Hello World

It has been months since I've posted last... I have another blog mainly for family, and this one. This one I think will continue on as my 'rest of the world' blog.

I'm missing the big city. I'm missing city life, city streets, city lights, city folk, city culture, city fashion... guh CITY EVERYTHING.

I just keep telling myself, this is good, this is a retreat. I'm going to be in the city for a long time, I may as well enjoy my peace and rest outside of it.

cafe culture

So I'm sitting in one of my favorite Seattle coffee shops called Cafe Vita, on capitol hill. I miss the coffee shop culture, coming here to study, read, hang out, chat with friends. It's so refreshing to be in a place where people are laid back and aren't grabbing coffee and running off to the next thing. The people at the table next to me are studying french together. It's rad, like they're all just trying to get better, maybe for future travels. I think just about everyone else upstairs is on their laptop. Downstairs, across the room from the coffee bar, people are hanging out, talking at tables.

I miss Seattle!

I'm about to get my hair cut! I'm really excited for something new, something with a little style. It's been since October that I've had my hair cut. If nothing else I need a trim, but I figured I'd go all out, get a cut and color! Something vibrant and awesome.

LOVELY.

anticipation

It's strange to think about how the last four years of my life have held some of my greatest life experiences, world travels, maturing seasons... yet they flew by so quickly. I think I'm fascinated with the eternal learning process because I can't imagine not growing and being challenged. I would prefer to be a student forever, continuously learning and becoming a better and more knowledgeable person.  

The next five years of my life are going to be vastly different than the last five. I was just on the verge of adulthood, still very much dependent on my family, and still young and without very much life experience. Not that I'm claiming I have had more life experience than most (probably less in some cases) these next years will probably be more formative than the last. Now I will be treated as an adult and I will earn my own way. That in itself is quite exciting. It's like a whole new set of rules coming out of college. I could sit back and relax, get an easy going job and make light of my early twenties... but instead, I think I will take life by the horns and see what I can make of it.

I want to travel more, I want to make loads more friends all over the world (more to visit!) and I want to find hobbies that I'm passionate about on the side of my career, etc. It would be nice to enjoy a relationship and understand more what I want in a life partner. I already know a few things, they have to be stable, yet more adventurous than me! I need a man who is going to challenge me and surprise me! I want to get my masters, that is, when I finally know exactly what it is I'm going to do. :)

There are so many things to look forward to... wow.

early.

I come home in a little over a week. I can't wait!!

I've been working a lot lately and getting in some hang out time with my friend Erin. She's currently filming for a guest role in the show 'Private Practice' a spin off of Grey's Anatomy!

I think this is going to be huge for her, I can't wait to see her career explode!

I can't wait to come home!

Marin's Visit

June 3

These photos are from Marin's visit to LA! I thought maybe a photo update would be nice. 

This is when we went to Venice Beach and bought a huge sno-cone which we couldn't finish. Then we walked on the beach. I forgot a beach towel... 

Here is Marin's beach picture. We're both so white. 

This is from my birthday dinner at a restaurant in Hollywood, called Citizen Smith. It was really good. And in case I've ever mentioned names of my friends to any of you, I will list them in order from Left to Right so that you can put a name with a face, maybe.

Michelle, Josh, Erin, Me, Ashley, Marin, Mack, Brett.

I had a big birthday party on the Sunday before my birthday. 20 or so friends showed and we ate spaghetti and had wine! It was awesome having so many people around to celebrate with me.

Ch Ch Ch Changes

So I updated my blog again.

The picture on top is of my friend Ashley and me on Valentine's Day. She brought Valentines for everyone and a couple sheets of heart stickers. So we ran around Short Stop (because it was also Vegan Happy Hour) and "heart attacked" everyone in the place. Afterwards, we still had a sheet left so we decided to take photo booth pictures of us getting "heart attacked" like the chicken pox. It turned out to be one of my favorite photo booth strips to date!    CUTE ------------------>

In other news, I work tomorrow. I already have a case of the Mondays, and it's Sunday. I think I'm just anxious to learn something new, and not just organize. But I can't deny that work is work, and it's good for you and your pocketbook. 

I went to the grocery store today and bought some larabars, dates, hummus and other things. Those three were my most satisfying purchases. I loves dates... they are sweeter than dessert! 

I didn't post for a very long time, maybe I should remind people that I've actually been updating again. I could also answer questions, tell stories, etc. Just give me suggestions of what you might like to know of my time in LA!

loves.

a wedding.

