the first one

Today marks the day where it all begins. Today, one of my friends, Angelo was the first to leave for college and he left for the Air Force Academy in Colorado. Now I can complain about being 8 hours away from home but that does not compare to being a couple states away. How crazy is that. I got to hang out with my friend for his last day before he left tomorrow morning.

Even though I havent really talked or hung out with my friend this summer, I was sad to see him go. We have been friends since sophomore year. Yeah 3 years has been a short time but I can say I think of him as a close friend because he has really affected me. Although we haven't really been close this year, I cannot forget what he has done for me for the last couple years. He was there to give me advice, to de-stress me and to be a hardass to me when I needed it. I can honestly say he helped pushed me even though sometimes I just wanted to do better in school just to beat him, not for my own self. But it really did help and I am glad he was there for me. Actually it was me, Hanh, him that kind of had a mini-support group for each other. We would go on jogs during the school year and the summer and as stupid and crazy as it sounds, most of the time we would just be stressing about school and college. WE ALWAYS TALKED ABOUT COLLEGE to each other because there really was no other people we could talk to about it. It really helped to have each other, even if we overwhelmed each other sometimes. I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.

So for his last day, we met with a couple friends at In&Out for a bit. They definetly don't have In&Out in Colorado. It was nice to chill and talk and exchange stories. Then afterwards me and Angelo went to Hanh's house. It was us three, the original jogging buddies. We sat in Hanh's backyard and talked for 2 hours about everything -- college, the future, our past, etc. It was fun, even if it wasnt our "last jog". I was glad we were able to spend his last hours with just us three. We even predicted how we would be by Thanksgiving Break. I would be the beach bunny, Hanh the brainy baggy eyed hippie and Angelo the hardcore muscle man. Lets see if the predictions come true.

On the second picture, we were doing a self timer and Hanh accidentally clicked the 2 second timer and that is why we look so wild while Angelo looks cheesy.

While we were talking, I realized him leaving marks the beginning of everyone leaving. Berkeley kids leave first in Aug 18th??, then CSUS kids later in August, then finally the rest of the UCs will leave by Sept 18th. Pretty crazy. When I leave for UCSD, who will be there to say bye? :(

But I am not too worried... I know that this only marks the beginning, not the end. :]


I should stop being so cheesy :P

---ck.

emotions keep spinning out

I always feel inspired to blog at odd hours in the wee morning or late late at night. It is easier to write when I am the only one awake in the house and I am surrounded by silence. I have been putting off blogging for awhile.

Update on life. Well a couple weeks ago, my friend Chrissa and I threw a surprise birthday party for our friend, Kingston. We took about two weeks to plan it. We wanted to do something really simple with just his good friends and just hanging out. We were very sneaky and great investigators in trying to see what his favorite foods were and who his closest friends (besides us :P) were. We even planned it with his girlfriend to keep him busy. BUT the night before his birthday, an hiccup in the plan happens. Chrissa calls Kingston at midnight to say happy birthday AND he tells her since he had no plans for his birthday (because he has no idea bout our party for him), he was going to have friends over at HIS house for pizza and cake. And then the PANIIIIC happened. Chrissa immediately calls me and we jump around on the phone thinking WHAT DO WE DO to bring him over to my house?!! We thought OH NO our PLANS ARE RUINED!! But luckily we got it together and I ended up three-waying with them and slying suggest to Kingston that we should go to my house to go swimming because it would be hot that day. He took the bait, hoook line and sinker! He realized then he would only invite a couple people that we knew. It was perfect.

