do?

Daiso!

Playing: What We Had-The Drums
Reading: Artemis Wikipedia Page

Over the weekend, I visited a Daiso with Sophie for some quick, inexpensive shopping and as a getaway from studying. I'm really glad that Daiso is expanding across the USA because it's like a 99¢ Store, only with goods that I'll actually use and it's always clean, even if it gets messy. I also like how all of the employees are friendly, super helpful, and can speak English.

I've been so tempted to buy a new pencil pouch for myself because mine is so dirty right now and covered with ink stains, but I restrained myself. With only one more month of school, I can definitely wait for summertime to come, when I can wash my pencil case and wait for it to dry. However, Daiso has some really cute options! They have cute, strawberry shaped bento boxes and ice packs shaped like baby ducks too.

They also sell cheap, gyaru style makeup there, which doesn't really excite me. I don't wear makeup at the moment, so this photo is pretty much just meant to show you a tiny bit of what they offer. Sophie bought a pair of eyelashes there and she seemed pretty satisfied with them. Ask her for opinions on the overall quality?

Daiso also sells candies, snacks, and various ingredients for Asian cuisines. I really like their candy selection and so does my chemistry teacher. In fact, I bought a bag of blueberry candy for myself and for him. We like to exchange different candies with each other, so it's a pretty interesting teacher-student friendship right now. It's great to see that Daiso covers both of our sweet tooths though!

My parents like the wall with all the mugs and plates because they really want to get rid of our dishes, bowls, and cups that we've had since the 1970's, but they don't feel like spending a lot. I'm hoping they'll go for something really modern or all white, but they'll probably go for something traditional. As you can probably tell, Daiso just sells a tiny bit of everything, even inflatable boobs, which my friend, Erika, bought for her boyfriend.

No shopping post would be complete without a photo of what I bought, right? I bought one notebook to use for my journal and one as my travel notebook along with some fluffy yarn, pretty lace, tasty candy, cheap sticky notes, and some lotion. The leopard print pouch I got to use as wrapping for my friend, Parmida's, animal print themed birthday party. Also, I bought something crazy like 16 cans of pineapple-coconut water, which I like to drink after school. Sophie told me she thinks, "I buy all my food in bulk." That's not true, only the stuff I like. I've already made some super adorable pop-kei/fairy-kei looking bows using the yarn and some buttons I bought at Joanne's Fabrics plus I've started to fill out one of the notebooks.

Have you ever been to a Daiso before?

Confirmation

Playing: For Reasons Unknown-The Killers
Reading: Vogue June 2012 (Yay for the Olympics!)

On May 19, I was confirmed in the Catholic faith. After two years of attending late, Confirmation classes on week nights, I finally was confirmed along with so many of my amazing friends. It's truly a great feeling to finally go through this sacrament after so much preparation. Before our actual mass, where we got confirmed, we had to listen to instructions on how to line up, which we understood as, "Please take as many photos now as you want!" So here I am, from left to right, with Clare, Daniela, Krishan, Nissa, me, and Chelcee.

Left to Right: Me, Chelcee, Krishan, and Sara

During the actual lecture on how to behave during mass, Chelcee pulled out her iphone to take more photos.
We had a hard time squeezing all four of us in the photo, so I had to sit on Chelcee's lap and then Sara could finally pop herself into the photo. I'm not really sure what they talked to us about because well, I wasn't really listening, but I didn't mess up during mass, so I'm assuming I followed the instructions.

After mass, I took more photos with everyone and my dad greeted me with a huge bouquet of roses, lilies, and astromeria lilies. Unfortunately, all the incense and the chrism from mass gave me a bad headache, so I had to go back home quickly to wash off the chrism and take some Motrin. The chrism's smell really knows how to stick to you. I was rubbing my forehead so hard to clean it off, I actually cut myself...

Once I was done changing into normal clothes and washing the chrism off my forehead, I went off to Todai with some family friends to celebrate my Confirmation. My dad always tells me not to get the udon at buffets because noodles are cheap and "we need to get our money's worth." I still get the udon though and I like it every time. However, I hope we did get our money's worth because I ate quite a bit of seafood that day!

The desserts are only alright at Todai, but they're so nicely presented! The Japanese always make all their food look beautiful. If you want further proof, check out FuckYeahBentoBox, which is full of amazing bento boxes and bento box ideas! However, I've noticed that sometimes Asian pastries aren't as delicious as their European counterparts. So do you choose beauty or taste? I almost always choose taste over beauty. If you ever go to Todai, I do not recommend the matcha green tea cake with red bean filling. It's really odd tasting and Jaren, who was there with us that night, said, "It looks like Yoda's dandruff." So there you go, Asian desserts are beautiful yet bland in most of my experiences...

