To My Dad...A Birthday Wish

Happy new year of life to a loving and kindhearted man...my Dad! He turns 64 years young today! LOVE YOU DAD.

{Love} Beach days in Hawaii with my Dad :)

[From left to right]

In our apartment in Hawaii//Catching a ride with Dad at Disneyland//Me & Charlene with Dad in front of our old house in Paradise Hills.

Summer Lovin' Happened So Fast!

{Locations: Venice Beach and Tustin}
...continuation of Day 3...

The day was still young! So we ventured out to Venice Beach...with a few awesome stops along the way. We were on a mission and we found the high school that the first Grease musical was filmed at.

[Venice High School]

--> Take a look at Rydell High below circa 1978

Grease is the word...is the word...it's got groove it's got meaning ;)

OMG! Danny Zucko was standing right behind me near the double doors over there...haa haa haa. Next time, we're looking for the school in Grease 2. I know there are some haters out there and you can say what you want about Grease 2 but ...Charlene and I love part two the most! We have our reasons ;)

[Venice Beach Canals]

We strolled through the walkways of the beautiful residential homes along the Venice Beach Canals. I was in awe of all the gorgeous houses and landscaping. 

{Love} BEAUTIFULLLL. People live here? Le sigh.

{Side Note}

Ever since I saw Alee's pictures of the humongous sea slugs she ran into during her trip to the canals last summer, I have been SO EAGER to go! I don't know...it's the nerd in me I guess, but I was determined to see some of those sea slugs! Mission impossible? Sigh. Yes it was...no sea slugs on display today...womp womp.

This place is kinda huge...we walked for as long as we could, but the canals just kept going on and on. Plus, some of us were getting hungry. Alee suggested this one place on Abbot Kinney Road called Lemonade.

{Love} Tee dum...tee dee...hahaha :)

[Lemonade Restaurant]

This was more of a cafeteria style restaurant...oh excuse me, an upscale cafeteria style restaurant! Hahaha :) No really, Lemonade was pretty cool. I loved how everything inside felt so fresh and organic...healthy I guess is the word I'm looking for? It was my first time here...and I love trying out new food places! So I was all good to go.

I ordered buttermilk chicken, basil infused carrots, soba thai noodles and a refreshing rosemary lemonade. YUM and YUM! This entire meal cost me about $14.00.

{Side Note} I was SO tempted to get one of these...but NOPE. I was a good girl :)

We drove back to Irvine after our late dinner. L.A was exhausting for sure. We were all over the place, but...the night was still young! Charlene had the brilliant idea to do some late night drinks and karaoke! Oh dear...this is SO out of my comfort zone. I didn't want to be the Debbie Downer of the group, so what the heck! 

[Plush Karaoke Lounge in Tustin, Ca]

I was nervous...aahhhh! This was my first time in a karaoke lounge. Once I saw that we had our own private room to sing in, well....my nerves weren't so frazzled any more! I loosened up and just let the craziness go :)

{Side Note}

With it being Sunday night, we lucked out on their special! All you can sing karaoke for $15 the whole night! Woohoo! 

{Side Note} For a second there, I thought everything was only in Korean...whew. False alarm.

{Love} Oh yes. Charlene programmed in some of my old school jams! 

My mini vacations are always jam packed down to the minute! I wouldn't have it any other way! Hope everyone's first week of Summer was just as crazy and fun as mine was :)

Summer Lovin' Had Me A Blast: Day 3

SUMMER is officially here! Time for shorts and sun dresses for this girl! I took some time off and spent it with my sister and a few of our other friends last week. We sort of wandered everywhere over the course of three days...here we go with Day 3!

{Destination: Los Angeles, Ca}

[Cream Pan Cafe in Tustin, Ca]
Before heading out to L.A., we had breakfast at this small bakery in Tustin called Cream Pan. They're known for their strawberry custard croissant...which is oh so delish by the way! I also tried their apple turnover. SO GOOD. Prices were great too :)

//Strawberry Custard Croissant $2.00//Apple Turnover $1.49//

By the time we got to L.A and picked up my cousin Alee, it was pretty much lunch time...so we headed off to Porto's in Burbank. The line was monstrous...and so was the wait to be seated for a table. Patience is a must for this place! 

{Side Note} Some impatient people just take it too far with the attitude though, sheesh!

[Porto's Bakery & Cafe in Burbank, Ca]

I ordered a hot pastrami sandwich for $5.25 (which was massive, as you can see below) and a medium iced cafe latte for $3.05. My total bill including tax was only $9.47. Oh wait, I also bought two guava strudels to go for $0.75 each. Wows...I love this place!

{Love} I am OBSESSED with their banana chips!

[Griffith Observatory]

After lunch, we went to the Griffith Observatory (since Kristine and I have not been inside the place yet). It was pretty nice out there...the crowd wasn't too chaotic and there was ample walking area throughout the exhibits. It was such a lovely day...

