born and raised in a summer haze

it has been so hot here in southern california that it just makes me a bit uninspired to really dress more than a t-shirt and shorts :p

so naturally that's become my summer uniform.

usually my tee+shorts uniform just looks so blah and unpost worthy [[which is one of the reasons why i haven't really posted much :p]] that i just don't really see the point in taking pictures. well, and also i admit, i've been a bit lazy -_______-

but once in a while i'll try and put more effort in what i wear. hey, you never know where you're gonna go or who you're gonna see so you might as well look your best at least for yourself ;]

also nothing helps with style ruts than some new pieces to play with *ahem* the shoes and the hat. hahaha

i went shopping this past weekend with my mom, my auntie and yvanna and grabbed a few treasures for the new semester [[but that's for another post]]
so on monday the boyfriend and i went to the park together and he helped me take some pictures since it's been a while. we actually walked around the back where all the weeds and bushes grew wild since there was soccer practice going on at the time and i don't really like to pose for pictures with so many people around :p

aj tries so hard to take good pictures for me and every time he plays photographer for me it's always a learning process for the both of us. sometimes its a bit frustrating for the both of us because sometimes i can be a bit picky with pictures cuz of funny faces and cockatoo hair and what not and he just thinks i look beautiful no matter what, which is very sweet of him buuut it's just not what i'm looking for.

le sigh

o well, practice makes perfect yes? :]

t-shirt-target

shorts-target

shoes-report

boater hat-claire's

love in my tummy

sooo about a week ago was me and aj's 6 year anniversary.

o yea, did i tell you guys? he and i used to be boyfriend and girlfriend :p we've broken up about a year ago but for some reason we still ended up hanging out with one another like all the time. [[i guess it's more of a "break" than an actual "break up"]]

i'm not gonna delve too much into it for obvious reasons, but anyways, yes, our anniversary was a week ago and even though we're not "officially" together anymore, we still like to celebrate our anniversary. :] this year we just went out to eat at this AMAZING diner called Brian's American Eatery where they serve delicious american food in generous servings :9 i first went here with my friend rochelle after my first slumber party since i was 11 :p and lemme tell ya, Brian's really hit the spot x9 and i knew aj liked eating "brinner", which is breakfast for dinner, so i suggested this place instead of ihop :p [[*note* i have nothing against ihop! just that we needed a change of pace/scenery every once in a while>< please don't get offended ihop people if you see this!! ><]]

there's actually a lot of variety on the menu in terms of american food and breakfast all day and everything sounded so damn tastey! [[and they are]] and really, there just isn't enough room in my belly to fit them all in one sitting :p haha

apparently, i make weird/funny faces when i'm eating and drinking[[but actually when i think of it, i make funny faces all the time :p]] and aj thought it'd be funny to "pose" like me...

me:what're you doing? you're making all these weird faces

aj:i'm posing like you do whenever i take pictures of you eating.

me:whaaat?? i don't make faces!

aj:yes, you do look back at the photos i took

me: *reviews photos* =_________=; you're right...

pshh this kid... -,-

then our food arrives! :D [[YAYYY!!]] aj got some kind of whole wheat pancakes+eggs over easy+potatoes o'brian

aaand i got a dish called the "laguna scramble" which was eggs+sausage+bell peppers and other tastey things :9 along with potatoes and one of the yummiest biscuits everrr! [[i kid you not. i love honey and this thing was like honey bread it was amazing!]]


aj and i were so hungry that we totally just dug into our meals that i almost forgot to take pictures of them!
i mean, c'mon! lookit the anticipation on my face! [["imma eat chu and you and you and youuu" lol]] and i'm kinda thinking that that's a foodgasm face on the last picture i took of aj hahahha.
and like the total fatties that we are, we ordered a mini apple pie for dessert and split it :] it was actually quite cute and delicious as well. :]

wow ._____. this whole post kinda just seemed like a food blog post c[: haha

well, i didn't really take a good shot of my outfit [[which was totally cute btw ;] cuz that's just how i roll haha]] i might as well catch you guys up on what's been going on :]

o and probably make you guys hungry after this! lol what do you guys feel like eating now? ;]

some feelings never seem to let go

i know i've blogged about balboa park a hellavuh lot here and how it's so pretty and awesome for it's architecture and landscaping and it's such a good place to take pictures, but sometimes it's nice to go off the beaten path and find beauty in secret little corners of the park :]

i still pick up aj from his job at the tea shop and i love coming to the park around that time. when everything is starting to close and the tourist flow slows down to a trickle and the lighting is just starting to get good :] y'know, kinda sunset-y but not quite?

