In Memory and Merry Christmas

This week we got a call. One of those calls you never hope to receive but cannot avoid. A longtime family friend had passed away in November and his wife had wanted to let us know. We first met Timo the Clown at our county fair when I was very young. I am fondly reminded of those summers when I clean my desk and find ribbons and photographs from the hula-hoop contests. My parents tend to make friends with people that we often come across, and Timo quickly became a close family friend. I still smile when I remember one of my birthday parties at the park where he let me drive the clown car—I remember feeling like the coolest kid alive. Years later, we had not seen the family but kept in touch during the holidays. Timo and his wife had sent me an email this summer asking how I was doing and about college. The correspondence was miraculously well timed, as I was in Rome and able to send them this blog and catch up with them. Even though we had not seen them in years, it was hard to hear of his passing. I remember him as a person who simply cared about people, with a heart big enough to hold the entire universe. His wife said that he was always watching over me from above and I believe it. He is there, along with others who have moved on from this life. When I consider that group I realize that I have the best guardian angels out there.

If Timo’s life and death taught me anything… well they taught me a few things. First, love everyone. Our hearts are perfectly designed to hold enough love for everyone. Everyone is worth our time and our love. Next, go out of you way to make someone’s day. I guarantee you, whatever energy you expend will be paid back tenfold. Finally, if you have an odd feeling that you should send someone an email, send him or her a text or give them a call, do it. It may be something that they really needed or it could be something they fondly look at when they miss you.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and my wish is that it is shared with at least one person that they love more than life itself. I am blessed; surrounded by love to say the least.
Again, I have been bad at keeping up the blog so I have decided to make a New Year’s resolution out of it. I will attempt to blog once a week (probably with the deadline of Wednesday or Sunday night) and blog anything else as I feel like writing.
I stumbled upon Timo’s facebook page while looking at his memorial online. I want to end this post with one the quotes on his page, “Whenever you see someone who doesn't have a smile give them one of yours”. Merry Christmas.

Not a Creature Was Stirring

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.

Got Rhythm?

Once again, I have been a bad blogger.  What can I say besides finals?  Not much.
BUT I am about 14 hours from being done with finals for this quarter and then starting Christmas break. :)
In the meantime, here's another one of my favorite songs at the moment.  I can't say the video is incredibly creative/ground-breaking but the song is amazing and the video does make me smile and anticipate beach weather all the more.

Until next time :) <3

My Take

I'm back!  So sorry for the delays, again.  But I'm back in San Diego and my computer is fixed.  So let the blogging begin.

To get back into things I thought I would give you guys my take on the movies I have watched recently.

Life as We Know It: Easily one of the best romantic comedies I have seen in a long time-- and I am a sucker for romantic comedies.  The polt is not what you would expect and the story takes its time developing.  You will feel like you are on an emotional roller-coaster and I recommend bringing a tissue, just in case.  A very refreshing take on your stereotypical feel-good movie.

Morning Glory: This movie has a bit of everything.  It is witty and that alone got it major points with me.  I would not classify this as a romantic comedy although there is a decent amount of love in this story.  Overall, though, it is the story of a young woman finding a work-life balance who ends up helping others do so on the way.

Love and Other Drugs: I had extremely high expectations for this movie.  I thought the story was interesting and I liked how it, again, isn't your typical rom-com.  However, the highly-publicized nudity is a little disheartening.  I felt like the multiple instances of nudity did not contribute to the storyline in the way that it was intended.  Regardless, I understand why the movie is rated "R" and would hope that it would be despite the nudity.  The topics addressed run deeper than PG-13 appropriate.  Overall, a very well-written, emotional and intimate story that feels, for lack of a better description, true.  But I could do without the multiple awkward scenes.

Tangled: Disney surprised me with this one.  Yes, it is the story of Rapunzel but revisited.  They added the perfect amount of spice to make for an interesting movie.  The music and animation were extremely well done.  Still doesn't come close to the Disney movies from when I was growing up, but definitely one of their better movies from the 2000's.

I would recommend all of these movies depending on the audience.  Morning Glory and Tangled are more appropriate for kids while Life as We Know It is a good "going out with friends"/"date" movie.  Make sure to see Love and Other Drugs with someone who will laugh off the naked scenes with you.

Thankful

"Stay the Night" James Blunt

Hey guys!  Sorry for the lack of posts, my computer is currently undergoing repairs.
For now though, Happy Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for each and every person that reads this.
Enjoy one of my new song obsessions :]
Love, Lauren

Your Love is a Song

I'm sorry for the lack of regular posts.  I was getting better for awhile and then.. midterms, presentations, projects, quizzes... you get the idea.  I miss blogging and I promise I'm getting back to it soon.  Meanwhile, enjoy this song.
Daphne and I had a marathon Switchfoot day last weekend (doing homework and listening to all of their songs).  Oddly enough, last night I was completely stressed out (I was buying things and preparing for a chemistry presentation) so I turned the radio on absentmindedly and focused on what needed to be done.  The song that came up before I parked was this one, which I loved when it was released.  But especially after the Switchfoot weekend with Daphne, I couldn't help but smile at this "coincidence", blast the music, and relax for the first time that day.  God's a pretty legit dj.