A photo I stole from Sophie's blog of me studying for the AP tests with my new, black hair!

By the way, did I mention my hair is "Back in Black" now? I asked my hair stylist to dye my brown hair back to my natural color, but she made it a really fake, inky black like a raven. I like it though. It reminds me of my "punk" days and I like looking hardcore. The inky black emphasizes how pale my skin is, which apparently Asian guys dig (according to my guy friends). However, my friends, Shayan and Sagiv, have been arguing over which hair color they prefer on me. I walked in with black hair and Shayan screamed at me, "No, your hair is black! Dye it back now!" And then Sagiv yelled back, "No, I've been telling her to dye it black now for over a year!"

Have you been Confirmed? Also, what hair color do you like the best?

The World's Cutest Music Videos

Playing: You and I-Ingrid Michaelson
Reading: Outburn 37
I've been listening to "You and I" by Ingrid Michaelson  for most of today and it's just such an adorable song. Listening to it inspired me to compile a selection of some of the cutest music videos I know of. All sorts of different types of cute, so hopefully you'll find something you like.

It's really cute to see Carly Rae Jepsen fall head over heels for a new guy and to see her try so hard to grab his attention. Also, the whole singing in a garage has this seriously cute teenage-garage-band vibe. Plus, she's so pretty and darling looking that you'd think she'd definitely get the guy until you see the end...My friend, Daniela, said this depicts how she feels about the guy she likes except for the last bit.

Katy Perry's over the top music video for "California Gurls" is perfect for all dessert lovers and reminds me of last summer, when all my female Facebook friends were titling their photo albums CALIFORNIA GURLS, thinking they were clever for using the song to depict that they were living a very Californian lifestyle. Other than that laughable incident, I really think Katy did a great job, making a super cute candy land for all of us lovers of all things cute. Right down to her pastel hair and cotton candy cloud. Here's a warning to all of you wanting to visit California, not all California girls wear candy dresses.

My friend, PJ, introduced me to Marina and the Diamonds, since he was singing this song during PE. Since then, I've fallen in love with how this music video forces so many things that I love into less than four minutes. Beautiful chandeliers, pastel retro clothes, big dolly lashes, and heart shaped beauty marks? Can it get any cuter? Also, really digging the 90's girl power feel of this music video.

Kerli's costumes in her "Walking On Air" music video are the best and I love the lolita, ballerina feel to all of them. It's the type of creepy cute that I appreciate that's shown in this music video with the big eyed doll and the house's decorations. It has this intense, dreamlike quality that I love. If you're not into stereotypical cute things and like Tim Burton, then this might be the music video for you.

If you love cute, Japanese things, then you've probably already heard of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Her music videos are always super creative, weird, funny, and just plain cute. I think her "PONPONPON" video is cuter, but I've already shared that with you over the summertime, so that's why "CANDY CANDY" made my countdown instead. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu leaves me with this important question, why is J-pop less popular than K-pop? Maybe J-pop is too weird or maybe it's because K-pop reminds us of our favorite boy bands and girl groups from the 1990's. Which do you prefer, K-pop or J-pop?

My Little Pony Project: Part 2

Playing: Past Regrets, Future Threats-Call Atlantis
Reading: Vogue May 2012

As you probably already know, I went to the My Little Pony Project opening two weekends ago. The My Little Pony Project wasn't just made up of sculptures, although that was a large part of it. It also included super cute, technicolor paintings that looked like they popped out of one of my eight year old fantasies. I mean seriously, neons mixed with pastels and used to draw adorable ponies? Perfect childhood dream, right?

All of the pony statues were amazing and I loved the range of artists plus designers. It was great to see how each artist transformed their pony into something completely different from the next and how some were dark and others were bright and happy!

My absolute favorite from the collection is Junie Moon's Pony Couture. I loved the creative use of different fabrics and of course, rhinestones, to create this fabulous outfit for the latte colored pony. I especially love the trail on this pony's outfit.

6% dokidoki's was also a favorite of mine with the furry leg warmers and overdoes of accessories. I also liked the use of real 6% dokidoki products to decorate this pony and the shooting stars in the eyes. It's an over the top way of doing neon cute.

Despite going for the My Little Pony art, I happened to really like Frank Kozik's The Bird is the Word, which was just sitting right by the cashier register. Something about seeing the serious Mao Zedong, I'm guessing, with silly Mickey Mouse ears really made me laugh.