anyhoo, he and i were kinda in a rush to get home that day because it was his brother's 18th birthday and since we were already driving out of the park and losing some serious light, i had to convince him to take some "quick 5 min photos" so we pulled into the last parking lot before the main street and took photos near a little side road for service cars.

there were weeds of course and overgrown vines or some sort. i hardly think the groundskeepers pay special attention to the landscapes next to parking lots, but nonetheless, i like seeing a little piece of "wild" growth :p plus, i like this kind of tree. random i know! haha but i like how the roots grow. there's a huge one more into the park on one of the trails and lots of people like to pictures there as well. anyhoo, i digress :p

aj's also been getting pretty good at taking pictures lately :] i'm so proud of him, he actually took the initiative to take pictures from different angles/places without being told and doesn't wait for me to pose and make it super obvious and awkward lol.

he actually took these over the shoulder ones on his own and stupid me, i told him to go back to where he was >< i felt totally bad for smushing his "artistic flow" [[haha sorry, that just sounded totally cheesey]] but i've got to learn to trust him more with taking my pictures and encourage his creative side when it decides to show :]

and he's also taking pictures wherever/whenever he thinks will make a good shot so that's definitely something that i love :D

o yea, and he always manages to encourage me to take silly photos even though i'm trying to act all serious and take "pretty photos" :p

o by the way, i'm a giant dork if you guys didn't know already c[: hahaha

lately i've been listening to a band called donkeyboy that my friend angeli from porcelain party kind of introduced me and my friends to on a mixed cd she gave all of us one year and this song was one of their songs that i really liked on the tracklist :]

jacket-hawke&co.

dress-forever 21

shoes-ross

necklace-francesca's collections

i caught myself

aj and i have been frequenting our local park a lot lately for like, the past two weeks for him to get his exercise to get into the navy and for me to practice my skateboarding.

and i'm starting to think that it's really starting to pay off :] though i'm not 100% sure on aj's part hahaha but he looks like he's getting smaller so i guess that's a good sign of progress no? :]

as for me, i'd have to say i've gotten a lot better :] i can turn a lot better and my balance has really improved :] i can actually go around the park without having aj around in case i wobble and possibly fall.

even today i skated at balboa park in a dress and flats ;D i'm pretty pleased about that too since i was doing it all by myself and i actually feel nervous skating in things other than jeans and slip on shoes.
they're kinda like my protection from scrapes since y'know, jeans require some effort to tear and slip ons just feel a lot more stable on a board as opposed to other shoes :/

but it still feel pretty good to get over your fear of falling off and totally eating it. it hasn't happened to me yet [[THANK GOD]] and i'm pretty sure down the road i probably will [[maybe when i learn how to ollie or manual but that's later]] but for now, i'm enjoying the fruits of my labor :]

aj and i have also been bringing our dogs with us once in a while for them to get exercise and also try and get them to pull me on my board c[: haha i kinda had this in mind:

though i doubt my lil forest prince zorro could do that hahaha [[maybe my other dog frisco since he pull on the leash anyways but we haven't tried that out yet...]] but zorro usually just acts like a good pack follower and likes to either walk/run next to me while i'm skating which is good and all, but i think it'd be a lot better use of his endless energy if he did more work you know what i mean? meh, we'll see. [[or maybe i can have a pack of small dogs pull me...hahaha that'd be pretty funny c[: ]]

also all the skating stuff has gotten me into my inner tomboy. [[i think i've said this before? hmm not sure :/ but i'll say it again! >:D]] i don't usually wear jeans and a tee unless i'm too lazy to put together and outfit or if i'm just running errands.

but i'm actually looking to follow chick skaters for outfit inspiration on what to wear because as much as i love style, i love it even more when it has a function to it as well. like how i've noticed that a lot of skaters wear jeans and flannel. [[well, my nephew actually... he's a skater and every christmas he asks for flannel shirts hahaha]] since flannel is pretty durable when you fall and it's pretty comfy no?