So on the day of his birthday (and suprise party), Chrissa and I were supposed to go to Kingston's house to eat pizza and cake and then come back to my house to get the house ready for the party. But that would have been too much of a time constraint so we called him at separate times to tell him we were too busy to come and we would see him at my house. He sounded so DISAPPOINTED on the phone it was almost heartbreaking to lie to him. So we got the house ready, made his favorite dessert (strawberry cheesecake) and prepared the "surprise". People barely made it on time and then we ended up having to wait for KINGSTON to arrive. Chrissa and I had told some of our friends to go to Kingston's house to keep him busy until it was time for the party. I had everyone go to the garage to surprise him but the first time we thought he was coming, he didnt come. He ended up telling our friends to go ahead without him because he was packing up the pizza and cake to bring to my house. So we then had to WAIT AGAIN. Finally Kingston arrived and as me and a couple people helped him carry the food in my house, I told Kingston, " Oh Kingston, put your shoes in the garage ". He opens the door and BAM, poppers go off and everyone yells "SURPRISE". It was super SWEET. He had no idea we had planned the party and he was truely surprised. He was so oblivious to the fact that we were having a surprise party that he thought we had all forgotten his birthday or DIDN't CARE! It was amazing. It was a really good night.

Onto other crap going on in my life. I've just had family over from Washington and they have been occupying my life for a couple weeks now. 4th of July was okay with the family. I went to Six Flags with my little cousins and aunts and uncle. I had the ridiculous rules that Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has now. On most rides they no longer have cubbies on the sides so you have to put your stuff in a stupid locker for a dollar. And you cannot leave anything on the side of the ride besides FLIP FLOPS. I was wearing these cute black flats that I had just got because we didn't know we were going to Six Flags until like midnight the night before and I slept over my aunt's house. When I go to ride Roar, I put my flats on the side because I saw a couple people had done that. However, the stupid lady tells me that only flip flops are allowed on the side of the ride. Freaking ridiculous. So I have to hold my shoes and I stupidly put them behind my back (thinking that it would stay) but I forgot the bottom of the seat was not sealed and had a hole so I lost ONE SHOE on the RIDE!!! It was devastating. My uncle bought me flipflops at Six Flags to make up for it. Or else I would have been SHOELESS the whole day.

4th of july with the cousins

On the day of 4th of July, our family (extended & mine) went to eat dimsum at King's Palace and while the adults were still eating, I took the kids back to the car because the babies (my sister Sophie & cousin Grace) were getting restless. Tiffany (my sister) was entertaining Sophie (on my lap) by putting the stuffed animal in her mouth and shaking it like a dog. I have never heard Sophie laugh so hard and laugh so much at one time. For a baby, Sophie is reserved with people outside of our immediate family. She just stares at people or doesn't look at them. She doesnt like to be touched by many people besides just our family. So it was pretty funny watching her reaction.

Sophie also just turned 1 on 7/7. It would have been cool if she was born 7/7/07 but instead she is 7/7/08. I will be very sad if I leave for UCSD and I come back and Sophie doesn't recognize me. My sisters and I were gone for two days at my aunt's house and we came back today and Sophie looked pretty happy to see us. By the time I come back for winter break, Sophie will be TALKING! She can walk but her talking skills are bare minimum. She calls everyone "Appa" which is Korean for father. I only have 11 weeks with her left for her to call me "Unni" (Korean for older sister).

Yes, she has natural curly hair.

So I rented Heroes Season 1 from the library because I have been hearing how awesome Heroes is from my friends since like sophomore year. I started watching it and IT IS SO DAMN ADDICTING AND CRAZY. I LOVE IT. My siblings and I all watch it together (even my sister Tiffany who is 10!!!). I love the different intertwining stories and the superpowers. I love how it is very suspenseful but not crazy like Lost. Lost scares the crap out of me but I am more in awe at the suspense in Heroes. I fall in love with Milo Ventimiglia more in HEROES! And Masi Oka is the cutest thing ever. I love Japanese people. I love the message it sends that there are special people out there who are meant to do more. I really do believe more people need to have faith in their role in the world, superpowers or not.

Ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

Two songs I have on repeat.

Fallin For You - Colbie Caillat

I originally was going to do a "short post".
----christina.

g'byee june, hello juuly!

camping with hmong club :)


having cute twins


being dirrty and khev dub


capturing ghosts on camera


makeup days


baby days


boy days


sharks and starfishies


mathieu's birthday


mini tornadoes and sprinkler time


broken hoes




morningglories

i'm gonna miss june. summer's going by wayyy tooo fast! like life.
--- PACHIAA!

i hate you

I got back from UCSD orientation on Tuesday morning. Orientation made me REALLY REALLY excited for college. I am almost ready to pack up my things and go. The hard part would be the actually packing though. I have no idea what to bring! I realized I still have the abilities to make friends but I am horrible at small talk. But that doesn't stop me from talking to people. I wasn't very nervous (maybe because I had one friend with me). I just can't wait for the new opportunities, the possibilities, etc. Though I realized I don't think I will be that happy with the food. I think I'd rather cook for myself.

