Man Candy Monday relocated! ;)

Why is the weekend over?
How was yours?!

Mine was good. Not what I expected. Plans got shattered...plans I actually looked forward to, but it is okay. Oh yeah, and I got sick too...sorta. Felt horribly Sunday morning till midday. Must have been a combo of stress, sushi, and whatnot...but the beach helped. :) Even though it was overcast. It helped!

Today is going to be a long day.

This whole week is going to be extremely long.

Can't wait till Saturday, when I sleep in and get ready for some fun night!

But until then, yes, I'll be busy.

Man Candy Monday is relocated today, and you can find my post over HERE.

You want to see my Man Candy, don't ya?

I know you would!

Happy Monday everyone.
Hope your week is going to be perfect!!

xoxo

Sometimes...

...you just got to let it all go and see what happens.

I had rules. I had plans.

And years ago, all of that collapsed by itself. Poof. Gone.

If you ever had major plans with your life and out of nowhere everything had to change you can just imagine how I must have felt. I swore to myself never to make huge plans again, never to let anything come between my daily/weekly plans and enjoy the moment as it basically comes along.

Sounds so hippie.

Maybe it is.

I was just tired of having plans, making plans, and then having them all shattered into pieces.

However, we need plans. And we need rules.

My main rule is to LIVE LIFE so I am happy. And hopefully make others also happy in the process. And my main plan is to STAY HAPPY and BE HAPPY, and not let others direct me into things I simply don't want to be directed towards. And if that happens, I become the person you really don't want in your life. If people don't let me be me, I can get nasty, and really who wants that?! I don't. Do you?

So, I have about four weeks left in California...and yes I'll be back but while I'm still here I want to make the best out of it. Every single day, every weekend, every minute! Yes, I have finals too, but besides that life needs to happen too. All on my own pace though!
 

Even for you workaholics out there don't get caught up on work even though it's your dream job. Don't say tomorrow I'll do it, and don't say next week either. Yes, work is important and it gives you some sort of freedom (the one I don't have at the moment), but remember you have a life too, and friends, and loved ones, and what not...

...and work doesn't thank you for anything in the end. It is just done and finished but doesn't physically thank you.

SO go out, enjoy life, breathe the ocean breeze, look at palm trees, eat some shaved ice, eat a hot dog if you must or eat gluten free muffins...whatever it is, do it. Don't wait till later, or tomorrow, or next week. It may not gonna happen.

But stay true to yourself. Don't do anything because you are told to. Don't let others force you. Remember who you are, and remember what you want and don't want and follow that. And let others know too. I just had to the other night. I may have disappointed people around me, but if I don't say it now they won't understand or accept it. They may not understand but they should accept...let's just say it that way.

And that my friends is my philosophy of today...well, of every day, but I had to write it down and share it because it is important to remind us that we need to live life, too.

So, what am I gonna do for the next couple of weeks?

Live it, and love it.

May is gonna be awesome! It just has to be.

I'm in my city, I'm surrounded by very generous friends and people and the sun is basically shining 24/7. Why not enjoy it every minute? And, yes, May is the month right before my birthday month (as you know, I'm a June baby!!), so I gotta enjoy my last month before a new number appears on my back. Ugh.

Let it all begin...

...without plans, but values, I want to pass all finals, attend an awesome 30th birthday party, meet up with more friends (blog friends or not), enjoy some sun, souvenir shopping, and well...the usual, breathing in and out of course!

Happy last couple of days of April!

Happy Pinterest Day!

It's Wednesday...I'm almost done with this week.
I want to shout out and yell some stuff...but I won't.
I want to go back to bed and sleep.
I want to sit outside with my girlfriends and chat about life and all kinds of stuff.
I want to hug my mom.
I want to eat my Turkish food.
I want to enjoy Swiss summer!

But I can't.
Right now that is.
So I'll link up with Michelle and her weekly Pinterest series...today hosted by Sami!

My theme today...is home; it's as simple as that!
Enjoy.

 

I am looking forward to being home again...in Switzerland...from May till August! YES. I know you all want to come along! I know you do! But I also know one person for sure who will be packing a few of her belongings, drag her friends, too, and come meet me in Luzern. :) July will be so much fun! Can't wait!

But first...it's going to be June...and I'll be in Istanbul, too.
Yes, when I'm talking about home I mean both countries...luckily (I think) I have family in three countries. Makes life so much more fun...and so much more expensive, too. ;) 

I know exactly where this is!!! Cannot wait to walk there too....I need to feel the touristy vibe too, even though I'm more of a local there! ;)

all pictures via pinterest

Hope you're having a fabulous week.
I'm really homesick these days.
I miss Swiss food.
I miss Turkish food.

