Bay Area Fun

Last week I went up to the Bay Area and I had a lot of fun and I was sad when Sunday rolled around and I had to come back home. It was great spending time with my family, eating yummy food, and exploring parts of the Bay Area I haven't visited before. 

L to R: sun rising in central California, making s'mores, my yummy creation, mango and macapuno ice cream, my aunt and uncles house has a basement something I've never seen in California, the only time I worked out in the hotel gym, Panda cookies from the 99 Ranch Market, Korean side dishes, beef bulgogi lunch, outside the Apple headquarters, I ended up getting the bottom shirt from their store, obligatory tourist picture, yummy appetizers, drinks of choice for the night, my aunt and cousins performing a hula dance, spent most of my Friday night on the dance floor

L to R: statue in Golden Gate Park, pagoda in the Japanesse Tea Garden, the steepest bridge ever, Golden Gate Bridge, the Transamerica building, yummy Pho from the Golden Flower, alley in Chinatown, quiet in the tunnel please, being silly with the heart sculptures in Union Square, love the old buildings in San Francisco, grapevines, on the drive home I watched Workaholics and Thor (which I also watched on the way there), train cars, drive by view of Pismo Beach, last stop before going home

Central Park

Once you step into Central Park, you forget that you're in a bustling metropolis. This is one of the places where you can take a leisurely stroll and not worry about where your next destination will be. I didn't explore all 843 acres of Central Park but what I did see was really pretty. This is on my list of favorite places to visit in NYC.

Eventually the city bustle crept its way back in as we made our way out of Central Park. 

One of these days, I will get to stay in Eloise's suite in The Plaza.

The 5th ave Apple store. I would not want to be the person that has cleans the glass everyday.

New York, New York

I may have to wait another day, due to a flight cancellation which is always fun. (Yeah right) But I can't wait to go to NYC. My mom and I are going to not only visit my sister and her boyfriend, but to also watch her graduate from Fordham University with her Masters in Teaching. Also Brian Williams is going to be the guest speaker at the commencement ceremony which is also awesome. Since it's my mom's first time visiting NYC we'll be doing the touristy stuff like going to the Empire State Building and heading over to Times Square. But there are a few more things I hope we can do while we're there....

Watch a Broadway Show

Tickets to Broadway shows are super expensive, usually starting at $80 a ticket. So I'm crossing my fingers that if I get to the box office super early, I can get one of those $30 rush tickets. The top three shows on my list are Anything Goes, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and The Book of Mormon.

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

I didn't make it over to Brooklyn the last time I visited NYC so a visit is in order this time around. The perfect place to visit would be the gardens.

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Metropolitan Museum of Art

Not only can I pretend for a second that I'm Blair or Serena on the steps of the MET, but I can also check out the exhibits in the museum situated in Central Park. The big museum attraction right now is Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, a retrospective on the work of the late fashion designer.

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Topshop

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Topshop wasn't open when I visited 2 1/2 years ago, so it'll be interesting to go in and see what all the fuss about.

What other places in NYC do you recommend?

A Little Left of Center

Jacket and Shirt: Old Navy

Skirt: Charlotte Russe

Tights: Vera Wang for Khols

Flats: BC Footwear

Necklaces: Avon and Charlotte Russe

How do you like the slanted first picture? I bought one of those camera stands where the legs are flexible and you can wrap it around trees and such. So I tried it out on one of the trees outside my house. It took a little finagiling, hence the wonky pictures, but it still worked out well. Something to use when I don't want to lug around the tripod.

I also really love this skirt. I got it at Charlotte Russe last week for $5. Steal! I love the floral print and I can wear it during the winter (with tights of course) and in the spring/summer. I also broke a little fashion rule and paired silver and gold with my necklaces and it doesn't look garish at all.

Serious face!

The past year has had high and low points. But I want to try to make 2011 full of high fives and awesomeness. Here are some of resolutions that will hopefully make it turn out that way.

More Adventurous - I'm going to be my own Huell Howser next year and explore more of what Southern California has to offer. There's so many sites to see, places to explore so that's what I'll be doing when I have free time. I'll be starting my adventures next weekend by visiting the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) for the William Eggleston exhibit and the Riverside Metropolitan Musem for the Star Trek exhibit.

Good Eats - I consider myself a pretty decent baker. But when it comes to cooking, I only know how to make the basics, ie: spaghetti, baked chicken. But by the end of next year, I want to be able to cook the Filipino dishes my mom makes. Right now I only know how to make lumpia, so I still have a long way to go.

Work it Out - I'm going to start taking better care of myself. Not only will I curb my junk food/soda habit and get off my but and start exercising, but I will also remember that the doctor/dentist are not scary. I pay for my health insurance, I minus well use it.

Shopgirl - In July, I finally listed two items on my etsy store and haven't listed anything since. I just need to motivate myself to list every week or so.

Reading Rainbow- I have the bad habit of either checking out books from the library or buying them and letting them sit around collecting dust and/or fines. Next year I will try to read at least two books a month. I can only read so much from magazines before my brain needs to start fully functioning again.

Single Ladies - I will embrace being single next year and just have fun and not worry about guys. I might go back into the dating pool, my sister says I should try match.com, but it won't be my top priority. No crying over boys or getting my heart broken in 2011.

