the year of change

I am pretty sick and I have no strength to write... this year has come and gone, like all the other years.. I have done some pretty exciting things - went to Korea and Japan, applied to colleges, and now it's coming to a close. I feel like this next year is going to be filled with a lot of change. Changing schools, leaving town for the first time in eighteen years, moving houses, graduating high school, finding new friends, and only God knows what else. I'm a bit scared of what's to come next, but feeling excited for the future.

^ bye bye until next time

beanies

Some people collect stamps, others collect Pokemon cards. And I collect beanies. It's not much of an avid collection, but it seems that I have collected quite a lot of different beanies over the years.

About seven years ago, I received my first beanie for Christmas. I wanted to be like my older brother who had a couple beanies, so my uncle bought me a simple beanie. It wasn't exactly my style, so whenever I went out shopping with my mom, I would look for beanies. But it wasn't as easy as it is nowadays. Beanies were more of winter fashion, unlike the present day where people wear beanies in the springtime. I guess that's what made it really exciting when I bought a nice beanie. It was kind of like a treasure hunt - to find the perfect beanie. So each beanie I wear has some kind of story to it - a gift from a friend, a long day of shopping, or a visit to a national park. And I really cherish all these beanies - and memories.

^ bye bye until next time 

long and winding road

In short, I visited a clothing studio, went to a craft fair, and got lost on the 101.

I never ever want to drive to LA again.. I'll probably have to again eventually, but the traffic I experienced today was not pretty at all...


Today I visited Jill Aiko Yee's studio in downtown Los Angeles:

Her studio's actually fairly small, but I think she uses the space really well and I didn't feel cramped at all. I went to visit her because I won her Unique LA raffle last week and received $100 of her stuff! And so I tried on some clothes and ended up going with this top: 

I'm really happy with it and I have a feeling it's going to be my go_to shirt.

I also stopped by renegade, a craft show (two craft shows in two weeks.. phew I'm tired..) and I enjoyed it a lot. The weather was really nice, the craft show was outside, there were plenty of vendors but not an overbearing amount like Unique and the way Renegade is set up makes it easy to make sure you visited every booth. I'd say I liked it better than Unique, although there are a lot of the same vendors.

As you can see from the pictures, there was some neat stuff there and I had a great time.

But, as I was going home, I went on the wrong freeway ramp.. I realized this about ten minutes after driving, so I pulled off the freeway, ending up somewhere in Beverly Hills. I had to ask three separate people for instructions, and if not for them, I might not have been home right now. I am thankful for their help. But because of my carelessness of one ramp, instead of the 40 minutes it could have taken me, it took me about three hours to get home. And my phone died.. yikes. I definitely have to be more careful when I'm driving to and from an unknown place. It was a pretty exciting adventure, but I got to admit that finally arriving home was the best part of the day. 

^ adventure's out there!

wondering where i'll be

Here I am, sitting on a random bench at UC Davis... And wondering, "Am I going to be going school here?..." I recently applied to eight schools - two Cal States, four UCs, one private, and one out of state.. They are all so different, it's impossible to tell what my lifestyle is going to be in a year. The future is a strange and scary place - I'm honestly terrified of what is to come...

 I'm going to write a letter to my future self, just for fun... and edit this post in the future to see where I ended up:

Dear the twenty year old me,
How are you? What have you been doing for the last three years? I feel like I'm just wandering around, unsure of what is to come. I hope that your life is a bit more secure than now.. Is college great? Stressful? boring? I hope it's fun - make sure you keep learning and not let your curiosity die :) I bet this letter and blog sounds immature now that you're three years older. Don't be scared to make mistakes twenty year old me! Did you ever switch your major?... How do you feel after reading this letter to yourself? I bet it's really weird... Have a nice day ~
- the seventeen year old me

^ bye bye until next time

unique LA 2013 winter show

What an exciting day.. Where do I even begin..

Took a bus to LA - that was fun, especially because of the rain. I love taking public transportation.. When I'm driving, biking or walking, I have to plan out when to turn and look up ahead of time what I'm going to see. But when I take the bus, I don't really anticipate what I'm going to see or what I'm going to experience. Even when I'm on the same route, I'm sitting with totally different people on a totally different day. It's like that quote - 'No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.' Today, I met a man named Tony, whose business card is in the middle right, and we were talking about transportation, film, engineering, and traveling, and it was such a great conversation. I know parents teach us not to talk to strangers, but conversations with strangers are the most intriguing, in my opinion.

Just got to say that LA is a truly beautiful place and home to some pretty amazing food. In fact, I'm going to heat up that other half of the panini that I didn't finish and eat it while I'm writing this blog.

yummm

Now back to blogging! 

A glimpse of Unique LA: 

pretty amazing stuff that people are selling

say cheese ~

meet some of the most amazing vendors!

desserts

My favorite meal of the whole day is dessert. I usually don't have the pleasure of eating dessert every day, so when I do, it's a special occasion. It's amazing how a tiny delicacy can make me so excited.

It's amazing how my tastes have changed over the years. I remember when I was younger, I hated anything bitter or sour. Pure sugar was the only thing that could make me happy - milk chocolate and sugary candy is what I liked the most. Now that I'm a little older, I still enjoy sweets, but I don't mind the bitter/sour tastes - sometimes that's what makes it taste so good. I think the best kinds of treats are those that have two different flavors, so it's not just overwhelmingly sweet. I am now able to enjoy dark chocolate, simple pastries, and coffee drinks (although I don't know if I can ever drink raw coffee...)