So when I first walked onto the ERC green for orientation, it is 7am and this Asian guy is djing and he was bumping crazy techno. It created an awkward ambience. Everyone is tired and nervouse. As I was waiting in line for my orientation stuff, I suddenly heard WONDER GIRLS - NOBODY. Crazy right. So the dj was Korean and he was wearing these tight black shorts. And I see him dancing like it was a gay bar. Booty everywhere, bumping left and right. It was an interesting sight. I was super excited because he turned out to be my orientation leader. He was funny but also really informative about UCSD. He was also really FABULLLOOOUS. He is supposed to be an RA. Hope he is my RA.

Although I got home at like 4 in the morning, I woke up at like 10 am to go eat dimsum with my friends. The dimsum was yummy and I was super full. Afterwards we just were being silly and went to Vinh Phat to grab snacks and hang at Corn's house. I love chill days like that. We ended up watching random korean drama makeout scenes from Coffee Prince and Goong. And then Tiffany showed us wonderful 2pm videos.

Me and my friends have been on a 2pm obsession mode ever since the Again and Again MV which I showed to them. After that and Idol Army 2pm, we were gone! I love these boys!!!! They are the only men who I tolerate with eyeliner and who still look like MEN!!! Especially in the third video.

I saw the coolest thing online! A HELLO KITTY HOUSE! Now I've heard of a hello kitty themed wedding (even I think that is crazy) but a hello kitty house sounds somewhat appealing. I like the inside decor better than the outside though.

The best part of the decor is that the pinks are not too tacky and everything is tasteful.

Here is a song to enjoy. Madonna is quite amazing.
I am sad I could not find the original cd version.
Then you could hear Pharrell in the bridge saying "left" and "right" on separate speakers.
It is pretty cool. Adam showed me the song on the way back from SD.

Give It 2 Me - Madonna

--christina.

makeup frenzy

i've been obsessed with watching makeup tutorials on youtube! i started off with michelle phan (ricebunny), and now that i've made my way over to bubby (bubzbeauty) and i can't stop watching--because she has a bajillion videos! ah! i'm listening to her vlog right now as i type...

all of this makeup-watching has really inspired me to begin wearing makeup as well. but as a girl who doesnt wear much makeup, im finding it a little difficult getting started on collecting my own set. i made a trip to sephora with my aunt and mom the other day, and of course i was expecting the prices to be crazy, but i wasnt expecting them to be that off the charts. i'm never going to ever have a makeup set if i'm expecting all of my eyeshadows and brushes to be top-notch mac. however, luckily, thanks to my youtube browsing, i've come across the makeup brand, ELF :D and its amazing! almost everything is a dollar. from brushes, to nailpolishes, to eyeshadows, to bronzers. and the thing is, most of them have really high reviews too.

12 brushes for $12...
yeah, i am really excited.

all i need to do now, is find a job! and honestly, i'm getting really desperate. i need to get started on my life real bad. i've just been home being a junkie for the past week, playing on my new ipod touch and checking twitter every 10 minutes--its horrible. and once you get stuck on it, you become really lazy and tired. i dont want to do anything else.

somebody call mee. motivate me to finally get my license and get out!

-pachia

can you say SEXY?

SEXY right??
Shadows & Dust A/F 09
Leather is back baby.


Another SEXY!
Justin Bartha.


BRADLEY COOPER!!

I saw The Hangover yesterday with Chrissa and Adrienne. That movie is FREAKING HILARIOUS!!!! I love that it wasn't one of those comedies that were ruined by continuous advertisements and by a trailer that reveals all the good parts. And it wasn't too sexually explicit. It was a good combination of good actors and hilarious writing. And what I also love is most of the actors are somewhat obscure though of course I recognized Justin from NATIONAL TREASURE and Bradley from He's Not That Into You. This movie made me want to have a hilarious drunk crazy night with my girlfriends in Vegas. Once we turn 21 of course. :D

Not exactly sexy but interesting right?
Green tea coca-cola.

