Quarry Lakes

If you're ever looking for a nice place to enjoy a picnic, boating, swimming, fishing, hiking, or even wildlife viewing, then Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation area is your best bet.  Quarry Lakes incorporates the historic boundaries of two Mexican ranchos and the former Mission San Jose lands. Alameda Creek was the original boundary between Contra Costa and Santa Clara Counties. Alameda County was carved out of these two counties in 1853 and was named after the creek that drains it. 
Z and I took the pig pug out here for a nice walk along the water-bank. Finnegan has this funny tendency to walk only in the shade when he is getting hot and/or tired. As you can see below, he tried to walk only in the shadows of the trees that we passed by. When we stopped to give him a little break, he seemed to enjoy the scenic view (and was probably thinking that his owners were pug abusers for making him walk more than the distance from his bed to his own food & water bowls back home).

Meow-o-Ween

Halloween is coming up and I am so disappointed that I do not have a costume created as of yet. I have a test on November 1st, so sadly my plans for this ghoulish evening will probably be spent studying while scary movies play in the living room as background noise.  For a study break, Z and I bought tickets for the Total Trash Halloween Bash this weekend. Hopefully, I can study hard and then dance dance the night away later.  Here are some photos from last year at Mani and Melanie's house party to help me reminisce and pretend I'll be having fun this weekend instead of cramming a bunch of biology/chemistry into my head.  Z was a magical wizard and I was a black cat. Special appearance by Mr. Finnegan McDuff at the end dressed up as a bumble bee. Too bad he looks like a black blob instead. 

Night at the Museum

There's something about viewing portraits/paintings from the past...it makes me wonder what the story was behind the painting, who the person was, and what he or she was thinking. I  do not think I could have had the patience to sit for hours while an artist painted my likeness onto canvas, but I'm ok with admiring these works from afar. These photos were taken while visiting the various museums comprising Washington, D.C's center and sadly before my flight back. The District was quite beautiful and I wish I had more time to check out everything...as was the theme for most of the trip. Z and I will definitely plan another visit soon now that his sisters are out there on the East coast...and possibly for future school visits (fingers crossed). I present to you now...photos of Z and I being awkward in front of various paintings and animal figures. My favorite was posing in front of an elegant lady and her prized pet pug...my dream! I will have to set up and commission someone for a  portrait painting session of Finnegan and I. I'd like to hang it in my huge library (adjacent to my huge music room in my huge mansion) when I'm an old lady. Crazy pug lady dreams!

Outfit Details:
White Polka Dot Dress // Forever 21
Dooney & Bourke Bucket Bag // Vintage
Woven Oxfords // Vintage
Ginger Ottoman Jacket // American Apparel
Sunglasses // H&M

Fune La

On Saturday Z and I attended an opera based on Herman Melville's classic, "Moby-Dick". The art and staging were beautifully done using lights/images projected onto the background to stimulate rocking waves and even the tiny fishing boats crew members used to harpoon and attack whales. After watching tons of Gossip Girl episodes on Netflix (Shhhh! Don't tell anyone that I secretly love that show for Chuck Bass and can't stop watching), I wanted to take this opportunity to dress up and pretend that Z and I would be attending some gala  in NYC or a party held by Blair Waldorf. (I know...I am so sad and loserly.) I curled by hair and put on my brand new "Book Worm" dress made by Vanessa of The Velvet Bird. I love the pin dot pattern, swing shape, peter pan collar with a bow...and my favorite part: brown elbow patches! The dress is beautifully constructed and  what is even more amazing is that 20% of Vanessa's profits all go to Love146.org to fight and prevent human trafficking in the United States! This dress will definitely be one of my go-to-favorites for this fall/winter. Here are my crappy photos from my laptop that do not do the dress any justice:

Outfit Details:
The Book Worm Dress // The Velvet Bird
Black Tights // Walgreens
Rachel Comey MARS boots

Bang Bang

Still going through the ever-painful process of growing out my bangs. They don't seem to be growing out at all to me since they are barely pass my eye level right now.  I probably need to work on my patience. This transition is more difficult because as far as I've remembered, I have always had bangs and were able to  hide behind them. Bangs bring to mind memories of my mom. It used to be a ritual where my mom would sit in front of me and trim my bangs every other week or so. I was her little Asian doll.  However, if I happened to wiggle around too much, my bangs would end up a bit crooked and my mom would laugh.    
One evening when I was younger, I begged my mom to trim my bangs for me since I couldn't see anymore and I wanted to look my best for school pictures the next day. My mom was busy cleaning up after dinner and said that she would get to it later, but me being the impatient little girl decided to take the matters / scissors into my own hands. I trimmed away and noticed that one side was shorter than the other, so I tried to compensate for that and ended up trimming the opposite even shorter! I kept trying to even-out my bangs out and the next thing I knew, my bangs were barely even left. Of course, my mom happened to walk in at this very moment and said ,"Good! Now you go to school like that!" I begged and pleaded for her to fix them, but alas there was not much to do about it. I had to take my school photos with my crooked sad bangs that made me look similar to a poodle that had stuck its paw in an electrical socket, teased its fur, and then sprayed extra-hold hairspray on it. These bangs were so short that it was hardly considered a fringe to cover my forehead. (As seen here which I will probably take down the link to because my hair makes my head look alien huge) In the future, whenever I tried to disobey her, she would just have to show me my school picture to shut me up. NEVER FORGET.

Contrary to belief, I am not holding up peace signs.  These two fingers are actually scissors. AH! Thanks Mom!

Outfit Details:  Stripped Shirt // Vintage
Green Corduroy Pinafore // Vintage
NARS lipstick // Shanghai Express
I leave you all with Nancy crooning about a different type of Bang. Enjoy!

Santa Cruzin'

It may seem really unusual, but Z and I share the same birthday. Seriously? What are the odds? When we initially started dating, I thought he was using some ploy to hit on me when birthdays came up. I immediately sought out his driver's license and saw that he was indeed not kidding around. Sharing a birthday with your boyfriend has certainly had its benefits: one year we were able to go to Disneyland for free and the other year we planned a nice trip to Seattle. This particular year, we went to the Santa Cruz Board walk and pier since I had never been before. The weather on the day that we went could not make up its mind: it would be sunny one moment and then foggy and over-cast the next. We spent the day  partaking any tourist activity we could think of: playing boardwalk games, exploring the fun house, and eating in yummy garlic fries. 

After exploring what we could, we joined Z's family on the beach for a lobster cook-out. I was in absolute heaven, but I guess it's just because I am a huge fan of anything that has been dipped in garlic and butter. Above is a wonderful photo that Z took of me where the camera's strap decided it wanted to make an appearance. Camera Strap Photo bomb! Oh well. I can't wait to go on this year's birthday excursion and hopefully take more photos (no more camera straps, please!) and eat more delicious food. Perfect way to spend your birthday!

Outfit Details:
Shawl Sweater // Vintage
Chambray Tank // Mom's old shirt
Black Jeans // Urban Outfitters
Tan Clogs // Dansko Clogs
Straw Hat // Borrowed from Z's dad
Brown Belt // Vintage