Pocket full of sunshine

Ain't nothing like summer. Beautiful, magnificent, splendid, carefree, warm. My brother is in town with his kid and wife and Daniel and I have been chauffeuring them around town. The kid is quite lovely and cute. Life is pretty good, I can't complain. I am a happy bee and nothing is bringing me down. My relationships with people are improving, especially with my boyfriend. I've learned to not be jealous because I have his heart upon my sleeve. Just gotta be confident. 

 

Most beautiful time of the year

I cannot believe it is almost end holiday season! Christmas time is my favorite time of the year, mainly because my dear friends come back to my hometown to visit and play. And of course, no school, and cold nights which calls for warm sweaters, pea-coats, leggings, boots, beanies--I simply adore winter wear. Also, you cannot forget about them holiday parties, filled with hot chocolate, and peppermint lattes from Starbucks, Christmas lights, oh my. It's simply my favorite time of the year.

Thanksgiving just passed, which means BREAK!! Caught up with old friends that I haven't seen for a while and hung out with new ones. It felt extremely nice and relaxing to not think about school for a few days. The only bad thing is, it got me into holiday mode already so I can't seem to focus on anything. I just want to be home for the holidays. But before that can happen, need to survive FINALS :(

I just finish signing for my classes for winter quarter. Hopefully it is as painless as possible and filled with many hours of sleep (aka the thing I always seem to need) #lifeofcollegestudent. I could be in bed right now, catching up on the zzZzz's since I finish my biochemisty homework early for once but I am online blogging my heart out. #latenightpostsarethebest. I miss my tumblr for that reason

Black friday shopping. Boots (in both pictures) are from Macy's. Red beanie from H&M, blue collared shirt from brother

Caught up with my babygirl, Magie. Treated her out to some dim sum as a belated birthday gift

Spontaneous trip to get some shaved snow. We tried almond snow with fresh strawberries, green tea mochi drizzled in condensed milk

Dinner with Jimmy, whom I haven't seen for over a year despite how close we lived to each other. Our school schedules were always opposite. Super spontaneous boba + brick toast (post dinner snack) with these fools. Joey and Jessica came down to visit us, hehe

Just some snapshots over Thanksgiving break. Time to hit the books again to ace those finals. See y'alls in a couple weeks or whenever I refuse to study (or sleep early)

With lots of TLC,

Denise

Happy happy thanks

It's thanksgiving! four fun filled days at home. I am quite thankful for a lot of things in my life, but this year I want to take a different approach to it. Every year I always thank the people in my life for supporting me and giving me love. But this year, I want to focus on me. I thank myself for being so strong willed and determine, for not taking no for an answer, for not taking anyone's crap. for being independent and hardworking when I need to be. because every day I see my dream. I want to thank myself for not giving up, especially a lot of times this year when shit got real. i want to thank my body for being healthy and happy (i know this year, my emotions were a wreck compared to other years) and i want to thank everyone else who put up with my bullcrap. my parents (because i gave you a lot more attitude this year than any other year) my boyfriend who was always so patient) my brother (for dealing with my parents when i'm not around and for doing my shit) my temple (who always welcome me with open arms and support me with whatever I need) circle k (for being the shining star in my life) and buddha. I recreated a path of buddhism for myself. I reflected and reach deep within myself and gain a sense of who I am. going back to temple was one of the best decisions i ever made. to be surrounded by those kids who are the bright stars of my sundays, to teach and give up after all these years of taking knowledge, to not be afraid of the future, and life after college. I am not afraid. you have given me strength and i thank you for it. this post is probably one of my worst posts because I am typing as I think, and not even bothering to capitalize and all that good stuff. but i am typing all the thoughts that flow out of my head and my heart. onto this blog. happy thanksgiving everyone. hope you are all safe with your families tonight. (or if you're out at black friday already, good luck and be safe and warm)

Love, denise

Taste of Summer

Two weeks ago, my boyfriend and I went to LACMA to view the beautiful art and we couldn't help it but take advantage of the gorgeous late August weather to have a photoshoot! I personally enjoyed the photoshoot a lot better than the artwork of the place itself. Maybe we went at a bad time, but there wasn't any unique exhibits.

I recently shopped online at Urban Outfitters and bought this cute dress! Free shipping, ftw. It looked super simple online, but once I tried it on at home, I knew it was a keeper. Only wished I didn't slouch in this picture. :(

All smiles! Necklace is from Forever21, necklace is from somewhere--got it a while back, on my lips was Revlon's lip butter in cherry tart, sunglasses are from St. John (birthday gift from my aunt this year)

Peek-a-boo! I see the camera!

I wish my boyfriend had a normal picture. Why must he look so creepy in every picture :( I want to show him off to the world, but this is so unattractive, LOLOL.

Afternoon sun was in my eyes, so hard to see.

