officially summer

As of Wednesday, the 20th, summer has "officially" began. And there is only one week left in June and I feel like I haven't done much of anything summery! Sure, my May was jam-packed with events every weekend, but I'm having a bit of a slow month. I don't really want to wait until July either (not that I have much of a choice). I feel like once July starts, I only have a short time until summer's over. But I don't know if it makes much difference. I'm still going to work and since I'm taking summer school, not much has changed really. I miss the days when we were all little and summer meant doing absolutely jack. I guess some people still do that. I wish I had that freedom with my perks now. How perfect would that be, right?

Anime Expo is next weekend. Again, I don't have much of anything planned during it. I haven't even really been putting together any sort of outfit like I usually do. I'm usually scouring clothing sites for ideas and pieces I can use. I have a couple key pieces I want to use at home, like the striped blazer (paired with my Litas) I bought a few months ago and a raggedy, gypsy-esque skirt I got at the Renn Faire. I haven't actually completed the outfit though.

I've actually been trying to get a little more fit this month, but after suddenly running last week, I kind of messed up my foot so I had to rest this week. Which is a total buzz-kill right when I'm trying to make it a routine and get into the habit. Last week me and my coworkers went to yoga (which we've been doing for a little over a month now), then on Tuesday, me and Kelly went walking around her neighborhood. Wednesday, me and Miki went walking/slight jogging around her neighborhood. We recruited more by Thursday and there were four of us walking and jogging around Torrance. That's when I strained some muscle in my foot I didn't even know I had. I've been limping a little and trying not to put much weight on it to make it better, but I did Zumba on Tuesday night and it didn't exactly make it worse, but I know it didn't help the healing, hehe. I was slightly limping again the next day. xD

I'm going to Disneyland with Mari tomorrow. Her pass is going to expire soon and she hasn't gone nearly enough since having it. I think she might have gone enough to "pay it off", but again, not nearly enough. I'm excited to see Carsland! I want to go on Radiator Springs Racers but I heard you have to get there at opening to even get fastpasses! And this summer both parks open at 8AM! Yeah...I kind of wanted to go so she could ride it, but they'll be there for awhile. I think I can wait a little bit. I hope my foot doesn't get too bothered tomorrow.

Oh my god I want to do summery stuff!! I want to go to Disneyland A LOT with my friends. Big groups and nothing but laughing at stupid stuff. I want to go to the beach on a hot day and have barbeques and go to parties! I'm currently obsessed with a song by Owl City, ft Carley Rae Jepson called Good Time. It just sounds so fun and happy and I like to think that's what my summer can be like- good times no matter what. I've also been looking at tattoos the past couple days, thinking of my next one. I kind of know what I'd like but I don't know where I'd place it. I'd also have to either hide it or just put it out there and make my dad accept it. hehehe...bad, I know. =P

Okay, that should do it. Until next time...bye! ♥ 

New York!

So here's my long over-due post on my trip to New York.

I went with Janeen and Regina over Memorial Day weekend for 5 days to visit Lily. I think that's quite a trip. It's just longer than a 3-day weekend trip and it's about enough for working ppl/college kids to cram in all the major sites before starting to get sick of each other.

So the first major stop on our second day (since we arrived in the evening of Thursday) was Grand Central Terminal (no longer called "station" apparently, but I like the sound of "station" more).

- this is me in Grand Central Terminal -

Then we walked to the New York Public Library, passed by Bryant Park and made our way to Times Square. After that we made our way to Chelsea where Lily's work was. The Flat Iron Building was right there and for some reason, I've always wanted to see that since I was little. That was one of my iconic things of New York. 

- this is me showing off the Flat Iron Building -

Lily had to go to work so we were left on our own to explore and get lost. Thanks to Regina though, we never got lost. She was on top of it! She had her phone out the entire time with a map and subway map and told us exactly where to go. We walked the High Line, saw the Empire State Building, got some delicious macarons, walked around St. Patrick's Cathedral, and saw Times Square at night before meeting up with Lily again to head back to Astoria to have dinner at the oldest beer garden. Click to read the rest as it will be picture heavy...

quick recap

Okay, so surprise surprise, I didn't update for any of the events. May really is a busy month now that I look back on it. In addition to those events I listed, I had several smaller outings that just filled up my nights more. We all know in-depth updates won't happen at this point, so this will be a long entry summarizing each event.