All sweets are great, but I think my favorite has to be ice cream. No matter of how bad my mood is, ice cream can always lift my spirits. And any ice cream is good - coffee, vanilla, chocolate, mint and chocolate chip, cherry, sherbet - anything will make me happy. Even better on a cold day (the ice cream won't melt!) To my future husband/boyfriend - please buy me ice cream often and I will love you. Thank you (: haha

my latest ice cream run from Handels! 

I think I have three stomachs - one for food, one for sweets and one for ice cream <3

^ bye bye until next time  

break

took these picture while taking an evening stroll :] 

I love working, being efficient, but the break of thanksgiving felt wonderful. Being able to relax without worry  of college going through my head. Eating without rushing and enjoying the company of my family. So this week's blog post is fairly short..

But my rest is done, and I will be back with two blog post next week - with one about unique LA so be excited (:

^ bye bye until next time

marimba

good morning Doris my marimba <3

Marimba. hands down my favorite instrument. When I get older, I'm going to buy myself a marimba :)

The reason why am I'm writing this is because band season has just ended. It's kind of strange when I think about it. I've spent four years in band - two years marching, two years in the front; three years following the leader; one year leading a section. I used to be a relatively quiet person in band, not wanting any attention to be placed on myself. Now, I sort of have to, but I don't mind it. I never would have imagined that I would end up being the pit captain.

It's so crazy how life kind of tosses you and throws you around; how you start in a place and think you know where you're going, but the next thing you know, you end up in a totally different place.

When I was in middle school, I remember my mom forced me to play piano and I hated it. All the other asian kids played piano and were ten times better than me and it seemed so mundane. I used to complain every time my mom asked me to practice. But I didn't give it up. I don't know why, but I just continued playing. But I think piano was one of the best investments of my childhood ( so thanks mom :). Piano gave me so many opportunities - playing in the praise team at church, playing in jazz band, working at getting paid for the first time, helped me find my favorite instrument - marimba - and that lead me to a leadership position in band... I'm not bragging about my musical accomplishments, but all these opportunities that piano has lead me to makes me grateful that I stuck with piano and reminds me that there is hope of something better in the future...

Although I initially hated piano, I worked hard at it and it turned out to be such a blessing.
And right now, life seems so hard with all these college apps, financial problems, leadership difficulties, and other issues that make my head spin... But I just have to keep working hard and hope for the best because I know that I will grow from this difficulty and will end up in a better place, just like I did from playing piano for twelve years.

bye bye until next time ^

looking backwards

 

I've been starting to apply for colleges and last monday, I went to a local favorite - Neighborhood Grinds.. I love the atmosphere in the cafe - everyone is working around you, so it makes you want to work too. 

As I've been working on the essay portion of the UC application, it really makes me think about what I've done throughout my short span of life.. what have I really been doing? What world do I come from? What am I proud of? What impacted me the most? And it's kind of strange looking back at all the experiences I've had - most of which I had forgotten, or at the time, I thought had no significance. I was really struggling with the questions and I've talked with some teachers and my mom for answers. So I'm going to share what I think I'm going to write about ~ 

First question

Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

I'm going to writing about the two worlds I come from - Seoul and Southern California. I love taking public transportation to see different places, to experience new things. I have taken the train and bus around to LA to visit friends and just to see the city. I have enjoyed that experience. But when I went to Seoul... the public transportation is pretty amazing. Through a combination of walking, subway, and bus, you can pretty much go anywhere in Seoul. You don't need a car, you just need a couple of bucks (or couple thousand "won") to visit a palace, an underground mall, an outdoor market, an indoor amusement park, a forest, or the blue house. Everything is accessible, therefore, people are more likely to get off their butts and actually look at the beautiful city around them. LA is pretty beautiful as well.. but it's impossible to go to because of traffic and the public transportation system is so poorly made. That is why it is my dream to change the public transportation in order for the future generation to become one that explores not just the city around them, but the state, nation and the world, just as I have. And there are some experiences you can only get from traveling which are very valuable

The other one I can't seem to find a topic for.. well

bye bye until next time ^ 

thursdays

Hello my unseen audience (and myself in the future)...

first off, I always loved blogs - the idea of having a place where you publish your thoughts on the internet was always fascinating, but I never really could make myself continue because of lack of energy/motivation and my blogs usually acted out as a diary rather than a publicly readable blog. But if I don't write things down, it will be forgotten. So I'm going to start a little project that will start from the beginning of my "adulthood" until the end of my time and it will be a present to my future self and maybe my future kids and grandkids - see what the crazy old lady was thinking when she was seventeen or twenty five. coffeestroke's blog and michelle's blog inspired me for this project; their blogs were the "final push" to get me going. Let's see where this goes.

this blog isn't a diary where I rant about my problems (tumblr) or a continual update about my social life (that's twitter) or a platform for my pictures (instagram) or a place to share my opinions and feelings with friends (facebook); rather it's a blog that serves as three functions:
1) a place where I can think about things beyond school and the stress going on in my own life; where I can be at peace and wonder about the beautiful things in life
2) scrapbook life events and what I think about them.
3) A place to explain my travel stories

So without further introductions, let's begin. 

Thursday is my favorite day of the week. Why is that? Because it's the anticipation of the weekend that is arriving. Usually, the weekend is never as good as you think it should be, so the day before gives you the best feeling. It's the 5th day of the week - you're almost done, but you still got some time. It's a nice feeling. Which is why I am going to be writing blogs on Thursdays. It's usually the day where I have the least amount of work and plus, it's my favorite day of the week, so why not make it even more amazing? I want to have a new post only once a week or once every two weeks because this is a project that I don't give up on - slow and steady wins the race, right?

bye bye until next time ^