What A Weekend!

Sorry, my posts have not been make up-related at all lately! It's summer, and I haven't had the motivation to wake up extra early to put on make up before classes. I'd rather get my extra half hour of sleep and just slap on some sunscreen before I head out. I realized how much time I save when I don't have to do make up in the morning! Of course, I still put on some for nights out and such, but for the most part my face has been bare. Maybe when fall comes around I'll feel like doing my make up daily again, especially since I have so many products I want to review! In the mean time, trust me, everyone should try the no make up thing for a week! It's sooo liberating, and your skin will thank you! My skin looks and feels so much better since I've gotten lazy (just with the cosmetics, not the rest of my skin care regimen! :P)

Anyway, I had such a great weekend that I wanted to share! :) I haven't had such a relaxing few days in a long time. It's amazing how good you can feel and how much fun you can have with simply a great group of people, nice weather, and yummy food~

I started off my weekend with a trip to Dave & Buster's with some friends on Friday night. For those of you who don't know, D&B's is like a grown up Chuck-e Cheese's! Games, tickets, prizes, and a bar haha. Fun place to just chill with your friends!

Boys playing some shooting game

Hanging out at the bar

I discovered this weekend that I really like cosmo's! :)

Pose, pose

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On Saturday the boy and I decided to go to this Caribbean place called Cha Cha Chicken for lunch. They have this delicious jerk chicken served with fried plantains and your choice of sides. Oh, and agua frescas, which are basically fruit waters, but much better than the name implies!

How cute, they give you your order number for your table on a plastic seashell. We got a mango-guava agua fresca and a cantaloupe agua fresca. They were like the most delicious fresh fruit juice ever....so cool and refreshing!


And the food....oh THE FOOD!! Moist, well-flavored chicken (your choice of 1/4, 1/2, or whole portions) and sweet plantains. I got the beans and rice and he got spicy fries

After lunch we decided to go to the beach, which was right down the street. I've been to the Santa Monica Pier and beach before, but never during the summer. It was packed since it was a weekend and such a nice day!

Palm trees in the breeze~ so California

I was super happy because there was a swing set ON THE BEACH!!! I ran over to it, hopped on, and had the boy push me high into the air. It was so exhilerating to be a kid again! :D

:P

Views of the Pier

Dipping my feet into the water

Lots of people taking advantage of summer

Felt wonderful to have the warm sunshine on my face....Life is good!

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On Sunday I decided to go to the Beverly Hills Farmers Market. I happen to love farmers markets and try to go as often as I can. It's fun to sample fruits, chat to the farmers, and buy fresh, organic produce. Some of my best memories of certain fruits and veggies are the result of going to the farmers market. I bought THE sweetest, juiciest cantaloupes this time around...along with an abundance of pluots (plum + apricot mix) and a loaf of artisan pumpkin bread and a fresh tamale :)

I really want to buy some potted herbs for my apartment balcony :)

The other reason why I wanted to go to this particular Sunday's farmers market was because there was a chili cook-off to celebrate the market's 15th anniversary! I've never been to a real cook-off before, so it was a chance to taste some yummy chili and explore!

I think this family had my favorite chili. It had turkey sausage and pineapple in it...so good!!

Cups from all our chili samples

I also watched a corn-husking contest! One of the ladies at the far end won, but I was rooting for Milton, the 92 year-old grandpa :)

I spent the rest of my Sunday afternoon happily munching on my farmers market purchases...my next summer school session is now under way, so back to classes + homework! At least I have my nice weekend to look back upon...

'Til next time!

Bought a fedora from one of those street vendors at Third Street Promenade about a month ago....it's quickly become my staple summer hat! I love it because I can dress it up or down :)


Worn with a studded F21 dress while hitting the town at night in Las Vegas with my girls

Or with Ray Ban aviators during the day....this was also on the way to LV

Better picture of my day outfit worn before I changed to go out (just imagine it with the fedora and aviators haha)...tank and denim vest from F21, shorts from...unknown....sandals from Madden Girl...bag from Fossil

And finally, with a long gray tee and plain black leggings...here I am waiting to cross the street on Wilshire :)

But.....

Turns out the fedora is versatile with other people's styles too!




I think I especially love the casual fedora look on guys with nerdy glasses and summery plaid shorts....very Jason Mraz, wouldn't you say?

More tomorrow! :)

Even though I'm bogged down with summer school, I'm still loving my first summer spent in LA. I miss past summers spent at home with family, but this year I felt that I had to experience this city during its prime season...and it's been great! There's something about Southern California sunshine, in all its warm golden glory, that brings about dual feelings of optimism and laziness. I love the fast pace of 10-week classes smashed into 6-week summer morning (!!!) courses... juxtaposed with the freedom and possibilities of the rest of the afternoon and evening~

It allows me to do things like a random cruise down Rodeo Drive...to do nothing more than to do some window-shopping and grab a late afternoon snack :)


In front of the Banana Republic, they have these gorgeous orchids. I love orchids! Especially pristine, elegant white ones

When window-shopping got boring, we decided to grab a drink and appetizers at Cheesecake Factory

His gigantic Fat Tire and my (pretty) potent Lemon Drop. Phew! The bartender didn't skimp :P

First up, fried artichoke hearts with a garlic aioli. I never realized artichokes could be so gooooood~

Then a wild mushroom crostini. I happen to adore mushrooms, so this dish was a winner. I wish the bread was more crunchy, though. It was soggy from an overdose of gravy

Finally, to top it off, the 30th anniversary cheesecake, which has chocolate fudge cake layered with the classic cheesecake and a chocolate ganache swirl on top. It was very rich, which is ok, but after a couple of bites, I had to put down my fork. I like the cocoa powder-stenciled "30th" they included on the plate :)

More strolling around afterwards

So happy because I LOVE SUMMER!!! :D

I'm not dead

The reasons for my lack of updates:

First art project I've ever had to do in a college upper division English class

Making little $100 bills for my 9/11 theme
And re-skimming these books for the actual written final...this class was really interesting! 9/11 literature...I've never read anything from that genre before so it was eye-opening

Still checking other people's updates regardless of the lack of mine :P
After that, it was Shakespeare Shakespeare Shakespeare....
Then a lot of Philosophy of Science....
The boy left his stuff all over the floor while studying at my place
An ESSENTIAL for combatting those finals week break outs....lots and lots of water!!! I kept refilling my pink Brita filter every so often
The boy's idea of study food....Korean ramen and Ramune. This drink is the most carbonated soda I've ever had! Tastes like yummy bubblegum :)

Dinner has to be easy when times are hectic....throw some rice in the pot and packaged grilled eel from the Nijiya market into the oven...30 minutes later you have dinner, along with some mentaiko (marinated fish roe) and Korean seaweed on the side. Super delicious!

Has anyone ever tried this? I used it last year during finals week, and it kept me awake for the 3 days when I didn't get any sleep. This year I decided to be more nice to my body and only took a small sip whenever I was dying from sleep deprivation. Pretty lethal stuff
After finals weeks, I had graduations, birthdays, and a lot of recovering to do. More posts on those later!
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Oh! But I did get some new headbands from K-town a few weeks ago :)

A cute yellow bow~

Hello Kitty headband! I use this to pull back my bangs when I'm washing up in the morning and evening
Finally, a more flamboyant headband. I got this one to wear on my birthday :) Yes, I'm still very much a kid at heart. I wanted something reminiscent of my childhood birthday tiaras! Haha

Now that summer has officially started for me, I will post more often! Even though I'm taking three classes this summer, I'll do my best to keep this blog alive :)