Las Vegas
FUUUNNNNNNN!!!! We spent two nights in the penthouse suite and just relaxed. We sunbathed, cooled off in the pool, cooked in the jacuzzi where we inadvertently joined a massive family from Texas and had the coolest 58 year old dad buy us drinks. We got all fancy and ate at nice restaurants, ordered room service (which kind of spoiled our appetites for dinner), and went to the Secret Garden Habitat and saw all the cute dolphins and tigers and lions.

Stanley Cup Playoff Game
By now, anyone who follows hockey will obviously know the Kings swept the Blues with that fourth game and went on to the next round. Right now they're up 3-1. They lost the most recent game. The game was so much fun. We sat right at the red line, about 10 rows back and saw almost everything. When it got to a point where they were just running out the clock, everyone was going crazy. I was jumping up and down, waving our rally towels. Then silver streamers shot out at the end of the game. It was cool.

Cirque du Soleil's Totem
Oh my gosh that show was amazing. First off, my car made it to San Diego and back and the drive wasn't as bad as I thought. Although I would not want to do it by myself. But the show was so cool. It had me holding my breath and left me with my mouth hanging open half the time. I was so tense and nervous for most of the show, but it was SO cool. It's hard to go through and explain it without going into so much detail, but it was just amazing.

Renaissance Faire
This was a last minute thing with Kelly. She got free tickets from Steph and we went on the last Saturday. We didn't dress up and we didn't stay the whole day. We hung out with Brian a little and did some expensive shopping. I bought the skirt I saw last year and just had to have. I tried on several variations and sizes and finally decided on one. It was pricey but it was just one of those purchases that didn't have to be logical. I'll find times and ways to wear it to make it worth the money. Kelly was pretty happy with the new corset she bought herself.

Bats Days
As usual I took absolutely forever getting ready. Partly because I woke up later than planned and then I proceeded to actually not get ready for a good 30 minutes. We went to the SAPS fiesta first for breakfast/lunch (dressed up, mind you- oh, we got looks alright). We finally got to Disneyland and randomly bumped into Derrick and Lisa at the parking structure. We did things to entertain us until Raven showed up but apparently the booger only texts one of us, the one whose phone didn't happen to be working, and won't answer any other incoming calls/texts. So we were waiting for maybe 2 hours, calling constantly, wondering where the hell he was. Guess where we found him? Haunted Manion smoke hole. Not surprising, right? We hung out with him for the rest of the day and ran into Derrick and Lisa again when we were waiting for Fantasmic. The 5 of us hung out together until we finally left. And boy was I tired. I didn't get much sleep the night before after the fiesta and with this late night, I was totally late to my first class on Monday.

New York is happening in two days. Maybe 1 1/2 now. It hasn't hit me completely, but it's slowly creeping up on me. Mostly the fact that I have to do my month's worth of laundry and start packing. I don't know what to bring!!! I won't make any promises about blogging while I'm there, but if there comes a night where we just happen to be chilling at Lily's place, I might do an update.

But until the next update...bye! ♥

busy month ahead!

So May has arrived. Damn, that was quick.

May seems to be very busy for me. At least in terms of travelling and events; not so much daily things. I'll outline everything here and try my absolute best to blog about each one afterwards.

ラス・ベガス いあん旅行!!! Company trip to Las Vegas!!!
And this is NOT a business trip! It's a mini-vacation! This is our second one, actually. Our first company trip was last year and it was great. We're doing the same thing pretty much. 2 nights in the Tower Suite at the Mirage Hotel with delicious dinner and pool-side lounging. I honestly am very excited for some reason. We're actually taking off two work days to go which is a major plus! I've been a little unhappy with my weight/body lately so I'm not super excited to get into a bathing suit (especially next to my skinny Japanese coworkers) but I'll just wear a cover-up and worry about exercise when I come back.

Stanley Cup Playoff Round 2, Game 4 - Kings vs. Blues with George!
I just had to. We've been to about 4 games this season and after seeing the win of the Kings last night, I decided we just HAD to go to a playoff game. Neither of us have been to a playoff game and even though (supposedly) Kings don't do the greatest at home and Blues do better on the road, I figure it'll be fun just to say we went to a playoff game (once we get over the depression if the Kings lose). But they're up 2-0 right now, so hopefully it won't be bad.

Cirque du Soleil's Totem in San Diego with George!
I am also very excited about this. I love Cirque du Soleil and I've never seen this show and it's under the Grand Chapiteau (big top) which I love even more. I bought the tickets awhile back when I saw that they were going to be in SoCal. It was either San Diego or San Jose and San Diego is much closer. George has never seen a Cirque show, so hopefully he'll enjoy it.

