coffee with tricia

last month i got coffee with tricia. it's always so much fun spending time with her. our three hour coffee date flew by way too fast, so we have another date planned for tomorrow. however, it probably can't be three hours this time since i have too much studying to do for the CPA exam. stupid CPA, can't you just automatically give me a passing score? that would be much appreciated.

mouse rat

best present i've bought myself in a long time. and i bought natalie one too, of course. because if we're being honest, she's the bigger chris pratt fan. our friend, siaira, even gave natalie a photo of chris pratt in a frame for christmas. i think she might have cried when she received it. maybe. anyways, mouse rat is andy's (chris pratt on parks and rec) band. the back of the shirt even says what mouse rat was formerly known as. definitely always gets a good chuckle out of us.

you dont say no to a slurpee

i'm not saying it was the best idea to consume taco bell for dinner + a giant slurpee for dessert before playing bond/007 (basically a giant game of hide and seek against people in cars) a few hours later, but it was worth it. 

dancing in the living room

natalie and i are going to a wedding next weekend. so we need to be prepared in case they play "come on eileen". so we had to practice our dance moves and finalize our choreography. and of course, i had to share it on here. i know, you wish you had been there with us to partake in our dancing in the living room.

studying

studying for the CPA sucks. and i'm literally only four days in. and i hate it so much. so little breaks with casey in the front yard are definitely going to be needed throughout the days ahead. plus, i can feel it getting warmer and that makes me happy. but also, it's going to suck that my spring and summer will consist of studying all the time. ugh. oh well, it will be worth it, right? right.

sundays are for sister dates. v.2

sundays are for accidentally missing church since the shower was taken when you wanted to get in, since your sister's alarm didn't go off, and by the time you got out of the door you realized you needed gas. sundays are also for going to bagel me instead and wandering around target looking at justin bieber cds and anything else that catches your eye. this sunday was also for a birthday brunch with good friends and mimosas (yummy!). it was also for catching up on mario party skills and defeating rick in a game. and of course, sunday was for watching the walking dead. always watching the walking dead. amen.

 

hikes, hikes, and more hikes. just the way i like it.

i'm pretty sure me and my friends were on a hiking craze in january. and it's still going on in february. i like it. feels good to get outside and get some exercise. plus, there's even a really nice trail right behind my house. peter's canyon in tustin is always a fave, the trail behind my house is super convenient, and the latest one that we discovered in irvine was pretty good but we had no idea how long it went for so we had to turn around at one point and go back the same way. maybe one day i'll figure out how long it is and do the whole thing. here's to more hikes in 2013!

 

valentines day

i had a really great valentines day yesterday. my homemade cinnamon rolls ended up tasting gross (i blame the dough), but my pop tart/pastries turned out amazing. i'm thinking i'll make them again this sunday for a friend's birthday brunch. also, i'm really really proud of my card making skills. like, i'm so happy it actually turned out looking like it was supposed to! it was well worth staying up late to finish making it. and, my tulips were perfect (my favorite flower :) and i'm trying not to kill them accidentally or prematurely. hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday!

happy galentines day!

no, that wasn't a typo. happy late galentines day! if you don't know what galentines day is, go search it on youtube or google from parks and rec (man have i mentioned how much i love parks and rec?). it's basically just a day to celebrate your girlfriends and friendships with them. anyways, i just wanted to acknowledge all of my wonderful girlfriends on here in honor of galentines day. they're all amazing women and i love them dearly. happy galentines day girls! let's eat waffles soon to celebrate ;)

sundays are for sister dates

sundays are for mornings at church, del taco lunches with friends, and sister dates at kean coffee. it's also for car rides listening to taylor swift and keith urban (who am i?!?) and naps with my puppy. oh! and for watching the walking dead tonight. thank goodness it's back on. if daryl dies, we riot! am i right?

happy sunday friends!

salvation mountain

so my friends and i had been planning to go to salvation mountain for months. it was just so hard finding a time to go with everyone's schedules. so over christmas break we managed to fit a day to go. salvation mountain is located in niland, california, and is near the salton sea (which is HUGE by the way. it's the largest lake in california!). it was created by a man named Leonard Knight, who wanted to share the message that "God is love" and that Jesus died for our sins. 

i was so excited and so happy, i didn't even care that we were leaving at 5 6:30 a.m.! we started the drive down there and only managed to get lost twice (which i partially blame becca for. because she doesn't pay attention. haha. but i also blame google maps because the directions to niland we're wrong. dumb!). eventually we made it to the mountain (some 4 hours after we started) and spent a few hours there. it was wonderful! if you ever have an opportunity to go or live in california, do it! it's worth the drive!

hopefully i'll go back one day. it's definitely a sight to see! and it was such a great day with all of my friends. del taco for breakfast. long talks on the road. listening to stupid songs and singing at the top of our lungs. pretzel m&m's. coffee bean. it was great :)

started out the new year right

i wanted to start off the new year (it was january 1st!) doing something active and out of the norm. so what better way to do that then to go on a hike with my sister and our friend, siaira? gotta start prepping now for our trip to washington in june!!

we hiked peter's canyon (which is about a 15 minute drive from my house) and managed to make it out of there just in time before they shut the gate and locked our car away for the night. we also survived "death hill" (as we like to call it) which basically goes straight up for what seems like an eternity. we're pro hikers, what can i say? i can't wait until we go back! 

quick bear trip

at the end of december, i went up to big bear for a night to see my friend liz (who was visiting from dental school in michigan!). i stayed with my friend mark and his family at their cabin. i've known liz and mark since high school, so it was nice getting together with the both of them.

mark and i went on a hike with his two dogs for an hour or so. then we got coffee and donuts in town (yum!) and headed back to the cabin to watch movies. it snowed a few times while i was there. i love when it snows! [i've only been snowed in once when i was younger. it would have been a much fonder memory of mine if i didn't have to race down the mountain the next morning to take a final haha. but it's still a funny memory.]

we hung out with liz that night. it was great. i don't see her often enough so i'm so glad i got to spend time with her over christmas break! the next morning i headed down the mountain alone. thank God i made it down safely! i can't wait until my next trip up to bear!

  

 

souplantation + del taco

i blame siaira for my new love for souplantation. del taco and i, on the other hand, have gone way back. like twenty years back. but siaira is obsessed with these places. which just makes it that much more fun to go with her and my sister and enjoy the food too. it's so bad, but it's so good. like del taco's breakfast menu. and souplantation's endless amounts of breads and muffins. soooo good! i pretty much love any buffet-style restaurant. which is why i miss sizzler so much. oh sizzler. you were so good. RIP.

halloween haunt

remember that time i went to knott's scary farm with charee and natalie since our aunt won us tickets?

and remember how toby chased us in one of the mazes and we cried? good times!

Sometimes, you just have to be silly

Sometimes, you just need to get a little weird and laugh at yourself and have some fun. Like, maybe you just need to find an empty classroom at your school (like I did) and take funny self-portraits that are completely ridiculous but make you laugh. It's good for the soul and I promise it will make you smile.


*it was pointed out to me that even though I couldn't see out through the curtains in the classroom, apparently everyone outside could. Haha!! I'm definitely laughing at myself now.