Tomorrow I'm going to a wedding. It's going to be in Pasadena at the City Hall Building. I hear that it's absolutely beautiful there. I don't have anyone to go with yet, I'm hoping maybe my roommate is plan-free or maybe another friend of mine. I would go alone, but weddings last a while, and that's a long time to be sitting alone amongst strangers- the guests, not the bride and groom.

I missed family a lot today. I sort of feel like things aren't as fun to celebrate... at least not alone. I want to be in Seattle! Or I wish some of my friends were around to celebrate with. The girl I am house sitting for says they may be coming home early, which is good news. Also, my potential trip to Seattle is coming up pretty soon here.

loves... xoxo.

tid bit

i love fashion so much. I love people who are socially aware and globally aware. I love books that tell me new things about new places or new techniques I don't know. I love nutrition. I love fashion magazines. I love mascara. I love sunglasses. I love cute little animals. I love monkeys. I love clear skies and sunny days. I love rain. I love my family. I love people who challenge you. I love music. I love new sights and new sounds.

Thoughts on a Friday Morning

I've come to realize I'm absolutely terribly at keeping a blog. That said, I will try and update whenever possible, and now that school is over I might find the attempts surprisingly successful. I'm currently sitting in a very comfortable bed belonging to my dear friend Michelle. Her and her roommates are all gone for work and have asked me to step in and house sit. The house is a sweet little English-like cottage. They inhabit the upstairs of the building with three grand bedrooms and a huge living room, dining room, kitchen, breakfast nook and laundry room. The laundry room is my favorite, what a pleasure it is to be able to walk down the hall and stick a load in, instead of having to make an day of it at the local laundromat.

Last night my friends Gayle, Shayna and Emilie came up for a visit. Gayle Skidmore is a singer songwriter from San Diego, and she had a show last night in Long Beach. So the girls made a show turn into a visit to me in Los Angeles. Great idea! I'm not waiting for everyone to get ready so we can go out to eat at Doughboys. Doughboys is pretty much my no fail restaurant I take everyone to. It's so tasty and they serve breakfast all day. What could be better than that?

I am now employed by interior designer and business woman Karen Tandy, of design details. I interviewed for the full time assistant position, but then called her back and told her I would be leaving in September. Being a small business owner is rough when you have to train new people every couple months, longevity is appreciated. So I wanted to be honest with her, but told her I would fill in until she found someone or what not. She called me back a week later and asked if I wanted to help her organize her office. So I've been consolidating files for the last two weeks. It's nothing too fancy, but I think it's helping me learn the business side of the design world a lot better. It is in fact 80% business 20% design work. Anyways, I'm enjoying it for what it is.

I only have two months left in LA... it's crazy! I can't believe it's almost been a year. Then in September I move to Redding!! I have officially been accepted to Bethel for this Fall. I'm very excited about this next season of life. It will be challenging and a huge learning process of how to be on my own and learning how to be the person I want to be for the rest of my life!

I love my parents so much, I didn't want to leave the last time I came home. Sometimes I wish I could just come home for the summer again and live with them and hang out with them and not do anything else. But then I remember I'm supposed to be an adult.

Anyways, we're off to go eat and enjoy the day!! I miss you all. How does life fly by and stand still simultaneously? I wish I could be in two places at once. LOVES.

weekend

Hello! This weekend I went to San Diego and visited friends. I went to this big trans music show where this DJ named Ferry Corsten spun. Then my friend Emilie's birthday was on Sunday and we "pic-niqued" in the park. It was fun and the weather was incredible.

Last night some friends played a show at this little venue in Silverlake, called the Silverlake Lounge. It was an early show, which made me happy because I had class this morning at 8:30am. After the show we went down the street to this really great little Gelato place. Some more friends met up with us (Ashley and I) and then Ashley went on to another show and I stayed there and hung out. Eventually, it was my friend Ben and I left, and Ben is an incredible, inspiring friend. We stayed for another hour or so just talking about our passions and how to get other people to be more passionate about life. We talked about how to take an idea and see it through and work on those things you want to see happen whenever possible. It was inspiring, and my kind of conversation. I love being idealistic and I think it is possible to change the world. :) So get used to the big talk. We also talked about how much better life would be if people just tried everything instead of having a self-defeating attitude. For example, there's a guy and a girl, and the guy sees her and thinks, "wow, she's beautiful." At this point he has a 50/50 chance to succeed and talk to her. But if he thinks he has no chance with her and doesn't try then he has already lost. You never know the opportunities that are available to you until you try, and those things open doors to more and more! Plus, think about how amazing it would be if people tried everything they want to do once, i think people would likely be much happier then they are... or at least know what they love to do more than anything else!

