Washington D.C. Travel Diary

I have been on the longest blog hiatus of my life! I am so sorry for all the people who love to read my blog and see what i’m up to, especially the ones overseas. Hopefully, you have all been keeping up to date on my Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat! This blog post is well overdue since it’s been over a week since my trip to D.C. I had a blast guys! Kekoa and I have been planning for months to travel to another state or city. We finally put those plans to fruition, and this is the product! Took only three hours to get there, a lot of the attractions are free, and the food was pretty great. Such a great weekend getaway.

Btw, we visited the weekend before the election! We HAD to visit the capitol while Obama was still in office!

Also, another one off the list:

Ride a subway for the first time

The underground transportation there in D.C. was super fast and cheap! Definitely our favorite way to get around to all of the attractions.

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As I say everytime, thank you my love for taking me to this beautiful place. You’re my favorite traveling partner and I can’t wait to travel the world with you. To my viewers, please keep an eye open for more blog posts in the near future. Just a million more papers to write, and i’ll be done with semester! Be patient with me! Everyone have a great day today and make sure to comment your favorite place to travel. See y’all soon!

Lake Tahoe Travel Diary

If any of y’all follow me on Instagram or Twitter, or even Snapchat for that matter, you would know that I’ve spent the last week in Lake Tahoe! This was a family trip including my grandparents, my cousin, an my dad’s Aunty and Uncle. I just got back a few hours ago and I know this time difference is gonna take a toll on my body, but these pictures are too beautiful not to share!

We ended every jam-packed day at the Fallen Leaf Campground for dinner. This is where half of our party stayed and camped (while my family slept in the warm, wifi-filled Hard Rock Casino and Hotel 😉). The campground included their own scenic lake too, which had a view that definitely surprised me! A few of these pictures came from the Emerald Bay Lookout. And if that wasn’t cool enough, I got to cruise through Emerald Bay on the M.S. Dixie Boat Cruise! The boat cruise was by far the BEST part of the trip, and is for sure worth the cost. Anyone who wants to visit Tahoe, do me favor and go on this boat cruise! Our family did so much during this trip that is not featured in this travel diary too like aerial tram rides/High Camp at Squaw Valley, the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, the old western Virginia City, drag races at Hot August Nights, and so much more. Sadly, my camera was dead for a good amount of it. These pictures, however, are truly extraordinary and does not do the actual place justice at all! Definitely once-in-a-lifetime type views. I didn’t even know this place existed or was THIS beautiful!

You probably will not see any Travel Diaries for a while, since the busy fall semester is coming. You will, however, see more Bullet Journal posts, monthly favorites, and playlists coming up. Thanks for reading!

See you guys with the new blog posts very soon,

Virginia Weekend Travel Diary

I can’t believe this summer trip has come to an end. I am so fortunate to spend as much time as I do with my boyfriend. I swear I cherish every minute of it! He lives miles and miles away, and has an underway schedule that is terribly hard to work around some times. The flights are always full or almost full as well! Sometimes, we feel like all forces are against us being together but weekends like this one make those thoughts disappear instantly. We had a great time this weekend and actually had a lot of firsts:

• First time hiking
• First double-date
• First full meal cooked together

We had a very laid-back six days and tried to focus on spending as much time as we could together! A lot of Lost marathons I can tell you that. We also tried a new place to eat called Alkaline, which as you can see from the pictures has Ramen and other Asian fusion meals. Definitely a must try if you’re ever in the area! Like the true water babies, we spent most of the time at Virginia beach and the beach inside of First Landing State Park. You can’t see this anywhere in my photo diary, BUT we also spent a lot of time working out together and playing Pokémon. As always, I am able to get closer and closer to my love when I visit Virginia. Our relationship strengthens as we get to know more about each other. And for that, I am always so grateful to spend time with him in the place he… and I… call home. For sure ready for our next adventure together, which will be roughly in September so make sure to check-in! What do you guys like to do with your boyfriend or girlfriend? Leave it in the comments!

Atlanta SightSEA-ing

WEEK IN PHOTOS (1/8-1/14)

This week was all about the road trip! Below this will be photos from the road trip that I did not put in the last blog post. I had a blast this past week and saw amazing things with the person I love. How cool right? Wish me luck next week as I tackle on my first week of Spring Semester and try to get back to normalcy. Winter break flew by, but I know this semester will probably fly by as well. And after that, Junior Year of college!

  
  

Roadtrip!

I just came back from another traveling experience with my love! First and foremost, I want to say that I am completely, utterly thankful that Kekoa and I can do the things we do. For normal long distance couples, things like this are rare. We have already visited seven states with each other in less than two months (granted, most of the states happened during this trip). But still! How amazing is that?

