life, lately

hands down my new favorite picture with these boys

last week was crazy.

crazy being the operative word for simply ah-mazing!

impromptu trips to san diego, the biggest surprise of my life so far (have i mentioned that i'm nosey and almost impossible to surprise?!), email upon email of love and congratulations, shopping, rainy days with roomie, forgiveness, vicks vapor rubs and hot tea, countless 'farewell dinners' with the boys, congratulatory flowers and gift cards, and lots and lots and lots of  l-o-v-e



 

#82 experience mardi gras

tuesday, roomie and i found ourselves mardi gras-ing in san diego.

well...that wasn't exactly the intention of the trip. the intention was to get away from LA for the day and spend time soaking up some sun, having lunch, riding skateboards, and being lazy somewhere down in the OC.
one double shot espresso, bag of cheetos puffs, and two hours later we found ourselves closer to the border than we were to home.

sans a change of clothes, a toothbrush, and pretty much all the necessities a girl needs for a night on the town - we checked ourselves into the westin gaslamp and did what all girls do when they're on vacation...
shop!

we were surprised to find that san diego was having a huge fat tuesday celebration where they closed off 16 blocks in the gaslamp quater.

drinking in the street? check.
mardi gras beads? check.
mindless midweek debauchery? oh, you bet.

okay...so technically this wasn't really mardi gras - so i'll be keeping #82 on the list until i find myself back on bourbon street with hambone and the gang.

life, the last couple of weeks

some random dude that showed up at the doheny manor estate sale.
his mere existence and bizarreness earned him a place on the blog

successfully and not so successfully avoiding facebook, downloading music, reading (although it feels like the book is sometimes reading me), working, eating, online window shopping, actual shopping, sleeping, lunching, catching up on dvr, yard selling, finding time to spend with roomie, blogging, dinners, more sleeping and waiting...waiting...waiting...

#7 fall in love

remember how i don't take myself too seriously? well. i don't.

however, i think love is pretty damn serious. so i'm gonna take a shot at it

some people think it's weird that i'm single.

actually, let me rephrase that.

there are people that think it's weird that i choose to be single.

because i'm a girl

pushing 30

and girls pushing 30 are supposed to want to be in a relationship.

one that leads to marriage. and children. and a house with a picket fence. and a labrador retriever.

yes.

i want all of that.

but i'm in no hurry

i'm sure i could be married by now.

probably a few times over.

i could be married to some amazing, generous, loyal, loving man

but the men i dated weren't for me

and i'm okay with that.

they're happy

(probably a little too happy)

and i'm the happiest i've ever been.

so it's all okay

because relationships are just a learning experience
a life experience.

and i have a very strong belief that each individual is meant to end up with one particular person

so i don't ever feel like i'm wasting my time with someone who isn't right or missing out on the person i'm supposed to be with

because he's out there

maybe i know him already.

or maybe i haven't met him yet.

regardless, just knowing he's out there waiting for me too, is pretty damn exciting

gone tanning. be right back

before you roll your eyes, let me preface this by saying i'm of mixed descent.

yes. i'm aware the other half of this mix is black - but there are indeed times when the tan on my arms just don't match non existent tan on my legs.

my tanning obsession kind of started like this:

i'm a little infatuated with toddlers and tiaras
(yes. i know. i didn't say this was something i'm proud of)
and somehow i've been brainwashed to not only look at little kids and quietly say:

"she could really use mascara and some blush"

but i've begun to think the only way i'm going to be glitz is if i'm fully tanned, made up, and flashing my best toothless toothy grin.

oh. so back to my story. i was getting ready to go to this swanky little shindig that the laca was hosting. yours truly would be hanging up her 7 jeans and chuck taylors for the night and trading them in for a sparkly dress and some heels.

needless to say...i needed to go tanning. asap.

me: will you go tanning with me?
kelly: tanning? why!?
me: because i'm too embarrassed afraid to go by myself!
kelly: no. why are you going tanning?! you're black!
me: technicalities

kelly suggests a tanning salon and we jump in my car and head over to zen glow.

the guy behind the counter looks at me funny when we walk in.
err..or maybe that was just my imagination.
i tell him i'm a tanning virgin.
he looks at me and probably whispers, "ya think?"

kelly suggests i go to a level 4 bed.
i have no idea what this means.
i ask kelly how long these things last.
kelly explains 10 minutes.
i worry that i'll get claustrophobic.
kelly assures me i won't.
i ask if i'm supposed to take all my clothes off.
kelly looks at me like i'm crazy.
i assume that means yes.

i start to get nervous as i can hear my mom's voice in my head saying:

"lo-ri. don't lay too ma-ch in da sun. you will get dark. just because you are hap black, you don hap to get darker"
(yes. my mom is filipino. yes. my mom has an accent)

but what does mom know? she used to spend her sundays in the philippines bleaching her skin. so not glitz.

i make my way into room 5 and crawl into the tanning bed.
this thing is magical! it's just like laying down in a meadow in the summertime.
well...not really but i think i'm addicted.

sorry mom.

this week in polaroids

summer winter in LA has reintroduced my obsession for mexican fruit popsicles. yum!

home sweet living room

may my favorite pair of aviators r.i.p
a very sad day indeed

the mess i discovered in fredo's car which further convinces us that he's a closet hoarder

busy week at work and only time for naps and laundry in between.

although, next week looks to be shaping up nicely.

dinner plans with my concierge boys, breakfasts with the roomie, weekly visit to mom, and home depot adventures are on the horizon.

happy friday!

i want to be...

...someone that orders the salad instead of french fries with my entree

...one of those girls that can throw her hair in a messy bun and not wear a lick of makeup

...someone that has a chalkboard wall in her kitchen (and won't go crazy when it's not written on perfectly)

...a girlie girl that has a closet full of skirts, colorful tights, and floral print dresses

...someone that has an impeccably clean house with fresh flowers on the dinner table every week

...that girl with perfect bangs that hit just. below. the eyebrows

...a driver in los angeles that never gets a single parking ticket

...a woman that always has perfectly manicured hands

...someone that always tells the truth. even when it hurts

...a real blogger that keeps up with posts on my blog and has tons of followers

...more spontaneous

...someone that doesn't care about what people think about me (as long as i know i'm striving to be the best i can be)

...one of those people that love going to the gym

...a wiser, stronger, more loving ME

this weekend

i've become one of those peculiar people that went out to a night club and realized i have a book in my handbag

realized skateboarding in santa monica is an amazing leg workout

cheered on the my boys from sonny's on super bowl sunday

(not to mentioned i've never been so emotionally involved in a super bowl in my life)

oh! yeah...in case i forgot. i ate meat. there was no way in hell i was sitting in a sports bar watching the super bowl and not chowing down on a all-american-red-meat burger.
and ya know something? it was friggin' delicious

today i had a very successful vegetarian day

enough said.

yay me!

this week in polaroids

my poor little girls are reaching for the sun. showed them some love and moved these babies into the living room where they promptly died. i think i'm missing a green thumb

veggie lunch with the roomie. yum!

finally made it to 800 degrees!
i'd much rather continue to visit them after work at 11pm when there's no line coming out the door

it's like chipotle for pizza!

i'm starting to think i have a lot of idle time

i'm currently obsessed with these.

pretty convinced that i've already scoured hundreds of pages of cases but i can't seem to narrow it down to just one!

what do you think?

yeah...nothing should be this difficult - plus i think i'm getting dizzy staring at endless pictures without looking up from the computer screen.

i'm going to go surf other areas of the internet now!

psst! in case you were curious, i decided on this one

today would be a wonderful day to crawl back in bed and take a big fat nap

or be somewhere riding my long board