o yea, and there's also this girl in the sociology class before mine who i think exhibits excellent skater style. [[i my opinion anyways]] i'd take a picture of her but i don't wanna look like a creeper lol. but she just happens to be one of those people that you see everyday and look forward to seeing what they're gonna wear because their style is just so flyyy B] she's got like, the perfect balance between tomboy and femininity down while i usually just look either kinda sloppy or like a boy .____. hahaha

o well, new lessons and tricks to learn i guess ;]

band tee-hot topic

jeggings-pacsun

shoes-converse

skateboard-zip zinger

like a gull takes to the wind

yesterday would definitely be labeled as a photo adventure... c[:

yesterday, my friend aj had the day off from work and he agreed to help me take photos for le blog and also to be in them! :D i was pretty happy about that since i like taking pictures and i also got to style someone else. [[and the opposite sex too! so different!]] it was a bit of a challenge since i've never really styled someone other than myself before but i would like to think it turned out pretty well. :]

we matched in a way that didn't make us look like a couple taking engagement or couple-y photos but made it look like we're, i dunno, fashionably competent? hahaha idk. at least i know he looked good in what he was wearing :] [[sans jacket+baseball cap which i hated >:( it gave him hat hair! >< ugh, these boys...]]

we also ended up taking the first set of pictures in balboa park since we thought at the time the weather would be better there and less overcast [[wrong!]] and c'mon, it's like balboa park which is like, one of the places in san diego to take photos. seriously, on any given day, [[or nice day]] you'll see people having their pictures formally taken for one thing or another.

anyhoo, it's pretty much a nice place to be in general and the food at the cafes at all the exhibits ain't too shabby either ;]

afterwards we walked around a little bit looking for potential photo settings. it was a bit embarrassing since there were more tourists about at noon. [[i usually go there around closing time when everybody is packing up to go home]] and it was kinda funny running back and forth between the tripod and aj and posing hahaha.though i have to say, he's a lot better at posing for photos by himself than i am. :p but if we're in a picture together, he either goes into prom photo mode or outshines me completely xD hahaha

it was also his first time being in outfit shots with me and also using my new dslr to take pictures of me. personally, i think he's gonna need some more practice with using the lense and taking more artistic stretches/leaps when it comes to photography/portraiture. but i think he's also got a bit of beginner's luck since i did get some pretty good shots yesterday :]

in the end though we probably spent like an hour or so there since it started to rain and aj's dog lilo was getting tired. the poor sweet ol gal :]

we also took another set of photos at our local park. y'know, the one where we usually go skating at? because i did want to go skateboarding after taking pictures but we ended up taking more pictures [[of me this time haha]] in some tall weeds since i've always wanted to do something like that c[: but i think i'll save that for next post yea? ;]

i also had this song stuck in my head yesterday: "new slang"-the shins while roaming around balboa. i first heard it on the soundtrack of the movie Garden State and it's quite catchy.

Garden State also happens to be one of me and aj's favorite movie [[mostly mine c[: ]] since it has zak braff and natalie portman is in it :] and the movie soundtrack is one of my favorites. it's one of the albums that i can pretty much listen to from beginning to end without hitting fast forward or next and i like that :] it tells a story apart from the movie and it lends well to my constant daydreaming x]

i hope you guys enjoy :]

on me:

jacket-forever 21

dress-target

wedges-hand me downs

on aj:

shirt-sears

jeans-levi's

slip ons-vans

you get what you give

sooo it was someone's birthday yesterday... ;] mine! :D i'm finally 21 and i'm pretty excited! not cuz i get to legally drink or whatever comes with the age, i'm genuinely excited and happy that i'm one year older :] i always get that way around my birthday. maybe it's cuz i get my family and friends around me and everyone is happy i mean c'mon! birthdays=food=cake! who doesn't like cake??

so anyways, i celebrated my birthday with my gals last saturday at coronado beach complete with bonfire :] [[i've always wanted to go to the beach on my birthday and it's been on my bucket list for quite sometime so i'm happy that i get to cross that off now :D]]

my friend angeli and i got there 9am thinking we were gonna have to duel some people for a fire pit but since it wasn't really full on spring vacation mode at the moment, it just wasn't the case /)____= though i'd like to think we had a pretty good time waiting for our friends to get off work...right? lol anyhoo, i owe this girl big time :]
i had also borrowed a tent from my uncle [[since he's an avid camper/outdoors man]] to shield us from the southern california sun and april winds but that didn't quite work out...lol
[[i could hear a trumpet going "wah wah waaahhh" everytime we looked over at our failed attempt of a tent hahaha]] but i think we put a pretty good dent in our time killing. angeli being my fantastic photographer took some really amazing outfit shots of me in my birthday dress :]

[[gah! so hard narrowing down my favorites!! ><]]

but anyhoo, i think the bonfire was a success :] my girls were all there and we had some good snuggling time in my teddy bear blanket c[:

so yea, happy burday to me x] i had a great time that day and i felt so happy and loved even though we were all freezing our butts off but at least i was surrounded by my friends who love me and that was more than enough :] <3

dress-target

heels-steve madden hand me downs

bracelet-charlotte russe

sunglasses-hot topic