Why?

Why do we make things harder than they actually are?

My trip to Portland

Recapped by Roomie.

Pictures to come soon!

Food. Culture. Life

Anthony Bourdain is my new hero. He does traveling right....sooo right.

Amazing!!

Dinner for Vee's 24th Bday

Enjoyed good food and good company @ Animal with Vee. Food was a bit rich but was definitely worth the experience. Vee and I decided to share appetizers all the way so that we could try more plates. Definitely a good idea to go with the appetizers. My favorite dish was the Hamachi Tostada (pictured first). It was light, flavorful and slightly tangy.

I definitely ate enough sodium to last me the entire week. Going with simple and clean foods until next week. Gotta give my stomach a breather.

Hamachi Tostada (looks a little disheveled b/c I forgot I had my camera and just started digging in until Vee reminded me that I should take a picture)

Lamb Meatballs - quite tender

Marrow Bone on Toast - Second favorite dish. I love the texture of marrow...the taste went really well with the pesto.

Sweetbread with Creamed Spinach - Texture was a mix between bread and chicken...bricken? chread?

Ribs with Salad - My least favorite dish...maybe b/c it was served last and I was already full

Chocolate Bar with Bacon Bits - You heard right. The bacon was like the nutty component of the dessert. It provided a salty and crunchy side to the rich and sweet chocolate.

Mouth is watering...........................................

Random Tangent

It's always when I'm the midst of writing papers that I lose track of focus and start doing other things...like eating... and playing dress up. Now is it terribly bad that I'm losing precious time at 1am and fashioning myself in random clothes to create a totally funky outfit? I don't think so. Maybe it'll help the flow of my creative juices. Had fun while it lasted. Please disregard MESSY MESSY room.

Q. Is it bad to wear two shades of brown at the same time? Is that not kosher?

Oh well, I did it anyway.

Brown Vera Wang sweater, Blue scarf from India (gift), Beige A|X belt, Green skirt from Urban Outfitters and Brown suede Balenciaga pumps

Same sweater, Forever 21 tights (yeaaa baby) and same shoes

wow, that killed 30 minutes of my life and was worth every minute.

Theory Fashion Insider Looks

Theory recently re-launched their website to include an e-commerce boutique and different "looks" by 17 stylists. My favorites were the looks that incorporated some slouchy-ness and stuff from the boyfriend's closet. I want them all!

There were a couple looks for guys that I really liked. I am really digging the folded pants, highwater look. If I tried to get my brother to wear these clothes, he would probably get mad at me for making him look too metro.

I love the clean and simple lines of Theory. I really like the direction they're going with marketing....now if only they'll lower their prices.

Styled by Tina Chai

Styled by Karin Nelson

Styled by Isabel Dupre

Styled by Susan Joy

Styled by Leslie Fremar

Styled by Michael Philouze

Styled by Ben Stubbington

Angel's Flight

Went to Angel's Flight in Downtown L.A. for a photo session. Took a ride on Angel's Flight which re-opened a couple months ago for only $0.25 one-way. Here are some pictures I wanted to share.

Angel's Flight finally in action

Looking at the top

Interesting detail in the car

On the way back down...another $0.25

It's sorta scary when the cars are passing each other because there's barely any space between the cars. It's like driving on 110 between two freight trucks...

View from the top of the hill

I loved how the light was shining through the trees and focusing on the bench. So beautiful.

Two Hurrahs for the Month of June

Graduation... HURRAH!

World Cup... HURRAH HURRAH!

Something Bad and Something Good

If I eat a donut and a banana, do they cancel each other out?

Time Flies When You Don't Look Inside Your Trunk

I was cleaning out some of the random junk in my trunk after coming back from the gym and I found some pretty interesting stuff. Items to note:

-Orange safety vest

-Hard hat (mental note to return these back to the Architecture Dept.)

-An extra shelf for my desk

-Orange cloudy shoes that was an impulse buy that I need to return to DSW.

-My Korean dancing practice clothes

-Old books and school work from a year ago

-And lastly, a journal that I thought wasn't too old. I was grossly mistaken when I opened it up to the last entry and it was dated February 12, 2006.

Where has the time gone? I swear, that journal couldn't have been sitting in my trunk for 4 years now, could it? What was I doing February 2006? I was still at UCI in my 3rd year of college. I wasn't 21 yet and I was living in Vista Del Campo, a dorm like apartment which is now , I believe, 2nd year dedicated dorms.

To share a random story, 3rd year at UCI was the year I yelled, actually, seriously berated a random drunk guy at 3 am. At that apartment, my room was situated the closest to the main door, and since the head of my bed faced that direction, I could hear pretty much anyone walking outside of my apartment. So this drunk guy, at 3am, loses all sense of his direction and for some reason thinks that my apartment is his. For about 5 minutes, he tries to fit his keys into the keyhole, but fails... duhhh.. and doesn't get the hint that he's at the wrong apartment.