Both good restaurants are either near San Diego or close to LAX...so not around the corner. Sucks. So I'm sort of stuck with an illusion of my favorite foods...but soon enough I'll be enjoying them...where it all needs to be enjoyed! ;) 

Have a fantastic day.
And don't forget to look for more fun pictures from pinterest over at Michelle's. 

xoxo

Happy colorful Monday!

Hope your week starts like mine...with a huge smile and some color left in my hair or on my nails or arms. Yes, I take showers thankyouverymuch but all the scrubbing and hoping that color gets off my body won't help...I'm cursed and still walk around with a pink-ish stained neck and all. I like it though.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen...I was one of a thousand other crazy fun color lovers early Sunday morning in Irvine. The Color Run was definitely worth it, and definitely tons of fun. I would do it again in a second! So if you can, have time, and live near a city that will host this year's Color Run...don't think twice about it and sign up. You don't even have to run. We walked most of the part, enjoyed watching people go crazy, took pictures, and ran through the color splash stations...and of course, ended up looking like a rainbow!

It's a lot of fun.
It's a lot of color.
And it's really hard to find people if you don't have your cellphone with you.
So didn't want it to become purple, or pink, or blue.
It's absolutely worth it!

Got the bib, color powder, and headband early on Thursday...was already excited...and then...

 ...Sunday came along!

Getting ready...all clean and clear.
You may know Leeann from Join the Gossip, and Meg from Henning Love, as well as Marjan from LocalLiving in Orange County.

And then we just got colored....

Excuse the bad quality pictures...we stored away our good phone/digital cameras and went old school.
One-time-use disposable camera...where you have to scroll first before you take a picture and click so the flash would load. Flashbacks of times back in 2000 and 2002 were definitely rolling in.

Oh yes!!!
And if they do it again next year, you can bet all you want...if I'm around and can go I certainly will!
You should too!

Have a great day.

Friday!!! All kinds of randomness...

Without the help of two of my best friends Sierra and Amanda (sadly she has no blog), my blog would have suffered. Thank you two for helping me out. I love spontaneous e-mails asking me to "kidnap" the blog...and as you can see I usually say yes. :)
I believe Amanda will be back next week with some more insight on life...and really I can't wait to read her post again...even with complete lack of regard for capitalization. ;)

Change of topic...

...remember my post about how I have to live with my choices and work through sacrifices and all? Well, yes I do. On a daily basis. And that problem I had back then is now solved. Not entirely, but it turned out with a positive sticky note attached to it. We are adults, and adults can and should handle things civil. And I believe, heck, I know, we both did. My friend understands now and I'm happy that she does, but I'm still healing. That's all I wanted to say about that topic.

But, hey, this post would be super boring if I just talked about friends, and a tiny crisis, and the sunny weather we've been having in California. :) Thank you.

First of all...I've been busy studying my butt off...literally.
I love learning new things and like a sponge sucking it all up, but sometimes I just can't anymore. That's the time I get irritated easily and could technically explode any second!! So, finding me smiling in a picture is a rare thing, and if you do "you're welcome!".
So yeah, don't piss me off...haha! Just saying! :)

Second, I'm gonna try and have some fun this Sunday (since I'm studying all the time, I have to take one day off, no?!). Because, well, some of my blog buddies and I are going to have so much fun. It's a girls' day out so to speak! Am I ready?! I guess so...

We girls will have a blast!!!

And probably I won't be looking proper that day....no real need to dress up and put pretty make-up on! Ha!

And well, I just can't believe it's already Friday, let alone April 20th...where the heck has time gone? In a month I'm already packing, getting ready and what not...I'll miss summer in Los Angeles..but I'll have a blast in Europe. And I know, I have to squeeze at least three of my blog buddies into my suitcase! Crazy.

But until I'm leaving...I'll try to meet up with some friends, attend birthday parties (yay!!) and have a fabulous time because really, life's too precious, and too short sometimes. We all know that.

And just so you all know how I look like....not smiling whatsoever! I know I suck!

 top: J.Crew / jeans: gap / 

shoes: nine west (similar) / necklace (gift): kaitlyn

Have a fantastic Friday and a great weekend!