Romesick

It always starts with an idea.  A half-hearted (but hopeful) "let's go (insert awesome, random activity or place here) tonight!!!!".  So tonight my mission was to study in Little Italy with most sincere desire to find coffee that could take me back to Trastevere.  Accompanied by Yoyo, Daphne, some homework and an address we determined this night was going to be good-- regardless of the coffee.

Caffe Italia welcomed us with gigantic Venetian masks, cannoli, biscotti, espresso, gelato and the flavor of Italy.  The minute we walked in I felt like this was the right place.  I decided on a "Caffe Emmline", a blended gelato drink.  I figured that would be the closest to the real thing that I miss so much.  Their recipe calls for two shots blended with espresso bean gelato and I asked for some chocolate syrup.  My first sip was heavenly.  I was back in Rome.

We studied and relaxed there until closing time and decided to drive and get lost in San Diego.  The end of the evening consisted of blasting the radio, singing to every song we knew and stopping wherever there were awesome shiny lights to take pictures.

The night with my favorite roomies (<3) was just what I needed.  This week I was feeling a little bit homesick and really can't wait to go home and see my parents and my dog.  I think tonight was the motivation I need to get through the next two weeks.  So dearest Daphne and Yoyo, thanks and I love you guys.
"I'll never be the same, If we ever meet again, Won't let you get away-- said if we ever meet again, This free fall's got me so" --Timbland ft. Katy Perry

32 Cupcakes

The little things in life aren't so little.

Yesterday, I saw two men standing outside on one of the busiest paths on campus.  They were standing to the side speaking softly.  As I walked by I heard, "I pray also for your Spirit to wash over him and strengthen him".  That was cool-- people completely tuning out the crazy business around them, completely dedicated to the intimate moment they were sharing with the Creator of the Universe.
Today, walking to class I saw a Boston Terrier running around with a stick that was bigger than him.  Chased by two larger puppies, they were having a blast.  It's so easy for dogs to be happy-- and thankfully for us, its contagious.
And now, in lecture I was nearly falling asleep.  Today one of the T.A.'s is lecturing and his voice is like a sweet lullaby.  "Racism is prevalent...blah,blah,blah.. this study......"  Suddenly the side door opened up and three or four guys came in with nerf swords and proceeded to fight across the front of the lecture hall.  Another guy videoed the ordeal while a couple of the "students" in the lecture stood up, took their shirts off and ran away screaming.  The substitute took the ordeal pretty well while the class muffled laughter.  Yeah, it's definitely the little things.

Car troubles and other things led me to a mood of frustration late Sunday.  I figured retail therapy was out of the question (seriously, malls close early) so the next best thing was in order-- cupcake therapy.  I was bored with making the same cookies so I found a recipe for something new.  An hour later, I was the proud baker of apple cinnamon cupcakes with brown butter carmel icing.  (Check out this site, Cupcake 10.)  I made some more yesterday to finish off the diced apples (thanks to Daphne for the peeling and slicing <3) and now, two days later, my apartment has consumed almost 32 cupcakes.  We are that good.
"I know a girl who's tough but sweet, She's so fine, she can't be beat, She's got everything I desire, Sets the summer sun on fire...  I want candy" --Aaron Carter or the awesome Halloween stuffed animal from my grandma.  Personally, I prefer the latter.

The Halloween Snowball

I stopped dead in my tracks.  With a huge smile on my face I turned to Yoyo and exclaimed, "It's a Christmas tree!!!!!"

SANTA!!!

This happens every year.  It all starts with Costco stocking some wrapping paper and fake trees in September.  Everyone thinks that Christmas is still in the incredibly distant future and that Costco is just a little too Christmas-trigger happy.  But when I see that premature wrapping paper, I just smile and start counting down the days.  Once Halloween approaches, the world begins to face the fact that Christmas is just around the corner.  Costco and I, we are the prepared ones.  When the day comes that the rest of the world catches up, (usually seen through the malls decked out in ornaments and garland, Santas abounding and everything smelling like apple cinnamon spice heaven) I become even happier.

And today was that day.  Yoyo and I decided to catch "Life as We Know It" while it is still in theatres.  The movie was fantastic, albiet an emotional roller coaster.  But I think that is why it was so good-- finally a creative spin on the stereotypical romantic comedy.  We got out of the movie after the stores were closed and I grabbed a coffee at Starbucks.  This Starbucks was cool enough to blog about.  It had a gigantic carved wooden mermaid and automatic doors.  I'm talking serious cool.
Then, we decided what better time to shop than when all the stores were closed?  So we window shopped and ended up stumbling upon the Christmas tree in the middle of the massive outdoor mall which is where this post began.  I stopped walking and stared, perfectly content.

Tiffany and Christmas.... two of my favorite things <3

Good friends, good movies, good shopping and the Christmas countdown stands at 47 days.  The most wonderful time of the year always comes sooner than we expect.
"City lights, as far as the eye can see, You and I, we'll do it differently, With our hearts in our hands, Like loaded guns, We're taking a chance, We're the lucky ones" --Brendan James

"Summer" Days

I need to do laundry.  Not, "I should think about doing laundry", no.. that was a few days ago.  Now, I am out of clothes.  This fact is impressive if you have ever seen my closet.
Thankfully, there is a surplus of clean dresses in the back of my closet and, double thankfully, the weather is more than dress-perfect.  So, this morning I threw on one of the dresses I bought in Rome while I was waiting for my luggage to arrive.  And as I was walking to class, all I could think about was a cold, Italian coffee.  Sweet dreams, indeed.