After those 5 minutes of fussing around with the keys and stumbling around, I lose my patience and throw back my blanket and walk out to the front door. I'm pretty irritated and annoyed that someone would wake me up in the middle of my beauty sleep. Seriously, I know right?? I meet my other roommate out in the living room and we're both standing behind the door, and when I open it, he pushes the door back which hits my roommate. I think that action lit a fuse in me and for the next 10 minutes, I yelled at him like a mom yells at her kid who crapped in his pants at the local Ralph's. I'm not quite sure what I was so angry about, but I think I let out about 2 years of pent up emotions on him. Thinking back, I feel a little bad for unleashing my wrath to a random drunk guy, but hey, he was drunk and woke me up. I always get a good chuckle when I think about that time.

So yeah, that's a random event in 3rd year. There are so many more stories from that year alone.. heck that apartment alone, but I'm still taken aback that since then 4 years has passed. It took an old journal in the back of a trunk to make me realize how fast time has passed. When you see things everyday you don't realize how old it is until you make the conscious effort to pick it up and put a date on it. I guess that's how it is in life too. You don't realize how fast time is going by until you take a breather and think about what day it is, how old you are, where you've come from and to where you're headed.

Today is the beginning of March 12, 2009, I am 24, I've been in L.A. for the past 2 years going to grad school and honestly, I don't know where I'm headed...but...that's alright.

I have faith that God will provide.

Sticks of Gold

Everything tastes good when you cook it with butter. Everything!!

Getty Villa

Getty Villa is L.A.'s version of Hearst Castle. Practiced using the 'P' and 'M' modes on my camera. Still a lot more to learn, but here are the pictures that I liked the most:

Star leaves on wood cast concrete found along the entrance walkway to the museum. Some super nerd* told me that the architects that designed the walkway wanted the user to feel as if he or she is in an excavation dig site. If you ever take this route, you will notice that you don't see the actual Villa until the end of the walkway. By doing so, the walkway enhances the history and the exclusivity of the Villa.

Loved the typeface throughout the museum. So simple and clean.

Staggered stone wall

Girl has the whole Roman Greek Goddess look going on.

Dizzzyyyy

Borrowed idea...but wrong time of day

When I buy a house, I want my backyard to look like this:

Interesting landscape, who dat??

From the herb garden and I don't think it's that kind of herb.

*Christopher Yee...haha!!

Heritage Park

Some more pictures....@ Heritage Park in Cerritos. Fun times with Vee...thanks for the pointers!

Chillin' by the water

Now it's the ducks doing yoga.. insanity.

Umm, I'm sorry Vee, but I think you're too tall for the play area.

Crazy echo....echo....echo

I love lines.

Until Later!!

Cerritos

"What's the point of a 10-year High School reunion? Everyone at Whitney knows what everyone else is doing already." -Maggie Hui

True...I agree. But everyone doesn't know what everyone else looks like, unless you are an avid Facebook stalker. Then, shame on you... then I guess, shame on me. Going back to Cerritos is always nice; you get away from city life and city traffic. Pure, blissful suburbia. However, it definitely puts you at a higher risk of running into someone you don't want to see. These are generally the people that are probably way more successful than you or have miraculously transformed into models.

Potential Scenario : It's a bright beautiful weekday (because you've been laid off, thanks to the economy) and you're at the local park walking your dog in your old high school club t-shirt. You bend down to clean up after your dog and mid-rise *BBBAMM* who do you see? Your high school crush with some hot chick jogging your way. What do you do then? Run away like you did when you saw your ex-boyfriend for the first time after 6 months or stay put and quickly think of a witty story of why you're at the park when you should be at work. Neither! You curse Cerritos for being such a small city with too many nice parks for its own good!

Luckily, I have an internship and I'm still going to school and I don't have a dog (well that's not so lucky). When I went back to Cerritos recently, I took advantage of the nice parks to practice using my camera. Since I had a legit reason to be at the park during the daytime, I took my chances of running into someone and shuttered away.

One of the parks I went to was Regional Park located at the south end of Cerritos. I was accompanied by Maggie H, not Q, and her lovely dog, Bebe H.

Smelling the roses

Cute duck butts. Lookin' for some grub.

Bebe sniffing a puppy with shoes. with shoes?

A grey goose doing a yoga pose

The cafe we went to for lunch had a doggie menu.. so cute.

Maggie and Bebe

Feels like an imagix picture

More photos to come, seriously!

Downtown Los Angeles

Went on a walking tour of Downtown L.A.'s public plazas and spaces yesterday. Forgot how fun it is to walk around downtown. Picked up a ginormous $2.50 taco at Grand Central Market. I lost the rest group but it was totally worth it!! Nothing beats eating a taco while speed walking in downtown.

Can't get enough of the old buildings!! Here's one of the oldest buildings in L.A.:

Was a fire station, now retail/commercial use.

It's a shame that most Angelenos don't walk around the city and are forever attached to their cars, including myself. I gotta change that this year! I'm determined to take a bus somewhere. And I call myself an Urban Planner? Sheesh! Some more pretty pictures of the random things in Downtown.

"Bright, Lucid and Clear" at Maguire Gardens

Redeveloped green space near the stationary Angel's Flight. Look familiar?

Nighttime Downtown L.A. while driving. (don't worry, I was quick about it)

I Love LA.