 

What are some of your new years resolutions?

Seven Things

Since returning to singleton status, I've had more free time on my hands. But instead of taking of advantage of this, I've been squandering it by being lazy. You can only watch so much home improvement and food shows before the mind starts to reel.  

So I decided that in the next 7 months, I will:

1. Read more -  the last time I read a book was a year ago.
2. Take a dance class - perhaps tap or salsa.
3. Sew a dress - the last time I sewed a dress was 8 years ago. 
4. Start going to the gym - my high school reunion is 6 months away. Eek!
5. Learn how to knit -  if I'm successful, all my family and friends will be getting scarves and beanies. :P
6. Start my Etsy store - hopefully I can get this up and running by the end of this month.
7. Take more mini-road trips - it'll be fun to explore the nearby cities and find cool vintage/thrift stores. Plus I've been partly inspired by this guy. 

Do you have things that you want to accomplish? 

A Big Apple...

I don't remember who said this or if I'm even getting the exact quote right, but someone once described New York City as a place were you can be alone, but your never truly alone. That's what I loved about visiting NYC for the first time in October.

As I said in an earlier post, my brother and I went to NYC to visit our younger sister. She actually moved to there in June with her boyfriend.

The city is amazing. Everything is at your fingertips. For the five days that we were there, I tried to do everything that I possibly could. But five days only stretches so far, so here's a list of what I visited...

• New Museum, the Whitney Museum of Art and MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)
• Grand Central Station
• Rockefeller Center and Top of the Rock.
• Wall Street
• New York Public Library and Bryant Park
  
• Central Park
  
• Staten Island Ferry at night
• Times Square
  

I did get lost sometimes on the subway and while I was walking, but for the most part, you can always retrace your steps. Oh and being a cupcake gal, I did try some wonderful cupcakes at Babycakes and Crumbs. I had a red velvet cupcake at Babycakes and a coconut topped cupcake at Crumbs. Both were both very delicious.

Hopefully my sister will be in the city for a while, so another visit needs to be made in the future.

Here are some pictures and you can view the rest at on Flicker

Overlooking Central Park from the Top of the Rock

Empire State from the observation deck at the New Museum

It's Been a Long Time...

I'll admit it. I'm horrible at keeping up with posts. So I'll try to keep a regular schedule with my posts. For now here's what I've been up to...

• After years of yearning, I finally had the opportunity to visit NYC. I went in October with my younger brother to visit my younger sister and her boyfriend. I have to say I love the city. It's such a wonderful place to visit and explore. I went to the MOMA, the New Museum, the NY Public Library, the Whitney Museum of Art, Top of the Rock/Rockefeller Center, Central Park, and Staten Island Ferry to view the skyline at night. I also did some shopping but there's still a lot of things I want to see there. So another visit is in store in the new year.
  

• What could possibly trump my visit to NYC is my new job. After years being a lowly sales associate, I was finally offered a manager position in September. To be honest, I didn't think I would get it because I knew that there were others wanting the position. But I did and our store finally opened on Nov. 26. I'm still getting used to knowing that I am a manager and I have the authority to make decisions. But I'm excited to see where this new venture takes me.
  

What I've Been Up To

I am such a horrible blogger. It's been two months since I last posted and a lot has happened since then.
A week after my sister left for NYC, my mom left for three weeks to visit her family in the Philippines. She came back with tons of pre-packaged food, one of her suitcases was filled exclusively with it, beauty products and clothes.
She brought back for me this cute cream patent leather bag decorated with some studs on the outside, black sandals with mirrored straps and this hair product that is makes your hair look shiny.
I also finally bought digital camera. It's a Sony DSC-S750 and I love it. It's nice to have one whenever you want to take a spontaneous pictures, which I need to do, plus I don't have to wait a week or two to get film developed.I always have it in my purse now.It's kind weird, but you never know when you will need it.
On a sad note, a day after my mom left for the Philippines, my beloved Australian Shepard, Casey, died. I got home from work and found my brother standing on the porch with our dog covered by a towel. He told me died three hours before. I should have know something was wrong when I left for work that morning. Usually when I would call him, he would run up to me. But that morning, he was sitting on the driveway. When my dad got home, we buried him in the backyard. It was a somber day because we had him since he was a pup 12 years ago.
It was then when I realized how long we had him. He was my favorite dog out of the 5 we have. He would always play catch with you, listen to you, and was the only one that out cats liked. We think it's probably because he was old, but part of me thinks he died of sadness. Since my sister left a week before and my mom left the day before. He probably thought we were going to all leave and not come back. He was a great dog and after two months, I still miss him.
Not wanting to end on a sad note. I do have some exciting news. In October, my youngest brother and I are going to visit my sister in NYC. I have always wanted to go visit there and now I have my chance. The best part is I'm going to be there in the fall. So I'll get to experience the changing colors of the trees and I might to actually wear my coats that stay dormant in my closet since So. Cal doesn't experience fall, until like December.
I'm going to be there for 5 days, so does anyone have some good NYC suggestions? Well besides the touristy stuff to do, what are some underground/out of the ways places that I should see?