Surfer heading home (filtered in Photoshop) 11/2/10

San Diego has seemed to conveniently forget that the calendar pictures kitschy "I voted!" stickers, leftover pumpkins and cornucopias signaling to most of the world (or at least this hemisphere) that it is November.  This week has been absolutely gorgeous and definitely hotter than when school started in September.  Yoyo and I made the short drive down to Shores on Tuesday to relax before the week got too crazy.  We drank banessos, tanned and took pictures.  With some amazing beach music, we watched the sun go down four hours later.  I never feel luckier to be here than when I get to watch the sun, starting from above, light up the sky with a thousand different colors and race past the horizon.

Bananas, coffee, sunsets..  It all kind of sounds like a Jack Johnson song.
"At Huntington and Malibu, They're shooting the pier, At Rincon they're walking the nose, We're going on safari to the islands this year, So if you're coming get ready to go" --The Beach Boys

Weekend Holiday

I never quite got out of the groggy morning state. That moment you feel every morning when your alarm rings, you go through a sort of mental check-list and try to reason with yourself that the world is not going to end if you sleep for five more minutes. The day was blissfully calm-- my morning watching Food Network while eating my mom's chocolate cake and my evening with some pasta, learning how football is played (thanks, Mike), and pool. It is odd though, that morning feeling that usually only lasts for a quarter of a second has not left my side. But I am perfectly content feeling that the world still works, even if I hit snooze for the day.

The road home and some good walking boots

This past week was full of everything but school, it seemed. Midterms (round one) was over for me so I was able to really enjoy every day. I was finally able to buy Taylor Swift's new CD. Amy and I spent quite a bit of time driving down empty freeways along the coast at night and singing at the top of our lungs. Needless to say, the CD gets at least for gigantic thumbs up.

Sunset at La Jolla Shores

I felt really blessed to live here this week. San Diego treated us with gorgeous sunsets this week. I don't think I have ever seen so many colors and textures in the wondrous evening sky. It made me stop and wonder why I am so incredibly lucky to be here and watch God paint every night.

Ready for Broadway :)

Thursday night, Yoyo and I went to "Beauty and the Beast"downtown with Revelle. Despite my initial hesitations (seriously, I didn't think it would be possible to do justice to the movie), the production was spectacular.

Modern self-portrait perhaps?  Halloween eye-makeup

The weekend kind of reminded me of the Roman Holiday we experienced in Rome. Carefree, happy and colorful. We shopped, went to costume parties (yours truly channeled the California Gurl du jour, Katy Perry) ate breakfast at two in the morning and slept until eleven.
But one of my favorite parts of the entire week was ending it by curling up with 500 Days (of Summer). I have seen it more times than I can count and each time, I am more and more convinced that it is my favorite movie. It is romantic but not cheesy, funny not corny, cute but real. The movie makes the viewer think. And that is an unfortunate rarity with the media of today.
Sorry for the irregularity in posts (again) and for this post being kind of jagged.. That's not even the correct word, but I really cannot describe it any other way. Oh well, there is my week and state of mind in a nutshell.
"But it might be hard to handle, Like the flame that burns the candle, The candle feeds the flame yeah yeah, What I got-- full stock of thoughts and dreams that scatter" -- Hall & Oates

Psychology of Bunnies

When Amy yelled at me that I haven't posted for eight days, I decided it was time to put this post together since I have an hour in between classes.  Right now, I am avoiding studying and sitting outside a lecture hall in the grass with cute little sparrows chirping in the background.  With my Macbook, camera and iced mocha, I'm happy. :)  Below is the post I wrote last night at Cafe Bassam.  Enjoy.

I can see the rain falling one drop at at time.  I'm staring out the window of my favorite downtown coffee shop pat the young couple studying and the old ladies gossiping.  It seems like the perfectly poetic ending to a fantastic day.  Not to be greedy, but I hope this isn't quite the end.
THis week's midterms went well, better than expected at the very least.   One more on Tuesday and then my schedule loosens up.  That's why I'm here actually-- to study.  That is obviously going well.
In retrospect, my weekend seems to be the perfect, elusive balance between life and school.  Since Friday was insane (two midterms and a quiz) I took the night off to enjoy the end of the Rangers game, pizza and "Shawshank Redemption"with Mike.  I absolutely loved the movie and how it kept me guessing against my will.
Saturday was my marathon study day.  (**Sidetrack..An albino Doberman just walked by.. Epic)  Anyway, I spent nine hours studying social psychology.  Thankfully, I am enjoying these classes for my major so the work is almost fun.  Just a fair warning though, I now have actual tools in addition to all of the intuition that my wonderful mother taught me to analyze all of you with-- be afraid.
(**There's the white Doberman again.. so weird.)
Today, I was due for a reward.  I slept in and grabbed a banesso for brunch (it would be weird to say breakfast since it was nearly 2).  Yoyo and I then made our way downtown to the mall.  We spent a "marathon day" (in Yoyo's words) attacking the oddly laid out monster.