Finally we got one decent picture. The lighting was just right, you can see how blue the skies were! I wish we had some cute couple ones near the poles, but beggars can't be choosers. Finding a photographer who knows how to work a dslr is pretty tough. Glad mr. photographer was able to capture this beautiful day ^_^

Summer Lovin'

Another late night post, this time running on caffeine from my Milk Tea with caramel, honey boba and egg pudding from Half&Half courtesy of my baby boo. He's the best :)

I've been packing all week, getting everything ready for my move into my apartment. It's been quite nerve-wracking--one day not having utilities set up, to buying the couch, and saying good bye to the folks back home. A couple days ago I was a mess, trying to get my life back together (major PMS problems right there) but today I am almost ready and extremely excited about moving! I'm finally getting my own place, technically. Makes me feel like a big girl now, paying bills, worrying about rent and all that jazz. Supes excited, though ^_^

So what else have I been up to in the past week? Just hanging out with some friends before my life got taken over by packing. Summer nights ♥

Boiling Crab with my lovely kangas, followed by some old fashion boba. We had a kick laughing at all the boba names, including "Awesome Threesome" and "Sunburnt White Boy."

Saw the Dark Knight Rises finally with my baby boo! Apparently, this was his third time watching it, LOL. Nolan does an amazing job ending the Batman trilogy. Very clever

OC fair date with my future apartment mates. I'm thrilled to be living with them next year; they are all a fun and exciting bunch. Extremely patient with me, very kind and smart. We all have pretty much similar interests, heights (LOL) and personalities. 

My caffeine is starting to wear off, I'm calling it a night. Good night world, until next post!

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Congratulations, Class of 2012!

Lacy black top from pacsun, black jeweled cardigan, floral skirt and gold leaf earrings are all  from Forever 21,  and wedges (not pictured) are a gift from a friend, sunglasses from St. John, bracelet is a gift from Sean

Makeup:  I had on a simple winged eyeliner, falsies mascara, concealer from maybelline-instant age rewind in shade 120 light,  lips-revlon's lip butter in cherry tart

Your long journey of high school is now OVER! Never shall you roam the familiar hallways of your high school, frolic under the shades of the trees and relax on the bright blue benches at lunch. You are now entering the real world! I applaud you for your efforts, but your journey towards higher education is not over; in fact, you've barely started! I dare you all to trespass on the lawns of your future with bright eyes and eagerness for learning. Keep an open mind. From now on, you are in charge of your own decisions, so make them carefully. Weigh out the consequences and never lose sight of your dreams.

On a lighter note, my brother's graduation was two days ago! He was on the GOLD side (left of stage, first row) which meant my family had to face the burning sun (just kidding, it wasn't that bad if you had shades on) to cheer for him. Security was poor this year. We heard the horns and vuvuzelas blasting in the air for other graduates (which was super annoying, btdubs) Sean was his official photographer for the day since my momma's camera couldn't take the far distance shots. It's HD quality so I'm not complaining.

Anyways, my mom treat us all out to dinner at a fancy schmancy Chinese restaurant (y'alls know how I feel about Chinese restaurants, LOL). We ordered a sweet&sour pork, some kind of leafy greens, a kungpao chicken, a sweet&sour catfish soup, a vegetable noodle and a beef&vegetables dish which wasn't that bad and greasy at all. After all that, we rendezvous back to my house so Sean can upload Daniel's grad pictures to my laptop. Over all fun night.

My brother is currently partying away at Gradnite right now. Let him have his fun until he has to buckle down and work hard like the rest of us. :)

Hello blogspot!

I guess I’ve been wanting to start a blog for a while and I never got around to it. Well here it is! Hello world & blogging community. My name is Denise, and I am beginning my journey of blogging. How does this even work? I’ve had many blogs before, but none like this one. I just recently deleted my tumblr(s) because it wasn’t quite what I wanted for a while. I still have my secret blogspot which will never shall be revealed, for it holds too much of my past.

A little bit about me:
I am twenty years old, residin’ in SoCal at the wonderful school of UCLA. Some may call me a social butterfly although I believe I am an  awkward turtle most of the time. I have great passion for a lot of things: knowledge, Buddhism, circle K, unicamp, helping the world, the arts. I can be a bit impatient (props to those who can deal with me) and I don’t like to follow directions. I believe in karma and what goes around comes around so I don’t do things that will come back to haunt me. Always thirsty for adventure. I believe the best in people and sometimes trust them too much, but you can’t love without trust. I love my family dearly, and get along with them quite well. I have an attention span of a 5 year old when it comes to studying, which is why I never get much studying done. I am not quite tech savvy, which explains why I spent about an hour trying to figure out how this site really works before blogging. I do text quite a lot ^_^ I like to be optimistic and happy and spread my sunshine like the “petals” of dandelions on a windy day.

Follow if you find me interesting and get ready to embark on this blogging journey with me!