Also, I have a new interface. I thought I would personalize it a little more, it's a little more me. :) enjoy.

I love my classes thus far. I will expand on that later tonight, once i've had my final first class of the quarter. For now, I'm going to try not to fall asleep over my break time.

pretty day

Today has been an unbelievably lovely day. Not only is it nice and warm outside but I just feel good. I got up pretty early and had an easy going morning and then I went to church out in Pasadena. There is a conference coming up pretty soon that I'm really excited about going to.

I looked up Kinkos so that I could go and make copies of my homework and there happened to be one less than a mile from me, up on Sunset. So I got my work together and walked up there, come to find out they won't allow you to feed your own paper in it. So basically the trip didn't accomplish anything, but it felt wonderful to get out and walk around! It was seriously a beautiful day.

I'm about to watch Oprah's big give. Sounds like an awesome idea, but in reality who really has wads of cash to give away, and unless they are required to give it away, would they? My thought is the only way to end things like poverty is to give generously. When you give you receive, whether it's feel good karma (or whatever people term it as) or just abundance being returned, it's always good.

Anyways I need to get back to homework. I only have three weeks of school left until Spring Break! oh man, I'm so excited to be done with this quarter... got to admit it's been tough. I think emotionally and as a designer it's been challenging to balance everything. But I'm getting by, thank you Jesus, and I feel great about it recently.

I miss and love my family so so so much!

saturday night

So besides school work this month I have been making some good friends and some fun social friends. The first day I hung out with them all back in October they invited me out to this thing called Vegan Happy Hour which takes place on Thursday nights at like 5pm at a bar in silverlake, called the Shortstop. I never could make it out last quarter because I had class all night on Thursdays. But this quarter I have that night free so I've stopped by, multiple weeks in a row now. Usually I run out of time to contribute, but Vegan happy hour operated pot-luck style and so you're supposed to bring a vegan dish for everyone to share. This week, I was finally on top of my game and I made vegan chocolate chip cookies.

Vegan dishes are really interesting because they have no animal products in them. So the cookies didn't have eggs or butter or oil, instead I used organic flour, sugar, ground cinnamon, vanilla extract, baking soda, unsweetened applesauce and vegan chocolate chip cookies. It was strange seeing how the consistency of the sugar, applesauce and vanilla was so similar to the batter with eggs. Then when I cooked them I knew they wouldn't rise or spread out, but they really just baked exactly how i plopped them on the cookie pan. When they came out of the oven they were rather tough on the outside but then when you bit in the inside was all soft, almost fluffy. I think the texture of it all made it more delicious. Without all the butter and everything they were also fairly low in calories. Vegan food is awesome. It's such an experiment.

Next week I'm planning on making a maccaroni dish, it's got chili powder and beans in it. Should be good! I like cooking for other people, it makes it feel like its worth it when you can watch others enjoy it. My cookies went fast, and Julie, the bartender who organizes vegan happy hour, asked me for the recipe. They were probably the easiest thing I've ever baked, just intuitive somehow. We even share our dishes with people who don't know what's going on, it kind of creates community, it's pretty fun.

In fact some guys started playing pool with our friends and they bought the boys rounds of drinks. My friend Erin and I just sat, amused, in the corner talking. At one point one of the guys came and stood nearby us, just waiting to interject a hello I assume... when my friend Erin reached around my shoulder and said, "i'm just going to stop you right there, at the intersection, she's taken" and smiled. So for all of you who may worry about me down here in LA, if I'm not bold enough, my friends will be for me! :) Of course I'm not dating anyone, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him.

Today I went to school and worked for a while, with my friend Ashley. She leaves next quarter to move up to northern california and prepare for her wedding! She'll graduate with me back at SPU and then get married! I can't believe it. And I have to suffer my final quarter without her by my side. It'll be rough, but I think I'll be able to handle it. It's nice having someone you can meet up with at the computer labs and talk to at intermitted times, as opposed to sitting in complete silence for five hours. It's weird how that can really dry out your throat.