We played chess on the gigantic boards in the middle of the mall.  Chess and I never really got along so she taught me and I ended up really enjoying it.
And now, a few hours later, I find myself sipping an iced mocha sitting across from an intently focused Amy.
I hope this isn't the end of the night.  At midnight, we are heading over to a 24-hour Walmart hoping to buy the new Taylor Swift CD.  That will be the perfect end to a perfect day.
This weekend taught me about balance.  I learned (again) that I have the ability to study for hours but I also need to keep goals and rewards close.  Kind of like the delay of gratification principle in psychology.  Cool.

Yes, I'm a creeper.

Some soft oldies, Bing Crosby I think, is playing in the background and the store has the perfect hum of voices is adding up to the perfect vibe here.  The women are still gossiping-- something about a wedding.  I feel like old women at a coffee shop often talk about weddings, it is just very cinematic.  And somehow these ladies, one sipping a latte and one sipping wine, know that guy walking the Doberman's.  It's a small world indeed.
So about that balance.  It's time for me to stop using this psych book as a notebook rest to write an overdue blog post.


UPDATE:  Last night wasn't as epic as it could have been, the store did not have the CD after all of our effort.  I ended up leaving my phone in the car and remembered after we had walked all the way back.  Because Amy is awesome, she accompanied me back to get it and we walked in the rain singing along to old Taylor Swift songs.  Overall, it was a great night.

Anyone want to name him?  Send me captions :]

While I was sitting here blogging, the most adorable bunny hopped out from behind the bushes and started munching on grass.  He even let me take a few pictures in exchange for him glaring at me a little. It's funny, but the bunny kind of reminds me of "Alice in Wonderland".  And even more peculiar, my old math professor walked by and kind of laughed at me.  I only look kind of crazy taking pictures of this bunny.  I took way too many pictures of this bunny.  Hmm, maybe I'm just the mad hatter.
Oh, and Matt McCoy says, "Hi".

"I've got the world on a string, I'm sitting on a rainbow" --Love the music in this place <3

The Kid's Loft

I am seeing my room from a different perspective.  I climbed up the ladder to the "second story" where Yoyo and Daphne spend anywhere from 4-10 of their twenty-four hours a day.  I am calling this place the kids' loft because it feels like an old fashioned slumber party with sheets, forts, zoos and craziness.  Yes, I am on Yoyo's bed, chilling out and blogging.  Blogging is now for narcissists with friends.  (I wish I could say the narcissist reference was going to end there.. but that's just not going to happen.)
Today I had an amazing "I can almost see God and angels" moment and got to share it with Yoyo.  You can read her account (which will be better than mine) of the story here: The Mommy Story.  Seeing Yoyo and her mom together was such an incredibly powerful moment.  I teared up a little and ended up calling my mom.  Just knowing that the chances were so low that we would be able to run into Yoyo's mom at the crowded Asian market (a couple of roadblocks included issues with cell phones not working and store closing times) and watching it happen.. it was a "God actually planned this one and put a bow on it" kind of day.  Success.
I have some random pictures from the past few weeks of things that I have wanted to blog about and have decided to throw them in here.  Bedtime is for losers anyway, right?

(Leftover Ramblings #1) Last week I wrote a little about the Blue Angles (or maybe not?).  They were in San Diego and flying over our school.  It was fun watching the professors stop and smile during their lectures because they were inaudible over the grumble of the planes.  I tried to get a picture of them (crazy person standing on the roof of my apartment) and never got a great one.  When the shows at Miramar were over, the planes went home and I was lucky enough to snap a bit better shot.

(Leftover Ramblings #2) The sunflowers in the apartment made me happy.  It was literally sunshine on a cloudy day-- San Diego has forgotten its proper place as a beach city.  But coming back from class and seeing the bright yellow and green burst of happiness just made me smile.

(Last one) In case anyone was scared, my obsession with food has not gone far.  I recently discovered what I like to call "Mexican crepes".  A warm tortilla with butter (and honey if you have some), cinnamon sugar, bananas and Nutella.  It's college student's gourmet-- cheap, hot, fast, energizing (can anyone say, "Potassium!"?), and even healthy (wheat tortillas cut calories, cinnamon is great for congestion and stomachaches, honey is calming and Nutella makes everything happy).
"And would you want to see?  If seeing meant that you had to believe" --Joan Osborne

Pennies from Heaven

I stepped outside this morning and my first thought was something like, "The weather is incredibly awful.. good job San Diego".  But I realized.. it's October.  I can finally listen to Christmas music without people thinking I'm too terribly strange.
With a hot cup of tea (trying to stick with one coffe per day.. so sad), I sat down and started playing one of my favorite soundtracks, Elf.  I must sound like silly Californian, but when I am freezing in this 60 degree drizzle, "Baby It's Cold Outside" just makes me happy.
Last night, Yoyo, Daphne and I went to see The Social Network.  I thought it was incredibly well done.  The use of flashbacks, clever filming and superb casting allows the viewer to really understand the complicated scenario and appreciate the movie's tagline "You don't get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies".  It's funny, some of the most successful people in the world seem to be pretty douchey.  This film makes no exception in its portrayal of Zuckerberg (CEO and founder of FB).  I also loved how, in a way, the movie centered around his blog.  Since 2003, the technology has changed quite a bit but the fundamentals of blogging are the same (as Zuckerberg's ex-girlfriend says), "as if every thought in your head is so important that it deserves to be on the internet".  That just goes back to one of my favorite things to write about, that blogging is for narcissists.
Taylor Swift's junior album is dropping this week and up until Tuesday I was very disappointed with her single releases..  They just sounded too much like her old, high-school themed stuff.  However, Tuesday's single "Back to December" is impressive.  When I'm not listening to "Pennies from Heaven" by the incredible Louis Prima (seriously love this song), I'm listening to Taylor's heartfelt apology.
"How's life, tell me how's your family? I haven't seen them in a while, Your guard is up and I know why, Cause the last time you saw me, Is still burned in the back of your mind, You gave me roses and I left them there to die"