I also really liked the art there that wasn't a part of the My Little Pony project. The slightly creepy, cutesy, toy-ish look to all the creatures in the paintings were fun to look at and it made me feel like I should get back to painting and being creative. Since I just finished my last AP test today, I'll have to get back to work. To see more photos from that night and of the art, check out:

• The Progress Photos on Facebook
• Onch's Facebook
• Geeky Glamorous
• Tomopop
• LA Weekly

Le Week-End

Playing: Better Than Better Could Ever Be-Stephen Jerzak and Cady Groves
Reading: Travel+Leisure May 2012

Now that I'm done with my AP World textbook, I'm supposed to use the weekends to study for the AP World test coming up, but I spent mine going out and doing all the things I've been deprived of for awhile. For example, going to the mall and finally getting another pair of oxfords, which I am so in love with right now. I love the traditional style done in funky colors. I was originally hunting for a brown pair, but then these got my attention.

For dinner, I tried Renata's Cafe Italiano for the first time, which turned out to be an excellent idea because the Farfalle Genovese was absolutely delicious. I loved the way they took dishes I thought I knew and put a twist on it. Smoky bacon in your carbonara? Dried tomatoes plus fresh tomatoes in your dish? Yes, please. Also, there was a group of German guys in suits sitting at the table next to me. I was listening into their conversation and sneaking peeks at them, so when they started to look at me, I was worried that I had made it too obvious that I was watching them.

Right across the street, there's an old mansion that is now the Chamber of Commerce, I think. I really liked the upper balcony on the site and the white columns. It's nice enough to look like the front of the house, right?

And tada, here's the front of the house with a narrow driveway, probably meant for carriages, and lovely windows. I wonder how all the older houses got clumped up in one area and how none of them ended up in my city. It's probably because my city is fairly new and it used to be all farmland.

After dinner and my outing to the mall, I went home to bake cookies for the senior citizens home. I baked something like eight dozen for them that night. It was making my mouth drool, so I ran out to get another dozen for myself. Baking cookies from the packet is so much easier than from scratch. If I had done it from scratch, I would've had to clean my mixer and measuring cups plus the baking sheet, while from the packet, I only need to clean the baking sheet. Yay for saving water and soap!

Do you bake cookies from the packet or from scratch?

My Little Pony Project: Part 1

Playing: Man I Think I Love Her-Stereo Skyline
Reading: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

For the My Little Pony Project at the Toy Art Gallery, I went on the opening day and dragged my friends, Terry and Sophie, along with me. Terry actually started a Friendship is Magic Club at my school that I'm a part of, so I decided it was a must to bring him with me. I must say, it was a lot of fun to have those two keeping me entertained in line.

We probably waited in line for two hours before we got in, so we amused ourselves by taking photos with some new friends and please excuse my awkward arm positioning. But look here, just because our new friend is a mannequin doesn't mean he was forced to pose with us.  He totally wanted to hang out with us because we're the coolest thing suburbia has to offer Los Angeles. Just kidding, we're not that narcissistic to believe that.

Waiting in line for two hours does cause hunger, so my parents were kind enough to grab us some French fries from the Johnny Rocket's down the corner.  I like how the light reflecting on my hair makes it look like I've got red ombre going on in my hair. I only wish I could do that!

 

It was fun to stand in line, while singing songs to each other, eating deep fried, salty potatoes, and teasing each other mercilessly, but we still got tired with waiting for so long. When we were finally close enough to see the Toy Art Gallery, we freaked out and then realized they were only letting two people in at a time, so we still had a while to go.

When we got in, we snacked on Lil' Rae Cake Balls, which were decorated cutely with different My Little Pony motives. Terry and my dad do not understand the importance of taking photos for a blog, so both of theirs have bite marks in them. It was nice that they were all different flavors-red velvet, chocolate, vanilla, etc. I wish I had tried more of them, when I had the chance!

It was great to see Onch again and Terry loved the My Little Pony necklaces that Onch had designed, which were a mixture of metal ware and hair. I was surprised to see that Onch reminded me, since the last time we had seen each other was December, I believe. Like I've said before, Onch is so colorful and fun!

And one touristy photo for all of you from the magical fields of Equestria. Of course Sophie looks adorable as a present and I'm obviously a fairy princess, while Terry wouldn't dress up with us. I'm still sorting through all my photos of the sculptures and paintings, so I'll save that for the next post. Would it be annoying if I just put all the sculpture photos together as a GIF? If not, I have to cut down on which ones I'll choose and I don't know which photos shouldn't make the cut.

Sophie is returning to blogging and I would love it, if you could visit her blog here!

