A TOUCH OF GOLD

     This past Christmas was a bit of a watch craze in our house. I've been wanting a simple leather watch for a while now, so needless to say, I was quite happy to have found this little surprise under the tree. Behind the dial, you can see there's a sun peeking through the cloud. There's also a moon on the other side. The two rotate throughout the day. The gold metal band watch below is Vy's. They're nice practical accessories that can be worn daily. 

     Not to mention, a touch of gold adds a pinch of class to any outfit, particularly slouchy sweaters on cold wintery days!

ROCKING AROUND...

     The Christmas Tree! We got around to it pretty late, but we finally put it up last week. It's haphazard, we're not fussy folks when it comes to our tree. It all looks good when it lights up, right? Anyway, I hope you're all having the most wonderful holiday season! We have a couple of holiday/wintery crafts coming up within the next few weeks, so stick around! :) Happy Christmas Eve!

Jean. 

THE BIRTHDAY BEE

     A Happy Happy Birthday to the baby of the family, our little Vy, who just turned fifteen this past weekend! Hai and I both made it home for cake and presents and the most delicious two days of food. It was a good little break, getting to go home and be with the family, right before finals hit. Just two more weeks and this quarter is over! Can't wait for the Holiday Season to really start!

Jean. 

LITTLE TOKYO

      Hai came up to visit me at school months ago, and we made the long drive to Little Tokyo! I had a...particularly bad bus/getting lost experience the last time I attempted to get to Little Tokyo with a friend. So needless to say, this was exponentially more of a success! I left my camera at home that day, sadness, but here are little snapshots of the place from my phone! I wish we had stayed a little longer so I could extensively shop and eat all the things. I guess that'll have to wait until next time! 

Jean. 

LA COUNTY FAIR

     I'm so late on this post, ha! But last weekend was a trip down to the LA County Fair! I went with my good friend, Em, and a club on campus. It was so incredibly hot, but the fair was a ton of fun. 

     The first thing we did was go half-sies on one of these giant turkey legs. I've never had one before and while I'm still not a huge fan of turkey, I can happily check that one off my list of things to eat. It took us quite a while to get through and I don't think I'll be eating turkey again for a while. hahaha. 1 point for me, 0 for Turkey!  Though, in all fairness, Em ate most of it.

      We went into the fair with four goals to achieve by the end of the day.

1. EAT SOMETHING FRIED. Because what kind of fair would it be without trying something strangely deep-fried?

     Ta-dah! We opted for fried kool-aid, which I know sounds rather disgusting. Yet nonetheless it was surprisingly decent...think of extremely chewy dough-nut holes with a tangy fruity kick. Our second and third goals were to get a photobooth strip and snap a photo of the both of us together. We're both usually off on our own, taking pictures of random things, so we never get one together. We did get a photo together, though we didn't get a chance to stop by in a photobooth. Success nonetheless! 

     There were so many animals at the fair! I couldn't get a decent picture of any of them aside from the budweiser horses. Sadness. I need a better camera eventually! 

     I left with a couple straws of fresh flavored honey! Four for only a buck, how could I not? Flavors ranged from original clover to apple, grape or even pina colada. Of the ones I picked out, I've only tried the blueberry so far. Boy, is that stuff super sweet! 

(The sun setting at the horse show.)

     Stopped by this little stand so a friend could pick up some roasted corn! So many shops of food! Honestly, if it wasn't all so expensive, I would have bought it all. 

     As bustling as the fair had been in the afternoon, it really came to life once the sun started to set. All the lights flipped on and the crowds came rushing in. And the temperature finally dropped, thank goodness!

(Sorry for bad picture quality, snapped it while I was walking)

    4. GET SOMETHING COLD. Our last goal was to get some sort of a frozen dessert or treat since there were so many ice cream/gelato/shaved ice stands all over the fair. Though in the end, we opted for stopping by Half & Half for some milk tea and boba on the way home. That technically counts, right?

      Coincidentally, Hai ended up going to the fair  that night too, an hour after I left back home. What a copy cat! Kidding. Kidding. Anyways, it was so nice to get out of my cubicle dorm room and go somewhere. Any of you head to the fair this summer??

Jean.

BACK TO SCHOOL

Aghhhh!! It's finally here! And I'm not saying that in an overly eager, excited kind of way. I say that in a booo, I've been dreading it all summer kind of way. Nonetheless, the first day of school has come and gone, leaving me with ten more weeks of books and exams! Whoop! Who said this would be the time of my life??! Kidding, kidding. College really has been good to me thus far. Plus, the view from my room is gorgeous! My room oversees all of campus and the surrounding city, which lights up and glows at night. Studying's not so bad like this. Anyway, with the new year starting, I'm hoping to set a few habits in and maybe try a new thing or two!

1. Keep it clean! Or at the very least, my bed. I'm a whirlwind of chaos, but I'm hoping I can keep things somewhat organized this year. 
2. Work-out 2-3 times a week. I realize this will be tough when finals roll around, but being healthy and in shape keeps me happy. That's the numero uno. 
3. Study Every Day!! I took way too many days entirely off last year and I regretted every one of them. 
4. Stay creative. As busy as I gets, I'm trying to make sure I always have a bit of time for the things that keep me sane. So if I can squeeze in a quick drawing, painting, craft or whatnot, I'll be a happy camper! 

Just one more picture of my view before I go, just because it looks so cool. :) G'luck to everyone else out there who started classes!
Jean.

A GREEN THUMB

     I'm pretty sure I don't have one, sadly. My parents, on the other hand, seem to have entirely green hands. Coming home means heaps and heaps of every kind of fruit possible. We have fruit trees literally every five feet in our backyard. I went around the other day and snapped some photos just for kicks! From left to right: dragon fruit, soursop, tangerines, grapefruit, pears and persimmons! This isn't all of it, either! We have nectarines, jujubes, avocados, oranges, lemons, longan fruit, chilies and a whole mini-garden of herbs.  I'm going to miss all these yummy goods once I move back out this weekend. Back to dining hall apples and bananas for me! 

Jean.

SISTERLY BONDING

With school starting back up in just a couple weeks, we decided to have one last day out, just the two of us. First stop was the Redlands' "World Famous Thrift Shop"! It was a pretty big place, but I didn't stumble upon anything I really loved. We did find Hai a pretty nice blouse, though and we're definitely planning on going back again. I'm always a big fan of the records/books portion of thrift stores, and this one looks rather cool, doesn't it?

Have you ever had liquid nitrogen ice cream?? You know, the stuff that oozes out in a smoky billowy puff of iciness? Hai's been raving about it for a while, so I figured it was about time I tried some, especially being the ice cream fanatic I am. The shop only had about five flavors and it was a bit on the pricey side. It was absolutely delicious though. Hai always gets the Espresso chip while I opted for the Salted Caramel. SO salty. So so so so salty. The first few bites were yummy, but even for such a small scoop, I was pretty tired of it by the end.

And last, but not least, Comic Quest! I feel obligated to enter every comic book store I see, it's a problem, particularly because I always have to buy something. This one was pretty darn cool, though. It had quite a bit of everything plus these amazing artworks panels outside the store. 

Well, that was it for our sister bonding time last friday. Hai just moved in this very morning, but posts about that to come! 'Til Then!

Jean.