Bloody Ice and Masked Characters

I am bleeding in at least three places and tomorrow my right leg will refuse to move.  And it was totally awesome.

Today began well enough with a decently easy physics quiz.  I came back to the apartment to make snicker doodles (I felt like sharing some love at UCSD and missed home <3).  Baking reminds me of the tiny kitchen I grew up in and so so so many epic days.  The apartment had a sort-of holiday/homey/cheery feel to it, with just the slightest aroma of cinnamon sugar in the air.

My afternoon class was cancelled so I spent some time figuring out classes.  I realized that one of my classes was not going to count for credit (long and frustrating story) and I am still in the process of working that out.

My marathon day had just begun even though I have been up since eight.  I met Mike down at the Cliffs with his physics class to watch the sunset and raced back to campus to meet Amy for our Phi Beta LambdA-mazing race.  We were given a list of items to film or photograph around campus with a deadline.  Amy and I made complete fools out of ourselves, laying on the ground to imitate Ke$ha (..I wake up in the morning feeling like P-Diddy..), filming a dance-off and serenading a stranger.  Our team “Trees” (don’t ask) ended up winning the race with Amy’s impression of the Old Spice man.  Yeah, free tee shirts!

My very late dinner was relatively chill, my signature salad and a classic episode of HIMYM with Amy.  After a full day, my night was about to begin.

Mike, Ben and I made our way over to the local ice rink for broomball with an engineering club.  I was unsure about the whole thing… sneakers on ice, some mini soccer balls and hockey sticks with little covers on them and, honestly, and engineering club… but decided to give it a shot.  My goodness, it was amazing.  The game is incredibly fun and all of the people were great company.  I took a couple of nasty spills, thus a cut on my hand, a blister, cut on my elbow and a very bruised behind.  But it was all worth it.  I was thrilled to make a couple of blocks and goal assists (there were so many people, I was surprised to get a stick on the ball).  When I actually scored, though, I was ecstatic.  The night concluded with a slurpee run (GOODNESS THERE IS A LOT OF SUGAR IN THOSE, hence me writing this post at 2:20) and me walking back to the apartment.

Yeah, I was bored and have Photoshop...

I saw a chill looking guy standing by the dumpsters outside my building.  I looked around and realized he was watching a raccoon walk around the bins.  Slurpee in hand, I pulled out my camera to get a couple of pics and ended up finding more of the raccoon family.  I could tell I was now entertaining the guy more than the raccoons so I talked to him.  He thought I was crazy for thinking they were cute.  But seriously, look at them.  They are cute.

I just finished this very high sugar high with a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  Fyi, that is some delicious cereal.

Well, with that, I am going to grab some Tylenol and try to sleep.  Lots of work and fun coming up this weekend.

"We've got to hold on to what we've got, Cause it doesn't make a difference, If we make it or not, We've got each other and that's a lot, For love- we'll give it a shot" --Bon Jovi

Sara Bareilles - King Of Anything

Good morning! I wanted to share one of my current favorite songs/music videos. I know the song is a little bit "old" (if you haven't heard.. I was in Rome this summer) but I absolutely love it. My apartmentmates think that the video resembles some of my design preferences and, well, I think I agree.

Why so smiley?

(Written Wednesday, sorry for the delays.. again) The word of the day is dreary.  This San Diego foggy drizzle gives everyone a peculiar mood of indifference.  On my way back from morning classes, the lines "when it's cold outside, show the word the warmth in your smile" popped into my otherwise empty mind.  My curiosity got the best of me and I reasoned that there was really nothing to lose by performing a simple experiment during my usually mundane fifteen minute walk back to my apartment.

SD's UFO (as seen in INCEPTION!!!)

Bright pink umbrella in hand, I began smiling.  Not a "cheese!" smile, just a simple grin would be enough to do the experiment without looking completely insane.  People's reactions were fascinating.  According to one of my psychology textbooks, sharing something (a smile, laugh, etc) with a stranger (or even an "enemy") gives both parties an incredible temporary bond in the form of social contact that we all are born to crave.  This proved to be true.  Most people gave me a double take, almost a more double take than if I was wearing a dress and stilettos in the rain, and gave me a genuinely happy face back.  I found such great satisfaction during this experiment that I forgot that it was an experiment.  Amazingly, I noticed my mood was greatly improved five minutes into my walk.  I realized that I smiled at all of the colorful umbrellas and remembered that day in Versailles.  I was chuckling at an adorable couple and another girl asking why she was wearing cute sandals and freezing when she could wear ugly sneakers.  People are amusing and happiness is more catchable than a cold.  Experiment = success.