BLUE LIKE JAZZ

hey everyone! it's amanda again. you know... from yesterday! i just realized i never told you my name, sorry about that! i live on the east coast but, i'm a southern girl who's been displaced! and i'm so glad to have some more time with you guys. maybe i'm able to give Selma some time to study and get caught up on boring school work. haha!

i want to talk to you about another movie i've seen recently. it's called BLUE LIKE JAZZ and here's the trailer:



this movie is funny, poignant, interesting, sincere, thought provoking, and simply brilliant, if you ask me. this is an adaptation of the book Blue Like Jazz and i was lucky enough to meet and hang out with Donald Miller, the author, and Steve Taylor, the director. they are both amazing men and they are very passionate about this subject.

this movie is about a guy who goes to college and wants nothing to do with God, the church, or religion. similar to October Baby (see yesterday's post) he's attempting to find out who he is and what he's about. it is a Christian movie, but in the words of Steve Taylor, "it is not a family movie. who ever said that Christian movies have to be family friendly?"

i would strongly encourage you to see this movie if you are curious about who God is and what he's REALLY about; if you grew up in the church, and want nothing to do with it now; or if you are a Christian and want to laugh a lot and have your faith renewed!

since it's an independent film, it's not showing everywhere, but here's the website you can check out to see where it is playing and to buy tickets: http://www.bluelikejazzthemovie.com/

let me know what you think!! see you at the theaters!

next time i promise not to post about movies! well...maybe...

October Baby

hey guys!

i'm totally new to this blogging thing, but Selma was nice enough to allow me to try things out here. also, i hope you'll ignore my complete lack of regard for capitalization. after 5 years of art school, those kinds of things flew completely out the window!

i wanted to steal her blog for a minute to let you guys know about an amazing movie that's out RIGHT NOW! it's called October Baby. it's an amazing story about a girl who is a freshman in college finding out that she is an abortion survivor. as in, her birth mother attempted to abort her and it didn't work! i didn't even know that COULD happen, but it actually happens more than one would think.

so, this movie is about her journey to find out who she is and who her birth family is. it's a beautiful story of self-discovery. it's about a family's struggle to deal with half-truths that have been told to accomadate this and the healing that happens when someone decides to forgive.



the acting is pretty good for an independent film and you'll see some familiar faces. the soundtrack is also pretty great! the message isn't in-your-face, nor is it super-conservative, or pushing an agenda. it's really just a story, about a girl, learning about who she is, and who she wants to be.

i'm including some links, one to the website for the movie and resources available: http://www.octoberbabymovie.net/

the producers of October Baby have assigned 10% of the profits of the movie to the Every Life is Beautiful Fund, which will distribute funds to frontline organizations helping women facing crisis pregnancies, life-affirming adoption agencies, and those caring for orphans. here is their website: http://www.everylifeisbeautiful.com/

this movie may not be in theaters past THIS THURSDAY so go see it THIS WEEK! you have 3 more days!!

thanks so much for letting me hang out with you! it's been fun! let me know if you're able to see the movie and what you think!

Man Candy Monday Again!

I have been slacking off a little with my Man Candy Monday posts...but that doesn't mean I haven't gone to Leeann's page and looked at all the hot men...hehe! And today, again I'm linking up with Join the Gossip!

My Man Candy today is someone I almost forgot about.
But obviously I didn't fully forget about him...and voila...here I am presenting you this man...sigh!

Those eyes...

all pictures via pinterest

Wentworth Miller!
My birthday twin...just a few years older than I am. :)

If you don't know him...watch Prison Break! Just saying!

Don't forget to link up with Leeann or looks at more hot Man Candy.

Happy Monday!!!!

I'm alive! - My weekly recap

Dear readers,

It's been a whole week that I officially blogged. Luckily, my sweet friend Sierra from Ocean Dreams spontaneously asked me if she could guest post and hey, I hardly ever say no to that. Maybe she saw how lonely my blog looked. Maybe she could read my mind, too.

Either way, thank you girl for helping me out and writing about one of my favorite things. I love being a teenager...eh...okay, I'm not but I still love those shows!

Hope you all had a great week.

Mine was busy. School was being a little b***h but we got Thursday's class cancelled so that's always nice.

On a very bright note I enjoyed one of the best skype dates with a dear friend and her children. Can't wait to see and hug them all again. Not to mention all my other friends and family. I'm counting down the days it's not even funny anymore!

Wednesday and Thursday were and probably today are birthday celebration days. Why do people around me celebrate birthdays all at the same time?! Ha, I enjoy it though. It's always nice to meet new people or see familiar faces again. We gotta live life...it's just way too short.

Tomorrow I'm headed for the movie theater...that is, if nothing comes between our plans. And it's worth going because we'd be getting extra credit for a class...if going to the movies would always get me extra credit I'd be super happy about that!

And next week (I can't believe it) I'm going to be having so much *running* fun with Leeann from Join The Gossip, Meg from Henning Love and Marjan from LocalLiving in Orange County. And I think I am gonna see a few more "familiar" faces that day. It'll be fun!

