Month: March 2014

18 Mar 2014

The Maze Runner

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Though I’ve never read the book, I’ve been hearing about this film for months and I’m really excited for it because Kaya Scodelario and Dylan O’Brien are in it. 

18 Mar 2014

Currently Craving:

We’re starting to inch even closer to summer here in Northern California and for some reason it’s this time of the year that I find myself craving desserts more. I stumbled across the S’mores hack yesterday to add roasted strawberries to the mix and I’m pretty confident that it won’t end with a bad result. Strawberries, after all, are one of the most perfect summer fruits and adding that sweet and sour taste to a classic summertime treat seems like a good idea.

Check out the recipe here.

17 Mar 2014

5 Things: The Weekend

1. We kicked off the weekend with a company celebration and a whole lot of love! Drinks and snacks at Reposado in Palo Alto was an event not to be missed. I’m personally pretty fond of the red and white sangria.

2. We missed brunch on Saturday and instead opted for a late lunch at Cascal on Castro Street in Mountain View. I’d never eaten here before, but have received countless recommendations to go here because of their tapas. Since I get bored of food easily, small bites go over well with me. I ordered the corn soup and scallops. The corn soup pictured above isn’t what I actually ordered because I had forgotten to take a picture. All you have to know is that it was the sweetest and best tasting corn soup that I have ever had. I can say this because I’ve sampled many. In tis case though, I really wish I would’ve gone for the bowl – the cup was just too little!

housewarming

3. Sheila hosted a housewarming party at her new humble abode yesterday where she crafted up a storm of goodies including homemade chocolate ice cream and cookies and cream marshmallows.

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4. I got made fun of this weekend for the job I did on my nails. I actually hate getting them done so I prefer to do them myself, but that usually means that they end up getting chipped within 5 minutes, have bubbles forming underneath the polish, and get onto my skin. I found myself in a Rite Aid a couple of weeks ago picking up other things, but out of the corner of my eye, felt the urge to purchase myself a bottle of Essie. Jackson’s hand is just here for the cameo.

west elm

5. After the housewarming, we decided to stop by West Elm. I wasn’t in dire need of anything, but there was no way I could walk out of the store without purchasing something. I snagged myself another pillow and pillowcase along with two extra towels to add to my collection. You can never have enough? I’m also not very good at taking care of succulents so I made sure not to buy one from my home, but they still looked good enough for a photo.

17 Mar 2014

Wedding Mondays

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/75259949]

Happy Monday morning, everyone! We’re creeping up on what will be a very busy next couple of weeks, but I couldn’t be more excited. I’m thrilled to be celebrating my birthday in a new home this year, taking my first ever vacation in a job, and going on a trip with the people I enjoy working with everyday! It’s an exciting time to turn 24. I’m actually also very excited that the video I’m sharing with you today is kind of like a part of my life going full circle. Normally, I would prefer a wedding video, but this time we’re doing a slow-motion photo booth. It’s one of the better ones I’ve seen because I think I’d like to be friend with every single person featured in it AND even more importantly the wedding take places in Seattle and features USnaps – another vendor that I have worked with previously in my college days. The slow motion photo booth was done by another company, but that’s okay – USnaps was still there to provide the instant snapshot.

And here’s the Style Me Pretty featured post here.

16 Mar 2014

Currently Craving:

I’ve always been very partial to smoothies with boba specifically Strawberry Peach or Taro. However, recently I was recommended to just try milk tea with boba and can I just say that it was life-changing? What have I been doing this whole time? I’ve been on an Earl Grey fix ever since I became obsessed with the ice cream flavor at Tin Pot. I figured ordering the Earl Grey Milk Tea wouldn’t be much of a change. It was amazing. I can’t wait to walk myself down to Tea Era tomorrow for another.

16 Mar 2014

March 15, 2014

It was the first day of summer orientation at Seattle University. They hold these sessions so that when freshmen actually move in and start their first days of school they already feel somewhat acquainted and have some friends to sit with them at lunch and walk with them to class. A natural-born extrovert, it was this type of situation that would make me become a little bit more reserved. I haven’t really had to make new friends since I was in Kindergarten and I’ve since forgotten how this process goes. You were close to six feet and incredibly tan. This could have been your natural skin tone, but it was also the summer. It was apparent that you just weren’t from the Pacific Northwest. I later learned that you were far from being Mormon and that you were from Utah. I didn’t know how to make friends so the only method I resorted to was just making fun of you. Luckily, you didn’t think I was a huge jerk and kept me around. You were the most laid-back person that I had ever conversed with which was refreshing to me because I felt like I was always speaking with sudden bursts of energy with a side order of panic. We could have been unlikely friends, but we weren’t; I was always going to be your “Noogin.” You were my buddy on weekends out, my meal companion, and you were by my side studying with me until the late hours in our dorm lobby or until we just decided to give up and do something else.

*****

I can tell you what it’s like to graduate college, to acquire my first “big girl” job, and to make my first move for a job to a different state. And I have done so with all of those things. I don’t think I was prepared to go through the experience of learning that one of my first friends from college has passed away.

It was my Facebook newsfeed that notified me of the news. 

A lone comment to my friend’s wall with the letters “RIP” appeared on my screen. Is it a joke? Who is this person? This shouldn’t be how anyone should learn about the death of their friend. It was later confirmed a couple hours later that my friend had actually died.

Learning how to cope with your first friend passing away is not anything that I know how to deal with or anything that I can quite comprehend at the moment. Writing on his Facebook wall won’t change anything. Wishing that you would’ve reached out sooner or accepted that invite to hang out wouldn’t have changed anything. It’s just something that makes people feel a lot less guilty. I think everyone has their ways of coping. I just prefer to remember my friend the way that I knew him – kind, caring, thoughtful, curious, and a joy to be around.

I live in this dream world where I like to believe that everyone I know will die of old age and maybe hopefully after I’m gone so that I don’t have to be present for them to pass, but that’s not realistic to believe I suppose. It’s hard to move forward knowing that his Facebook page will eerily remain in my number of friends without any activity coming out of it. It feels like time is just stopping entirely and it has for him. It’s difficult to process that Sam won’t be at my own wedding while the rest of the group will be. It’s too soon to say goodbye to him at just 24.  We will all miss Sam so much.

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16 Mar 2014

Song of the Day

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Houses – Big Light

15 Mar 2014

Cover of the Day

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BloomTwins – Happy (Pharrell cover)