School has been going well, as expected classes are picking up in workload.  The weekend was nice, beginning with Friday night and Restaurant Week.  Yoyo, Daphne and I went to a little restaurant on the harbor and enjoyed a crazy good three-course feast.  Saturday was Moonlight Kayaking with my old R.A. and his new building.  It was my second time kayaking at night and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I don't have any pics yet (disposable camera) but I will soon.  Sunday was a Costco run and homework.

At any rate, I have been enjoying the first couple of weeks back.  I love the apartment and getting back into feeling smarter.  It's funny, though, sometimes the highlight of my day is making salads and paninis in our amazing kitchen.  More soon! <3

!!!

By the way, this blog has reached over 1,200 hits since the beginning of summer.
I am so proud of this project-- as many of you know, it is kind of like my baby-- and thankful to all of you who read and enjoy these little stories from my everyday experiences.
Now that school is becoming routine again, I promise to try and write more regularly.
Thank you and love you all.

Espresso

So that “summer that changed everything” has officially ended and school is beginning.  I arrived in San Diego a little over a week ago and was immediately busy with Welcome Week.  We put on four days of events for Revelle’s class of 2014 and were lucky enough to experience them for our second year.

That week is definitely one of my greatest experiences here in SD.

Amy and I paid a much overdue visit to Café Bassam—our current favorite coffee shop downtown after a dance party on Friday.  Espresso at midnight may not have been the best call for a good night’s sleep but, as you can see, it was absolutely worth the insomnia.

Saturday Matt and his parents took me to the Padres v. Reds game at Petco Park.  The game was close and made for a lot of energy in the stadium to break the tie in the bottom of the ninth.  The epic game was followed by a San Diego staple, Phil’s BBQ.

That night I went adventuring with Mike.  We ended up driving along the coast and getting legit tacos at some little place by the water.  I was already stuffed but managed to devour a delicious carne asada taco.

Sunday I was introduced to the wonderful new drink at our dining hall market, the banesso.  It’s comparable to a Starbuck’s frappuccino, made with a banana, espresso, milk and chocolate.  I am forever indebted to Yoyo for this fantastic find.

Classes are starting slow, much like last year.  This gives us the illusion of an easy quarter and lulls us into using all of our free time to enjoy the beautiful (or extremely freaking hot, depending on your perspective) weather.  The highlight of today was my amazing lunch—a blackberry Izze and a homemade salad.  Mmmm, seems like a good, easy week. ;) 

"All the, small things/True care, truth brings" --Blink 182

Hellogoodbye

“Fearless is dedicated to documenting my summer studying abroad in Europe. This blog and its url are named after song lyrics. "Fearless", is from Taylor Swift and tells a love story beginning with the way the street looks when it has just rained and ends with the perfect kiss-- "I don't know how it gets better than this". The url, "Better than Tonight" is from Pink's "Glitter in the Air". She asks, "Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air?", "Have you ever wished for an endless night?" and "Have you ever held your breath and asked yourself 'will it ever get better than tonight?'". So here's to those memories, moments and nights. The ones that are so special they take your breath away, the ones that you pray will last for eternity, the ones so full of magic it is nearly as tangible as glitter in the air, the ones that are.. Fearless.”

This was the ‘mission statement’ for “Fearless”.  As noted in my previous post, I feel like it is time for a change.  So, welcome to the new blog-“Pieces of the Sun”.

My best memories rush through my head like microscopic, dazzling rays of sunlight.  My favorite moments are those spent with family and friends, usually near the ocean (whether it be Santa Cruz, San Francisco, the Mediterranean, the south of France or La Jolla) and this design is truly a reflection of these moments and memories.  During summer, I designed the background and logo—completely from scratch—and used images from my favorite places.

I don’t think I have a ‘mission statement’ for this (sort-of) new blog.  But I know it is a place where I will come to share my experiences, questions, observations and smiles.

"Everything is in this place, and I can't stop this smile on my face, cause I'm happy, I'm happy in this place, So smile on my friends" --Anthems

Counting Down the Cottonballs

This post is proof that inspiration is everywhere you look.  I have been meaning to blog for a few days now and just didn’t really know where to begin.

This time of year is once again proving to be bittersweet.  Oddly enough, this year is almost more so than the last.  It’s the middle of September (que Daughtry, anyone?), the weather is slowly changing and school is creeping around the corner.  This is the week of awful goodbyes; endless hours of shopping, packing, and organizing; and (thankfully) wonderful hellos.  This week is absolutely physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting.  The end of summer has a way of doing that to me.

It’s not over yet, though.  Summer lasts until the first day of classes so I still got some time. :)

So where did I find inspiration?  Cottonballs.  I use four cottonballs every day (two for makeup removal and two for a toner application) and tonight mom asked how many I would need since I had just gone through my bag.  It is weird—I can feel how close school is by counting down the cottonballs.  And, in this strange place, I suddenly felt like writing.

Mom and I have been doing a lot of shopping.  The other day, it was like a scene from a movie.  We were in H&M, back to back.  We turned around at the exact same time holding the exact same hat.  Needless to say, the angora leopard print beret is now in my room.  And yes, I’m serious.  It’s fabulous in a “Sex in the City” sort of way.