Bats Day at Disneyland
This isn't exactly a major thing, but I figure why not just write my plans for all of May. Hopefully plans don't fall through and Kelly and I can go and hang out with Raven again.

New York trip with Janeen and Regina to visit Lily!!!
This is probably the biggest thing in May and I am so excited for it. I've never been to New York and the fact I get to be with friends when I explore it makes it so much better. We're going for 5 days and I just know it's going to be crazy. Hopefully we don't get lost or have anything bad happen to us, haha.

So there you go. I have 5 events to look forward to in May. And the Vegas trip is happening the day after tomorrow! I just have to get through tomorrow's school day and get done whatever needs getting done at work. Then I can go home and pack and get ready for our early departure on Thursday.

Until next time...bye! ♥

4 years...

and a week since i was late in posting this. ^^;

it has been four years since i've "officially" been with George. i met him about six months before him asking me out and we started off as friends. that's what i thought at least. George seemed to have other intentions, hahaha. but he got close to me by becoming a friend and getting to know me. he listened to me talk about the guys i was currently crushing on and gave me advice. that must've been hard to do! he was trying to be more than friends and there i was, talking about other guys i liked. but he said that was okay and he was supportive. he said as long as he saw me happy, that was fine with him. but George was in the back of my mind. i guess we flirted in a very non-direct, subtle way...i think. i can't really remember and i'm horrible at reading signs. i tend to be in denial when i think someone likes me.

we first used Japan Club, where we first met, as a time and place for us to meet unplanned. we both didn't really care for Japan Club, we just knew the other would be there, so we'd go. heck, i had my mom drive me back to school in the evening just so i could go. of course, she didn't know my real reason. we would just watch movies or dramas on his laptop. sometimes there'd be a third friend there.

when december came and the semester ended, we had winter break and it seemed like we talked on the phone almost every night. and it never really got boring either. George likes to talk and when you get him on a certain subject, he can go on for hours. so i just sat there, listening to him. most of the time it was interesting stuff so i was actually listening. then it was the end of the january and the start of the next semester. i remember it was the first week back when George called me after class to meet up to say hi. i waited for him in front of the bookstore and i remember being nervous to see him. for the first time i was nervous to see him! that told me something. i just got self-conscious all of a sudden and couldn't really look at him.

i can't really remember details from there to sometime in the middle of february. but we went on a date to the top of Signal Hill to look at the city lights. i think around that time i suggested we "date" instead of go right into a relationship. i guess it's an old fashioned way of thinking since i couldn't really explain it myself. but i guess the best way to put it would be "exclusive dating", without the boyfriend/girlfriend titles. George was new to that, but willing. we had our first valentine's day where he gave me a rose and a picture album for us to fill up.

after some confusion on what to do (on my part) and some frustration (on George's part, because of me), he took the leap, or rather, took the run down the hill to ask me to be his girlfriend. (awwwwwww)

because i got to know him those 6 months prior, i think i was already comfortable with him. but again, i can't really remember much. i probably have some of this written in my journal at home. either way, these past 4 years have been so much fun. i know i've grown A LOT thanks to George and hopefully i've helped him see some things differently (although, probably not much =P ). he's become a very important part in my life. you know how couples say that the other person is not only their bf/gf/wife/husband/whatever, but also their best friend? i always wanted that and i think i was waiting for the that to happen with George. but after thinking recently, i think it just kind of happened without me realizing it. sure, sometimes he drives me up the wall, but i wouldn't know what to do without him. he's my boyfriend and my best friend. but simply, he's my Georgie.

i love you ♥

spring cleaning

something i desperately want and need right about now.

starting with my room. i always complain and say i have too much stuff in my room, and that's true, i do. i have so much stuff that i don't know what to do with it, nor do i have the space for it. i've been slowly trying to get rid of things, like donating clothes or stuffed animals, but i just have so much stuff that it doesn't really look like i've made much (or ANY) progress. and i know i'm repeating myself. i can't remember if i've already written about this or not, but it's something i've turned over in my head, over and over again.
and the stuff that's left after an attempt at cleaning a corner, it's stuff i just can't part with. i try to tell myself i'll never use it, wear it, need it...but sometimes it's a random gift or has some memory attached to it. if the gift is too random and enough time has passed, i'm sometimes able to let it go.

