These are a few of my favorite things....

I am so sad to be leaving my amazing home, so

in tribute to the lovely place I have lived most of my life [Southern California] 

I have decided that each week I will share one of my very favorite things about this place :) 

These posts may include beautiful views, fun activities, places to eat & drink, nightlife...who knows! Whatever comes to mind, really.

This week I will start with a place I hold dear to my heart:

_________Carlsbad State Beach (Tamarack)_________

This beautiful setting was the backdrop for so many of my dearest memories:

Therapeutic evening runs along the boardwalk, 

countless days laying in the sand below Cherry St., 

Sunday Fundays at Dini's, my besties old apartment on Acacia, 

Fourth of July celebrations, riding beach cruisers with friends, 

redtide in the summer, enjoying the sunset on the drive home from the lab....

& so many more.

All memories which bring a smile to my face :)

I thought I was ready to leave Carlsbad when I moved to LA, 

but oh, how I miss it so....

If you ever get a chance to visit, I highly recommend a stroll down the boardwalk, a drive down Carlsbad Blvd, or a day at the beach.

~Coachella~

Ever have one of those weeks where everything goes wrong?  Well, thats how it has been since I got home from Coachella.  Just plain bad. But memories are good.  Especially Coachella memories :]

So...here are a few key photos from the momentous "Last Adventure" as my BFF so accurately labeled it...It was amazing to spend so much time with her! 

There were good times and bad, and as with every Coachella- after a week or two, we just want to go back!

xoxo

I was featured on a blog!

My lovely, wonderful, beautiful friend at JustSo put a little blurb about me on her blog!  

Read it here

Thanks to her!  

Check out the rest of her blog too, it's pretty amazing.

In other news: I owe you some Coachella pictures...

That's one more adventure checked off the list before the big move!

So those pictures/stories will be coming soon...

[but not yet, because]

This week I was too busy recovering, 

catching up in the UCLA lab & 

pulling my hair out over my Master's thesis! 

Oh, & trying to deal with life in general.

(yes, thats right...you can finish a thesis and go to Coachella in the same month...its both a talent & a skill!)

Here is a little snippet of what I have been dealing with:

Yep, that is the life of a graduate student...
SO...Somebody explain to me:
why I'm choosing to go on to a PhD?!


;)
xoxo

So Many Activities!

If you haven't seen Stepbrothers then my title isn't funny to you.  But if you have, you should be laughing.

In anticipation of my upcoming move {4 months! :'( sad!} I am going to try and plan as many fun activities as I can.  I want to maximize the time I have left with my family and wonderful friends, while also enjoying everything that I love about Southern California :)

I must say that this last week has been a good one.  I have been training for a 10k with my lovely labmate (& good thing I have been running, because I managed to put away an entire chocolate-chip-almond-custard-filled croissant and tub of spicy pepper hummus from the West LA Farmer's Market on Sunday), and even made it out to the Gourmet Food Trucks in Santa Monica:

(check out the titles of the ice cream! haha)

For me, the Girl Scout Thin Mint ice cream took home the prize...

but the Chipotle Philly Cheese Steak came in a close second!

Needless to say, the only thing better than the food was the company!

So what else could possibly be in store for this week?

Ultimate Frisbee with the UCLA peeps, 

a 3 mile run with my bestie-brother-in-law

....AND....

[dramatic pause]

- with my best friend in the whole wide world!! -

Could this week get any better?

xoxo

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Okay, I can't really be singing that song quite yet...But this is a rain-related post.  As I was wandering through Loehman's in search of Coachella attire, I ran across a Michael Kor's hooded raincoat for 75% off...  So being the responsible person I am, I swooped it up!  

Here it is!

 (except mine is black)

Now all I need are these Hunter Wellie rainboots

and this MoMa Sky umbrella.
This way my feet will always be dry and there will always be blue skies over my head :)

& when I get my Wellie's I plan on wearing an outfit like this:

Won't I be so Portland-ish?**

**haha, I think they are going to laugh me back to LA! 

Oh well, you can take the girl out of California, 

but you can't take the California out of the girl!!

xoxo

Ideas for my future Portland Apartment

So, with my complete lack of a social life the last few months, i have been obsessing over my future life in Portland.
If I was pregnant, they would call this nesting....

But really, what could be more important than entering into a PhD program with the proper [designer] attire, [fancy loft] apartment, [expensive] home decor & [mini cooper] automobile?

Following my brilliant logic, this post is about 1 of these 3 major concerns....

How to decorate my [future] new-all-to-myself apartment!

i have been scouring the interior design blogs, and dropping major hints about what i want from the family Dutch Antique Store.

Here are some of the amazing DIY ideas I have come up with for my new Portland apartment!

1. I'm going to make a T-shirt rug:

(i may use sheets instead)

2. Check out these Stenciled curtains:

  (i think i want to do this zig zag pattern in an ombre fade)

(blue fade to white or grey-blk??)

3: Framed Costa Rica and California maps, to hang kinda like this:

4.  And I got the idea to make Table napkin throw pillows:

(I'm already on this one! i picked out these napkins at world market!)

5. I also need to figure out what to do with my super amazingly awesome elk antlers! AND strip/primer/repaint my amazing antique dresser (pictures and ideas to come)!

6. Then there are the items that I will be acquiring from the antique store and/or finding elsewhere:

- Antique copper safe (to use as a side table)

- Chandelier

- Vintage suitcases

- Dainty coffee table (paint black?)

- Louis XIV chair

- Vintage(?)Trunk

- Vintage dishware

- End of the bed bench

- Vintage display dome (what to put inside?)

- Beaker vases

I'll post pictures of my ideas and inspiration as they come, 

but this pretty much sums up my thoughts for now :)

Let me know what you think!

xoxox