I'm a little all over the place with my thoughts this evening, but I was just sitting here, missing my family, and thought about how everyone wants to keep up on me, I just need to write more! My mom and dad are in Arizona today and my mommy's birthday is tomorrow!! Happy Birthday Mom! I wanted to come home and surprise her for her birthday present, but then I found out she was going to be in Arizona. If I hadn't seen her a couple weeks ago I would be really bummed, but I think I can hold out for a little longer.

Tomorrow is the Oscars and I'm going to watch them with a bunch of my friends at their house. In the morning I'm going to church with my friend Erin, who is leading worship, I think with her brother and sister in law. She's such a blessing, just to know her. We can relate on faith things and also on a super normal hang out level. It's so refreshing not to have to weed through layers in order to find who a person is... that can sometimes be the case even in church. But I find that we're really real with each other.

I've seen some celebrities lately, it's really silly to call some of them celebrities, considering they haven't really done anything that notable. It's amazing how our culture wants to put everyone and anyone on pedestals. Anyways I've seen Lauren Conrad from this MTV show called the hills, I passed her in my corner whole foods. I saw this girl Jael who competed on America's Next Top Model. I think I may have seen, but my friends for sure saw Scott Speedman from Felicity and other more recent things I'm sure. I went to a birthday party with my friend Ashley and saw Erica Christiensen from the movie Traffic, they grew up together. I've seen a bunch of random people... it's weird recognizing them as if you know them, which makes you look and be curious... and then you place the face, then continue on your way.

I'm going to head to bed and get some sleep to keep up my energy and health in this blustery weather. Seattle, take it back please! haha, the year I move is the year they get record rain fall this month... seriously?

love you all, miss you all.

letter of explanation

Clearly I have been less than on top of my goal to keep everyone up to date on the happenings of my life in LA. Forgive me. This past two months has been a whirl wind, I can hardly keep track of time, much less a blog.

So let’s start from where we left off. Being in Seattle was amazing but it made it unbelievably hard to come back to the city of concrete and fallen morals. Of course not every aspect of LA is horrible, but the city couldn’t look any less appealing after a few weeks of enjoyment in my favorite city of all. When I got back I was in this lull, I didn’t feel like I knew what I was doing or why I was here. I hadn’t really established a friend base yet, I think mainly because I was set on the idea of LA being temporary. Why would you form friendships and alliances when you’re just going to walk away from them? It was a very poor decision on my part, for friends were exactly the thing I needed to return to, instead of a quiet, lonely house.

I don’t want to be dramatic so I will cease the talk about my era of mild depression. More recently I have been spending time with some really wonderful people. They are all very talented, some musicians, some actors and just some plain old creative people. It’s exciting to see them all doing what they love, and LA seems to encourage creative careers. It’s nice to see people pursuing something creative with passion and all their time, instead of giving their dreams the temporary cold shoulder. I have to say, it’s quite refreshing and inspiring.

Also recently, I made a trip out to Salt Lake City to join my parents and sister to honor and say our earthly goodbyes to my uncle. Although it was a hard time, because of emotions and grieving, it was really wonderful to see how branches of our family all melded together. I feel that I am welcomed there with open arms every single time I go. It makes me want to go out there more often! If only air miles were always free and vacations were endless. Sometime I think it would be fun to make a trip myself, or at least be home to help entertain when they come up to visit my parent’s place. I’m going to use my upcoming graduation as a way to get my cousin Carrie to come up and go out dancing and karaoke-ing with Marin and I.

Time in Utah was short, but wonderful. I didn’t want to leave home at all after winter break, because that was just the beginning of the grieving process, so it was nice to feel some resolution and hang out with my parents. Nothing tops time with family.

I miss home, I miss Seattle, I miss my friends in WA. I miss my family, and I miss my bedroom. But I think it’s a good thing to have time away because it makes you appreciate the time you do get so much!

light writing

I'm back in West Hollywood, safe and sound. I miss home already, when I woke up this morning I was actually confused, I wished I was home in Anacortes. I want to be with my family more than ever.

A school update for everyone, this last quarter made me an honors student at FIDM. I received four A's and one A-, I'm happy about it. It also shows what I did with my last three months here! I can't wait for school to start up again so that I have something to think about again...no more sitting in the house wishing I were home.

i'm re-organizing myself in the next week. I've gone through my clothes and my books/shelves doing a little clean-out. And now i'm on to paperwork/organizing school work.