Reunion of the Inception Group

Playing: We Are Young-Fun. Feat. Janelle Monáe
Reading: The Sandman: The Doll's House by Neil Gaiman 

Left to Right: Josh, Me, Chelcee, and Sophie

Two years ago, I went to go see Inception with my really awesome friends, Chelcee, Josh, Sophie, and Aadil. When we got there, we asked Josh to get us drinks and he came back with an extra large drink for all five of us to share, as pictured above, and when Inception finished, we all argued over whether it was a dream or not. We all ended up splitting up and going to different schools a year ago and if we are at the same school, we no longer hang out with each other every single second of the day. Well, we decided it was time for a reunion this year.

Left to Right: Chelcee's Mint Milk, Aadil's Taro Milk, My Barley Milk Tea, and Sophie's Honey Green Tea

It started off with a text from Aadil asking me to bring him somewhere to get taro milk and before I knew it, I had planned out a meetup for all of us. Unfortunately, Josh couldn't make it last minute, so it ended up being just Chelcee, Aadil, Sophie, and me. We all got drinks and chatted with each other about life, school, college, the future, One Direction, and people that used to go to school with us before we ordered our lunches.

Left to right: Aadil, Sophie, Me, and Chelcee

Of course, we had to get a group photo together because we all love each other so deeply and wholeheartedly that it would be a crime not to get a photo together. It was funny how the waiter looked at Aadil and told him, "Dude, you're so lucky. Three girls with you! You're the man." I always have such a great time with these people. They're really great and I love how carefree we are with one another. I love how comfortable we are with each other and how we can say whatever we want with no fear of being judged or deemed weird.

After lunch, Chelcee left us and I was left with Aadil and Sophie. We headed off to a teacher's supply store, a dried fruits and tea shop, a Sanrio gift store, a Taiwanese book store, and ended up in the candy plus snacks aisle of a Chinese super market. We walked around the super market hoping to find some taro snacks for Aadil, but couldn't seem to find anything worthwhile, so we set off for a thrift book store and then ended the day chatting at the library about whatever went through our heads.

I used my Jason Wu for Target purse for the first time at our reunion and let me tell you something, this bag might have made me a big purse type of person. I've always preferred miniscule purses that can only fit the basics, but I really like having a bag that can carry everything! 

I was able to fit my cellphone, wallet, and camera (not pictured) plus so much more! Normally, I can only fit those three things, but it was nice to be able to purchase a book and a tea square and not have to carry a shopping bag. Plus, the purse's pockets were so useful and made room for a deck of cards plus some candy, some medicine, and a chap stick. Talk about a lot of room, huh? I might need to upgrade to larger purses soon.

Are you a small or large purse person?

Laguna Beach

Playing: Just for Tonight-One Night Only
Reading: Mary Kate And Ashley Olsen Talk Elizabeth and James with Barneys

When you live in Southern California, it's mandatory that you visit the beach at least once during Spring Break and Summer Vacation. It's practically a law, since the weather is always so sunny here. Laguna Beach is probably most well known from the TV show, Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. You know, the show with Lauren Conrad showing us how awesome life is as a pretty girl in a pretty town? What's nice about Laguna Beach is the wide collection of art galleries, beach wear stores, and small, artsy boutiques. It's really quite a quaint area and it's filled with stereotypical Californians, which is a good thing for tourists.

The Chicken Divan Crepes at C'est La Vie are excellent and the sauce is great for dipping their fresh baguettes in. What originally drew me to C'est La Vie is that it's one of the few restaurants with reasonable prices and it has a beach view. Plus, the service is quick and it offers tons of unexpected French cuisine that I haven't seen before.

For dessert, the waitress brings over a whole plate of desserts for you to choose from and then brings you a fresh one, once you have chosen. One of my favorite desserts is a tart, so I chose the Mixed Fruit Tart, which was served beautifully with a shortbread cookie and chocolate ice cream plus decorations done in various fruit and chocolate sauces.

 If you're not in the mood for French treats, may I suggest Casey's Cupcakes, winner of an episode of Cupcake Wars? Her cupcakes tend to have a light, muffin texture and aren't overly sweet, so it doesn't feel as fattening as other cupcakes. Most of her icings aren't too sweet, but the chocolate cupcakes are weak compared to her amazing fruit cupcakes. My favorites are the orange and the lemon flavors. Plus, every month, there is a new specialty cupcake!

Also, on a side road, they have beautiful gardens and random stores that sell items such as animal rugs and pet koi. I loved this arch, covering a small street. Very pretty and slightly whimsical, right? I would love it, if this arch was covering a gravel road instead. Laguna Beach is perfect for anybody that wants a beautiful beach, art galleries, or interesting shopping. It has so much to offer and along PCH, there's a vintage car store and various bead shops that I failed to photograph for you. Definitely worth a trip, if you're in the area!