Today we made our very-annual trip out to Palo Alto for some cupcakes.  Before the sugar high, we stopped at Ikea.  We had a great time wandering throughout the store—avoiding small children and annoying couples (“Ohh, honey, we need to look at lighting” “*sigh*”) and ended up buying a few things we didn’t necessarily need.  Yes, this includes Sweedish meatballs.  No, you, the reader, cannot judge.

In front of a seasonal glass display at the outdoor mall <3

At the mall, we hit up a few stores and made our way to Sprinkles.  These cupcakes are special.  Instead of writing about their buttery, light, creamy, moist, cakey, beautiful goodness, I will let the picture speak.  Haha, too late maybe?

Dark chocolate with dark chocolate frosting and.. dark chocolate SPRINKLES!

Well, anyway, if you know me well enough you know I get bored pretty quickly.  If you don’t know me that well, ask to see some pictures of my hair for the past three years.  So I think it’s time for “Fearless” to be renamed and redesigned.  Don’t misunderstand—I am still going to blog with this website, I am just changing the logo, background and name.  “Fearless” has served its purpose well and has been the perfect diary to my Roman summer.  Now that summer is nearing an end, I think it is fitting to change things up and give this blog a new feel.  So look forward to that very soon.  I hope you enjoy.

“Feeling kinda sick?  Just a spoon full of sugar make it better real quick, Everybody wants some, Melodies that get stuck, Up in your head “ –Sugarland (P.S. If you have not seen the video for this song, “Stuck Like Glue”, go watch it.)

Miracles Don’t Smack You Across the Head Everyday

The day started off well enough.  Huck was dropped off at the trainer so mom and I had the day to go somewhere.  We decided on Santa Cruz for our annual shopping day.

Yelp is my best friend.  We found a seafood place on the wharf that was absolutely fantastic.  I have only seen my mom eat that much once before in my life—it was quite impressive and frightening.  Once we had adequately stuffed ourselves, we drove downtown for a good hour’s worth of shopping.  The weather wasn’t perfect but, for the Northern California coast, it was a pretty day.  We figured we would hit some traffic going back and we couldn’t be late to pick up Huck so after shopping we had just enough time to get candy.  Taffy and truffles made the perfect afternoon snack.

We started making our way back and traffic was blissfully light until we were about thirty minutes away which was going to make us about ten minutes late.  And the ten minutes was increasing proportionally with the brake lights in front of us.  Thank goodness for GPS, we simply hit “detour” and took the scenic route.

One of my favorite routes in the area, actually, a two-lane highway surrounded with beautiful trees and running along a creek.  Country music blasting, traffic behind us, we were having a great ride.

Suddenly the Jeep in front of us started creeping to the right.  My first thought was, “How stupid to go off-roading here” my second was, “Oh my God, he’s not off-roading”.  My mom pulled over instantly and ran out of the car while I called 911.  I began to describe the situation and pulled the keys out of the ignition.  Mom was running back towards me and I jumped out, fearing the worst.  Indeed it was not the best (and thankfully, not the worst) news, the man was awake but not coherent, there was a large amount of smoke, and he was unreachable.  I finished up with 911 and we got back in the car.  We started to drive away, knowing we were going to be very late to pick up Huck, but we both knew we had to go back.  Mom turned around (this is impressive in itself on this highway) and we parked again.  We got out and the fire had become massive.  I called 911 again to tell them they needed to bring more water.  Now the car was enclosed in black smoke and there was no sign of the man.  Mom was hailing down traffic and finally a man in a work truck stopped.  No one had a fire extinguisher and I was beginning to really fear the worst.  There was no way to get to the man and there was a big fire.  Nothing looked promising.

Finally a county fire (pickup) truck arrived.  The man who stopped grabbed the fireman’s extinguisher and ran over while we talked to the fireman.  The extinguisher was pointless and thrown aside.  Suddenly, he was screaming for help and honking the horn.  Seconds (which felt like hours) later, the other (big) fire trucks arrived.  We ran back and forth between the vehicles to communicate with all the new people on the scene.  Finally, we got out of the way and watched.  I was quite shaken up and realized I could not help.  I realized my only power was prayer.  I remember saying something like, “I know I only pray when I need something and I’m sorry.  But I pray this man will be ok and that he is not burning.  And for his family.”  His license plate told us he was handicapped and a Naval officer.   We told 911 and the men on scene that he may not be able to walk, we didn’t know.  After the fire was tamed, they had a plastic stretcher and carried it down.  This seemed like good news until it came back up and the man who had stopped first signaled to the men.  The signal made our hearts skip—the signal with his hand across his neck.

I looked at Mom and she looked back.  Suddenly, we saw a new guy.  Supported by two firemen, the man was able to walk up the steep hill out of his car.  He looked unscratched.

So many things could have been different about today.  We almost didn’t take the shortcut; we almost got back on the freeway halfway down the road.   We almost shopped longer, almost sat down to get coffee; Mom almost didn’t cut off a couple of trucks before the pass.  The man could just as easily not have stopped and put out some of the fire by the driver’s door.  God put us there, in that exact place at that moment in time, for a reason and the moment we saw the man all we could say was "thank God".  There weren’t many cars around; in fact, none behind us when the accident happened.  If we were not there, that man’s fate may have been different. The trees hid his location and the first indication of an accident would be the smoke.  By the time the smoke hit the road, it may have been too late.