{Side Note}

Third time's the charm I guess! I've been trying to get inside the observatory since last year- both times were a bust! The first time I tried, there was a huge star event going on- NO PARKING whatsoever! The second time I went happened to be on a Monday and whaddya know? They're closed on Mondays! Argh...

{Love} That view.

[photo courtesy of Charlene]

{Love} Einstein.

My how things have changed since it's opening in 1935...

After perusing around inside the cosmos, we decided to head upwards to the telescopes!

[photo courtesy of Kristine]

[photo courtesy of Charlene]

[photo courtesy of Charlene]

[photo courtesy of Charlene]

[Millions of Milkshakes in West Hollywood]

Our next stop was a sugary one! Alee had been telling us about this milkshake place in West Hollywood all day, and so we went for it! My drink order? I got the Billion Dollar Milkshake- ferrero rocher and bananas! Mmmm...

**please see next post for continuation of Day 3**

My Disney Weekly: On the Bayou

Back in January of 2011, I bought Disney annual passes for myself and my sister (it was her Christmas/early graduation gift from me). At the time, I didn't have a blog. So now that I do, I've decided to incorporate my Disney year as an annual pass holder. I'll include it as weekly postings. There'll be two weekly postings: My Disney Weekly and My DCA Weekly (for Disney California Adventure). As you'll see, I'm a HUGE Disney buff! With that being said, here we go!

{Character Highlight: Princess Tiana}

{Disney Dining: Cafe Orleans}
I loved dining here at this creole-inspired restaurant! Their gumbo is so friggin good...and not mention those wonderfully sweet, melts in your mouth, Mickey ears-shaped beignets! Yumms :)

{Love} The French Quarter Band!

{Love} My other "go to" sweet treat! Beignets!

{Main Attraction: Pirate's Lair}
Pirate booty! Ooops, I mean Pirate Treasure! Hahaha! Exploration and discovery are the key words here. It's a fun place to sort of just get away from the hustle and bustle of everything else. Alee and I had fun wandering in and out of passage ways and braved mysterious narrow caves.

[Dead Man's Grotto]
Okay, I personally didn't care for this cavern...but Alee was like, "Just do it already!" I have a slight case of claustrophobia. At the time we entered the grotto, it was pretty empty so I felt okay. Once we got to the middle of it, out of nowhere a bunch of kids came running in and surrounded the area I was in. OH CRAP. I had to get out of there quick! All I remember was running through the darkness heading for the small opening of light ahead, while at the same time yelling behind me to Alee, "Later Aleeeeee!" Hahaha, I just left her there with the screaming kids. Two minutes later she emerged and...

{Love} Alee's expression here was priceless! She was like, "What the hell was that?!?"

[Treasure Dig]

Pirate loot!

[Smuggler's Cove]

Bouncing across these rope bridges was quite the experience :P

Summer Lovin' Had Me A Blast: Day 2

SUMMER is officially here! Time for shorts and sun dresses for this girl! I took some time off and spent it with my sister and a few of our other friends last week. We sort of wandered everywhere over the course of three days... here we go with Day 2!

{Location: Santa Barbara, Ca}

[Franceschi Park]
We arrived in Santa Barbara and headed straight for Franceschi Park. We all wanted to see that ooooh la la view of the Santa Barbara coastline! This park was the perfect location...it's nestled within a quiet residential area way up high on a hillside.

[photo courtesy of Charlene]

[photos courtesy of Charlene]

[El Paseo & State Street]

Just our luck! The Summer Solstice Festival was also happening that day on State Street. But alas...we caught the very end of it. By the time we arrived, confetti had already been thrown...musicians were wrapping it up...le sigh. That's okay, State Street was still very much alive with crowds of people shopping, dining and sight seeing! We made our way through El Paseo and down State Street towards the beach :)

{Side Note}

Lunch was at Pascucchi Restaurant. 

{Love} This dessert place called Whosadilly!

[East Beach]

So we made the LONGGGGG walk down State Street to East Beach. Okay so I knew that the beach was called East Beach, but for some reason I was still expecting to see the sun set on the horizon...umm nope! Hahaha! Weirdly enough, the Santa Barbara coast line faces south...so we happened to walk down the opposite end where it faces east (womp womp)! No worries though, the view was just as beautiful!

After a little breather on the beach, we rode the State Street Shuttle back to our parking garage. Thank goodness for the shuttle! I don't think our pretty little peepers could have handled the walk back :)

{Side Note}

The shuttle ride is only 25 cents per person! How awesome is that?!?

[Alice Keck Park]

To wrap up our "daycation" in Santa Barbara, we decided to go for something nice and light (all that walking before took a toll on us). So Charlene found this park nearby, and it was a great place for us to just soak up the remainder of the day and stroll around.

{Love} Geez...photo bomberrrr :)

{Side Note}

This was the area where Alee was taking a picture of Charlene (I was standing in front of them), and all of a sudden behind them I saw a ginormous rat scurry from one side to the other! I guess my face said it all because Charlene and Alee started to run in a hurry past me...but they were as silent as can be! That's what was SO funny!