there's also my mom's sewing machine in my room. that little area i can't really help since it's not mine. but things are just piling on top of and under the desk and ironing board. i'm not going to die if i don't clean it up immediately, since some things haven't moved in over 2 years. no lie. if i think about it, i haven't touched some things in over 2-3 years. but when i'm kind of in a bad mood or something, i wish i didn't have so much clutter in my room because that just adds to it. i want a nice, clean(er), neat(er) room i can sometimes get away to. or at least not feel overwhelmed by.

i feel like i want to clean my life out in general. i can't really explain what i mean by that. it's not like i have any people i want to cut ties or make ammends with. maybe a part of it is work. this is also something i probably have written about in the past.

i don't want to be stuck here at toyoshima. meaning i don't want to make this my career. but because it's easy compared to other jobs out there, i'm spoiled and i don't want to leave. i'd rather bitch and moan about it than leave and take matters into my own hands. i get decent money from here and it's very lax. i've never had to go through an interview or submit a resume. but i don't want them to rely on me. i probably won't leave for awhile since i plan to stay here while i'm going to school. but then comes the question of, "how long will you be in school?" and i don't know the answer to that. it'll take as long as it takes, is what i think. i'm still living at home so it's not like i have any major bills to pay. i paid for everything for school for this semester (books, tuition, parking) and i pay for my disney pass. everything else, my mom takes care of for me. so the money from this job is kind of like, i don't know the word for it, spare(?) money. i sometimes put some of my paycheck into my savings and the rest i get to do with it what i want.

theeennnnn....when i get to this point in my train of thought, it gets to be too much and i usually stop. give up and distract myself with something else to get my mind off of it. i feel so unsure of my life right now. yeah i'm only 22, but when people around me seem to be getting their shit together, i makes it harder.

sigh. i'm going to stop. until next time, bye!

getting ready for spring...

wardrobe-wise at least.

yesterday i felt like going out shopping with my mom so i convinced her to go to del amo mall and we did a little shopping at forever21. maybe not a little price-wise, but we got quite a few pieces for what we paid. i thought i'd share what we bought with pictures!

i went in wanting to look at the necklaces and maybe pick up one or two statement necklaces. i only have simple, thin chained necklaces with a little charm. so i wanted something bigger. well, as soon as we walk in the store, i see the blazer i saw on the site.

 it actually looks decent and very bold. the fabric has a nice feel and it fits pretty nicely.

also, forever21 has the WORST styling. ever. that first picture makes her look fat and is very unflattering. with how the S fit me, she needs an XS. trust me, it looks better than it does on her. anyways, i got that because it would go great with my striped JCs. i can't wait to pair them together with a black bodycon dress.

i saw these little cuties and felt like spring was here. they also have a slightly more rounder shape than typical wayfarers. that with the bright print makes it really cute.

then i found this plastic black bow ring and plastic yellow heart ring. the bow just looks really playful and the yellow of the ring, again, screams spring. my mom got a red bow and a purple heart. she also liked this fabric flower ring. (of course we're going to switch and share)

since i was trying on the rings with the little paper backing attached, i guess it fit snugger than it would without. so when i got home, the bow still fit okay, but the heart is so much bigger than i thought! i wonder if there's a way to make it fit better...somehow.

i could only find one necklace that was along the lines of what i was looking for and something i actually liked. aaand...up until yesterday it was on the website. i know it's a slightly older style so it might've finally sold out. this one has a similar style. it's painted on gold shaped flowers, not jewels or stones. it's also multi-colored with pastel colors so again, springy.

i also got this simple, yet amazing yellow pullover sweater. coming from a darks/black dominated wardrobe this winter, this is the cutest thing i own right now that i can't wait to wear. the model is wearing an S and i got an L because it looked a little better with some slouch and baggyness (and the sleeves are actually long enough on the L). also, it's not as pastel as it looks online. it's like, the perfect shade of yellow. not pastel and not bright.

i think pairing the sweater with the sunglasses and my light-washed, cutoff denim shorts would be SO CUTE. i can't decide what shoes to wear though. super casual would be some cute flat sandals and then some wedge sandals would give it a little more girly flare.

oh, i almost forgot. this last piece isn't from forever21 but i wanted to add it to my spring-obsessed post. it's a watch from the brand time will tell. i actually got through wholesale through my work. lucky!

 it's such a cute light, baby blue color. again, pair this with everything else i just listed (minus the blazer) and i'd have the most colorful outfit i've worn in months.

okay, that's it of my shopping. bye! ♥