So, it’s not every day that a miracle jumps out at you with a parade and banner that says,  “HEY! I’M A MIRACLE!”  But those little diversions throughout the day, minor decisions we make, and actions that we take may just save someone’s life—whether we know it or not.

"Life ain't always beautiful, but it's a beautiful ride" --Gary Allan

Bugs.

I do not like bugs.  Ok ok-- some bugs are tolerable like ladybugs, butterflies, dragonflies, and rolly pollies.  But most bugs freak me out, particularly spiders.
Wouldn't you know it, right before we leave for southern California last week, I spot this just off of our porch.

These two spiders are gigantic and quite evil looking.  I'm definitely not too sure what God had in mind here, except perhaps something along the lines of "HA!  Revenge..".  Yeah, I don't know.  But we were already running late so we figured we would deal with them when we got back from LA.

We were hanging out at our friends' house on our last day in so Cal.  One of the girls asked my mom, "Aunt Katie, is that a nail on the ceiling?".  And that's where it all began.  My Aunt Daisy attacked the "nail" with a Swiffer.  Can you see where this is going?  The "nail" was alive.

My mom picked it up with a tissue and inspected it when it began to twitch and spaz out.  We got pretty close to it and tried to figure out what it was.  I must admit it was pretty interesting looking.  It had claw-like features on both ends of its body and skin that looked like scales.  At first, I was convinced it was a freakishly small reptile.  Well, Moorea was brave enough to take the beast and put it outside.  But, not before I got a picture-- just for the blog (and the insane memory).

NOTE: this is the taquito bag.  Yes, I'm serious.

This thing moved moved from the front and the back and the claws were freaky.  We started Googling.  Aunt Daisy started with "worm that looks like a twig" and immediately found our intruder.  Technically just a moth larvae (seriously, an ordinary caterpillar inchworm) this worm is shockingly common and has an incredible resemblance to a twig.

When we got home, our eight-legged "friend" was still hanging out, minus his buddy.  Goodness knows what happened to the other guy but my guess is he got eaten.  And, even a week later, the big guy is still out there.  Dad keeps saying he'll move it but I think we're all a little freaked out to even approach the thing.  Mom poked the web with a stick and instead of running like a normal spider, he tried to attack the stick.  And this thing is living outside of my house.  Wonderful.

"It's a dirty free-for-all" --Ke$ha

Some Things Never Change

It’s cool when your senses are so completely overwhelmed with goodness.  Like being immersed in a vibrant image, drowning in the music at a concert, and succumbing to the buttery texture of Italian leather boots.  This is how I felt in my (great) Uncle Ray’s kitchen.  This particular night, he was cooking for my sister's 30th birthday.  The smell of garlic, butter, shrimp and herbs was delightfully surrounding.  I remember this spot well, kneeling on this wooden bench looking over the stovetop and watching Uncle Ray cook.  He is an excellent chef and growing up I loved watching and learning from him.  He has been in this kitchen for over thirty years and he knows just how to use every inch of the space.  The clock on the stove has read the same time for at least nineteen years.  The pots, cookbooks and refrigerator magnets (including the one that reads “Ethel’s Ray’s Kitchen”) have been the same as long as I can remember.

Kari’s birthday was fun; the Angel’s definitely gave her one of her birthday wishes by winning 12-3 (or somewhere around there).  Mom and I went to Disneyland that morning since our passes were about to expire.  Morning is definitely the best time to go in summer because it’s before the kids are awake and before the sun begins to really heat up.

Our first day in Manhattan Beach, we stopped for coffee at Coffee Bean.  We couldn’t resist splitting the mini chocolate bundt cake.  I won’t even describe how good it was but I will share a quote from that experience: "Mom, this is really good but the grease spot on the napkin is slightly disconcerting", she replied, "That's my drool."

Our (hostesses in Manhattan Beach + us) quick trip to El Pollo Loco was quite embarrassing to us “kids”.  The moms decided it would be a good idea to go through drive through twice, ask if the lady remembered us and order a ridiculous amount of taquitos, fried food and ice cream.  We’re not fat, we swear.
"God is great, beer is good and people are crazy" --Billy Currington

Photos: My Favorites, Photoshopped (2)

As promised, the last of the images :)

Swiss Guards at the Vatican

From the Top of St. Peter's

Sidewalk Chalk, Rome

Traffic in Rome

Street Performers, Florence

Ominous Cruise Ship (somewhere around Monte Carlo)

Paris Metro Sign

Traffic in Paris

Photos: My Favorites, Photoshopped (1)

Ok, I know I have posted a lot of pictures recently.  I promise, this is the second to last one of my Europe pics.  These last two posts are a little bit more special to me because they are images that I manipulated in some way that I think makes them better.  My personal favorite (of all my Europe pics) is below, the picture of two young Italians playing hacky sack in the middle of a piazza (plaza) in Rome.  For me, it captures the simple essence of the beautiful people, lifestyle and country of Italy.

Trastevere-- street magic show

"Wedding Crashers"

My favorite neon sign in Trastevere

Sculpture inside a Roman Church

Lizards, Italian countryside

Italian countryside

Hacky sack players in Rome

The street outside of our apartment