Letting Go... Sea Air Through My Hair.. Fixie Ride..

I love my little hot pink fixie and living in San Diego, there's so many different areas to ride!! A friend of mine texted me early Saturday morning asking if I wanted to ride bikes.. ironically enough, I woke up after a terrible night of no sleep WANTING to ride bikes. Somehow life just knows the therapy you need to lift your spirits and give you happiness.. I responded to his text with "When and Where?"... I've been wanting to experience a lot of "firsts" in my new city and this was one opportunity I couldn't say no to... 40 minutes later I was out the door with my bike and on my way downtown.. We rode all around Petco Park, Seaport Village, up and down the streets, and stopped for lunch at the Broken Yolk where I came to learn they serve my fav illy coffee. I finally tried Heavenly Cupcakes and wasn't disappointed in their Red Velvet version... It was a beautiful day and I didn't realize how much that bike ride would make me happy..














Viewing pleasure of our afternoon journey...


...When life puts you down, find a bike and ride till you feel better.. or until your legs fall off, which ever happens first... Just "let go"...

Believe in Love...

Love can come from everywhere.. from family, friends, pets... maybe you get your love from things that inspire you like music or fashion.. sometimes we stumble across the wrong kind of love or look past the bad and only focus on love. There's nothing wrong with seeing the good in people.. I like to think positive and give the benefit of the doubt but that can be seen as a weakness and can be taken advantage of. Its happened to me and I think we can grow from such lessons. We keep people in our lives we value whether that be for intellectual conversation, companionship, our besties we can rely on at any time to be there for us at our hardest moments, or those who rarely get the all encompassing unconditional love. I want to let everyone who I love to know I value you. I value our friendships, blood we share, memories we have already made and will make 60 years from now. YOU are the ones that will always be there.. always be respectful.. always glitter in my eyes. Keep being you...


*photo via absolutely beautiful things.

...Believe in Love...

Vitamin D and Sandy Toes...

I crave the sun... there are days where all I want to do is lay on the beach and soak up the rays where it's almost an addictive personality trait.. I never realized how much I appreciated it until I went to snowy cold places where the sun rarely makes a cameo. After living in Hawaii for over 5 years I became so dependent on it.. with the consistent weather I never had to watch the news to find out the daily temperature.. Sunny, 80 degrees with a slight chance of rain (for 10 minutes.. how do you think we get all those rainbows?!) Today for the first time after moving, I went to the beach!! Feeling the sand between my toes was instantly familiar. Not quite the same, but comparable considering what a wonderful day San Diego had. I didn't get to lay out because the plan was just to stroll Coronado, which I had never been before.. my new favorite insta-vacation spot! (blog on that to follow later).. I eagerly await the summer months to roll on by so I can have fun in the sun and get much needed Vitamin D. Until then, I will take these perfect little winter days that give us teasers of the summer...

Coronado Beach at sunset...



...the sunshine makes us happy, it only makes sense to have another reason to smile...

Badgley Mischka... Haute...

So this is very contradictory to my last blog post about thinking twice to buy things and not be so compulsive when it comes to shopping.. I may have just purchased a brand new shiny pair of Badgley Mischka heels.. Xavier.. In black.. I figure they're a good designer pair of shoes for those extra special occasions.. Birthdays, Weddings, social gatherings, etc. An investment piece if you will (beginning to sound like Confessions of a Shopoholic right?) I will say that this past weekend I did second guess a few of my purchases and probably only bought about half of what I originally intended while shopping... Baby steps.. baby steps.. What I did realize when shopping is that most of the stuff I was looking at was already in my closet just in a slightly different cut or shade... So I stuck to my guns as much as possible on reasoning my purchases...

Except for the following shoes I HAD to have.. I had been eyeing them for awhile and I found them on sale.. BONUS! That was pretty much the deciding factor in the end.. Feast your eyes on the new Xavier's..




*Photos via Nordstrom

...shoes to complete even a simple outfit make all the difference..

A New Year To Shine....

It's a new year and it is weird to think it's 2011.. I think for the first time today I actually said 2011 out loud and that's when it hit me that it's an actual NEW year... a time to start fresh, a time for new goals, a time to do something I've never done before.. I have to say that 2010 was a good year for me and pretty hard to beat in terms of "bucket list" types of things.. definitely a few checked off.. I've never been one to set a resolution, but I like to make goals for myself or things that I just want to accomplish or stick to.. more of a "to do" list if you will. I think one of my main goals this year is to budget money a little better.. I buy on impulse (obsessed with on-line shopping) and I'm constantly scouring the internet for fun ideas that get boggled into my head and then I must "have" it.. it's terrible, but oh so fun.. anyway, the point is, after getting my overstuffed closet together with this move, I realize I have a ton of clothes.. I've decided I don't have to buy a new dress every time an event comes up (I own a ton with the price tags still on it).. this is where I'll start, using the dresses I currently have to save money and to save my closet from blowing up on me. Here's to a new year to shine...



...if I had to make a resolution for the year.. it would be to wear red lipstick more often..

Korea... Passport.. Stamped..

This blog post is way long overdue.. The holidays this year had me traveling all over the place and along with getting settled in my new little city of San Diego, unpacking my entire life and making my apartment feel like home... OH and I was working through all the madness of life.. I'm super sad the holiday season has come and gone but I feel like I can actually breathe and enjoy this new city of mine.. FINALLY! So in a previous blog, I said I went to Korea for Thanksgiving.. My Dad has been living there on and off for the last 14 years for work and he had plans of moving for a new job back in the US. I obviously had to take advantage of him being there and for the first time I visited him and finally saw Korea!! I must admit Korea wasn't at the top of my "must visit" list, but I'm sure glad I did.. The food, sites, and the fact I got to see my little sister after not seeing her for over 5 years was nothing short of pure fun! That girl is one ball of energy and I swear she can out run the energizer bunny..

I don't think I ate anything "American" the entire time I was there besides Thanksgiving Day where my Dad made a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Kimchee was now part of my daily diet and I ate as much bibimbop as I possibly could...

PICTURES!!

First started off the vacation in Seoul, South Korea...


I knew what was first on my list... SHOPPING! I had heard Korea was the place to shop if you were a pro... duh.. like there was any question of my shopping skills..






We always have time to Zoolander...


And have obligatory Starbucks coffee internationally...


The street vendors sometimes had questionable food.. but I couldn't get enough of the chestnuts they made!


My Dad lived in Daegu a few hours south of Seoul.. We took the KTX train (kind of like the bullet train that moves super fast).. it was nice being able to see the countryside of Korea after all the hustle and bustle of the city..



My little sister can't take a normal picture.. I have to specifically tell her to "just smile normal" if I want a normal picture.. I'm not really sure where she gets that from... (it's in the genes)..



..this is our sassy face...


On Thanksgiving Day after stuffing our faces with yummy turkey.. we went to Dongwhasa Temple.. This place is beautiful..





..my best buddha pose..


We also visited the Bulkuksa Temple..





...just a 6 year old and her thoughts.. the road to life...


We were very cultural during this trip.. We also went to the Gyeongju World Cultural Expo!






..we survived on coffee almost everyday to keep our energy...


I'm already looking forward to the next time I can make it out to Korea.. The driving was a little intense even from the backseat! But the shopping and food was to die for... So I leave you with my last picture of my favorite dish as I mentioned earlier.. bibimbop!!


...Enjoy the video I made of my international trip!!



...travel opens the eyes and makes you appreciate what the world has to offer..