I have orientation for UCSD on Monday.
Yikes! I hope I will have some pics and stories to share when I come back.
I haven't shared music in awhile.
Enjoy. :)

Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say) - Lady Gaga

Brand New Shoes - Kris Allen

-christina.

the hype

I will express what my summer has been like in pictures.

I am lucky that this summer I am not just laying around the couch watching mindless tv. Well I still am but for the last two weeks since summer has started my friends and I have been on a super sports hype. The awesome thing is that there is a nice big park right across the street from my house and I have just started finding out I have many friends who live very close by.

First it started with a couple of us playing tennis almost every day in the evening. Then one day I found a frisbee and we decided to try ultimate frisbee. Now when I first heard of ultimate frisbee I thought WOW SUPER LAME but man, I WAS WRONG!! That game is surprisingly intense and lots of fun. And lots of RUNNNNNNING. I haven't ran so much since pe in sophomore year. So we decided to have a big ultimate frisbee day and we played for quite awhile. Then the other day we had a volleyball day. My friend even bought a new volleyball set. But word to the wise, do not buy a volleyball set at Walmart for 20 bucks if you decide to playfully crash into the volleyball net because you will BREAK it. Yes that did happen but it was fixable. Today we played ultimate frisbee then SOCCER. My legs really ache. I can honestly say I have not had so much physical activity than I have had in these last couple weeks. But I really think exercising by playing outdoors with your friends really gives you motivation to be healthy and have fun at the same time. Without that competitive drive or the fun factor, I would end up staying inside for three months getting pasty and flabby! I love this sports hype!

Also since we graduated two weeks ago, I have attended multiple grad parties. And for some reason, at most of those grad parties or parties I have gone to, we have played rock band and rock band 2 numerous times. Since I do not own rock band, I was able to gradually go from easy to medium on guitar. Whoot to me. However my pinky SUCKS! The drums are not too bad either. Of course I rock at the vocals. Since I am tired of singing the same five typical songs (Maps by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Move Along by American Reject, both paramore songs, Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers, anything by the killers, etc), my friend and I decided we should educate ourselves on all those crazy rock songs on rockband and youtube the songs and actually listen to them so we could familiarize ourselves with the songs. I am so excited for next rockband party because I really liked Celebrity Skin by Hole (Courtney Love's band). Though I realized when I finally listened to most of the songs, I recognize them because of hours wasted watching VH1's top rock songs or VH1's I love the 80's and other shows like that on VH1. VH1 has educated on the majority of my pop culture history that is prior to the 90's.

I realized what has also been missing in my life. LEFT 4 DEAD. The most awesome zombie killing game ever. I played it for three days straight. My friend and I were first introduced to it when we went to another friend's house after a grad party. The guys were just playing left 4 dead and we got hooked. Though I really suck at the whole two joint sticks (one for the direction of vision and the other for direction of your body) and the other five other buttons. Half the time I just couldnt figure out how to get out of the corner and around places. But I got okay at it. I was able to go through a whole mission by myself without dying in the first five minutes. Though I felt mentally drained after playing it for three hours. I do not know how guys can play games for hours at end.

Speaking of ZOMBIES, I read this book before the year ended called World War Z which was recommended to me by a friend. It was damn interesting. I have a personal love for zombie movies. This book seriously made me feel as if I should be prepared for a crucial zombie attack because zombies are the worst enemy because they are the WALKING DEAD so they already died and it is pretty damn hard to kill them again. But honestly this is great book because it narrates different points of views of the zombie war from all over the world and shows you how it spreads around the world. The author also does a great job of analyzing all aspects of the real world such as government, how humans interact with each other during a crisis, economics, etc. This guy is truly genius. There are rumours of it being turned into a movie and of course the movie can never measure up to the book but I would definetly go see it.

Oh and I have been sucked into watching that show I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of HERE because there is nothing better on television lately.

---christina.