April, so far you are giving me reasons to laugh again.
Thank you.

Have a great weekend....

xoxo

Sucked Into {The Vampire Diaries} and Elena's Style

Hello - this is Ocean Dreams, aka Sierra taking over Selma's blog again. :)

Suncravingirl knows more than anyone right now how obsessed I am with The Vampire Diaries. Since I just started watching this show a few days ago (I'm starting with season 1), I'm embarrassed to say that I'm almost half way through the first season and it's only been a few days! It's that good.

But besides the amazing guy eye candy and can't-stop-watching aka keep-my-eyes-off-of the TV screen hypnosis I've been in, I've also been noticing the amazing fashion on this show. Isn't it fun hyper-analyzing each character's fashion preference and how it fits their personality? I think it is.

Which brings me to Elena. Her style is very much my style, except my clothing is a little bit brighter. Where we share a commonality in fashion though, is in her casual approach to wearing clothing. I can see her wearing a lot of the clothing on the site Damart. She loves wear jeans, flats, Converse sneakers, leather and bomber jackets, and darker shirt colors (like purple and red), that I think showcase her secret love for vampires. {Isn't she lucky that she gets Damon and Stefan all to herself?!} I'm jealous.

But anyway...Elena's choice of colors also complement her lovely complexion and dark brown hair. If I could dress Elena with similar elements and clothing that look similar to what I've been seeing on The Vampire Diaries (and remember I'm only in the first season), this is what I would pick for her to wear:

{ Free People Danger Top }

{ Splendid Thermal Henley }

{ Joe's Jeans Provocateur Petite }

{ Trench Coat - I think Elena needs one in red

to give herself a break from her leather jackets. }

{ Converse Shoes in Red }

{ Elena's Necklace via Kaboodle }

So what do you think of Elana's style? I think she could use some glitz now and again but other than that I love her style. From her Converse shoes to her dark thermals, Elena is ready to run from danger at a moment's notice. That is - when her handsome vamps aren't fiercely protecting her. I can't wait to watch more!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday everyone.
The past week has been a bit of a chaotic one...emotionally, physically, and mentally.

Today I decided I'd be doing something like Krysten does every Friday: creating my own Happy Friday list!

It won't be something I'd be doing on a weekly basis.
It'll be more something I'd work on when I have to remind myself to be and stay happy.

1. One Tree Hill and its finale (happy and sad at the same time)

2. Vanilla Soy Lattes

3. Temperatures in the mid 70's

4. BBQ's

5. Birds chirping

6. Bath and Body Works

7. Easter decoration

8. The blogger/twitter community

9. Zumba

10. 6 more weeks of school

Hope you're having a fabulous Easter weekend!

Any fun plans?!
I hope so!

xoxo

 

I'm sweating!

Everyone.

Believe it or not, I hate going to the gym.

I even hate running, and literally monotone working out is not my thing. I also don't want to wake up at 5 just so I can squeeze in some work out in the morning. I can't do that. Kudos to those that can, but it's not for me.

I have found what's for me. Besides my walking...I am totally into Zumba!

For years I wanted to go. No one wanted to, and if I simply couldn't afford going.

Flash forward to California! ;) My lovely state!

It just so happens that where we live we have a gym, and the gym is free. And so are classes they offer, and well, Zumba is offered. I so did not say no to that. Would you?

So ever since it started I've been going and it's been fun.

Yes, I happen to look ridiculous at times, but it's not about looking good or showing off your dance moves, it's about having fun and eventually also get in shape. And OH BOY my body is adjusting. In a good way. I can see and feel results already. That's how impressed I am. And even though she may not want to hear this, but I can see results in my friend too.

Oh, and the instructor is amazing.

We even try to follow her classes and find her all over the city - she's that good!

And yes, I'm sweating.

A lot more than when I went to the gym. It's that good.

So, if you're like me, and you hate working out...I'd recommend it.

I also heard Fitness studios offer it too, so if you're a member and it's offered...why not give it a try.

Mondays and Wednesdays have become my favorite evenings now!

Hope your week has been fun so far.

Ready for the Easter Bunny?!

Man Candy Monday

It's Man Candy Monday time.

I'm so busy, and lazy at the same time that I could not come up with a HOT dude for Monday.

But hey, guess what I found one (I blame it on all those previews I've been seeing on TV and elsewhere!)!!

And Leeann, we do have the same taste here! LOL 

Yes, that means I'm still linking up with Leeann, even though we have the same guy today!

He's definitely grown up!

He's just too young, but hey, never hurt to look at him!

Hope you're having a fantastic day!!

Don't forget to link up with Leeann and her MCM fun!