This weekend, I was able to help Kekoa transfer to another naval base. He had to be fully checked in and moved in by this week. Before this weekend, he used some of his leave days to spend with family for the holidays and ALSO bought a new car. We decided that the best and smartest way to transport the car and his stuff to the new base was by car. It would’ve been way too much money to ship the car to Virginia and I can’t even think of all the risks and potential damages of the car if it were to be shipped. The only downside though: the trip was a bit over twenty hours in total! That’s a lot of driving for one person! What kind of girlfriend would I be if I let him do that alone? With great timing with work and school, and with great understanding by my parents, I was able to join him on this weekend’s journey across half of the country! It was a blast! We took about two days in total to drive, and also fit in a rest day at the end of the trip just to adjust and run a few errands before he had to return to work. The drive there mainly consisted of car time conversation, laughing, dancing, eating, and many hours of singing!

We are both airplane babies which meant our experiences with LONG (5+ hour) road trips were little to none. We did it though! We got through the sleepiness and got to our destination safely. Here are a few snap chats of our trip (thanks for documenting it babe!)

Our only rest stop was Atlanta, Georgia! Such a cute city. We just wanted to maybe grab something to eat, take a few pictures, and drive around downtown. So, that’s what the day started off as.

The plan was to not do anything too big or time consuming around Atlanta, but the aquarium was CALLING OUR NAMES. Georgia Aquarium is rated the best aquarium in the US and we couldn’t pass that up! Worth it? I think so! I have never in my life seen a Manta Ray or a Whale Shark as large as the ones in the tank on Saturday. So glad I could share something like that with Kekoa.

And now I’m here, on a flight back to Houston missing Kekoa like crazy. We have had so much time together in the past few months that he’s been home. Honestly, we don’t know exactly when we are going to see each other next, but we’re already on it! Hopefully timing is on our side next month.

Silly snapchats we sent to each other after he dropped me off at the airport…

We are already starting to save for our next big trip! Who knows where that will be? Maybe a weekend road trip to DC or New York in the springtime? Hawaii in the summertime? Till next time!

I wish him a smooth transition back into navy life and nothing but happiness in the time we will be apart. Spring semester starts next week already so I guess we’re both going back to reality.

Hey, Disneyland

If anyone has seen my Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, or Facebook in the past few days, you would know that I spent the entire weekend at Disneyland with Kekoa! Of course, this trip took another thing off of my list:

☑ go to Disneyland with a best friend

And a best friend he is. There was no one else I would’ve wanted to share this experience with. I was truly the happiest girl in the world in the happiest place in the world! For months and months we both have dreamed and brainstormed over the idea that we could travel together. Kekoa and I have always been used to frequent traveling, and we always always had a place to go during the holidays. With our flight benefits, traveling has always come easy for our families and will continue to be at ease for our trips together. The one place Kekoa and I agreed upon from the beginning was Disney, whether that’d be Disneyworld or Disneyland. The magic of Disney is something I wish upon all of you!  Kekoa and I were squirming of excitement through every long ride line and every walk to the park. I am thankful that I have a man that is just as excited to ride the “baby rides” as I am and can be festive with matching Mickey and Minnie hats and buttons. He is truly one of the best travel partners. From driving all the way back to San Diego from Disney at night while I was sleeping to holding the umbrella through the 130 minute Space Mountain ride to even running to CVS at 3 am to buy me a contact case, I knew he could take care of me and be the absolute BEST person to be with on this trip. Please enjoy all the pictures below. We took some pretty great ones!

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Las Vegas Graduation Season

Sunrise picture at the airport before boarding the plane.

Well as many of you know just by my Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc… I was in Vegas for a few days last week! Yes, very exciting! Sadly, I was sick with an Upper Respiratory infection, Bronchitis, and a minor ear infection almost the entire time. Despite feeling ill, the family and I continued to make this trip a great one.

Giving Kamali’i the handmade lei after his commencement ceremony.

One of his friends blew up a double chin picture and put it on a stick! How clever! Taking notes for my next graduation.

The entire reason for visiting Vegas was to attend my cousin Kamali’i’s graduation and to just celebrate his accomplishments. I have know Kamali’i since kindergarten (in fact, we were in the same kindergarten class) so it was especially nice to be there at the end of his primary school journey for him! I’m sure we both have a lot more education to go through in the future, but nonetheless this accomplishment is worth being praised. I’m so very proud of him as well as all my other cousins and close freinds that graduated this spring!

Here is my little brother and I’s OOTD that day:

Jaycob (right) and I after the commencement ceremony.

I am wearing an incredibly soft black and white striped t-shirt dress (that believe it or not was) from Target with a simple pair of strappy black wedges. Jaycob is wearing a white floral-pocketed button up, black joggers from Pac Sun, and his new (insert name of shoes) that he bought the day before.

I was feeling VERY under the weather the night before, but easily transitioned into my happy semi-healthy self the next morning with thanks to my wonderful boyfriend who made sure to check on and talk to me on the phone while he was in port that week, hot showers, my mom’s night remedies, rest, and oh so wonderful z-pax!

As per usual, Vegas blessed my stomach with wonderful food. My family of course managed to go to L&L everyday we were there. The first day was a Chicken Katsu mini plate and a spam musubi for lunch and all kinds of great Japanese food for dinner. On the menu for the second day was a nice bowl of saimin and spam musubi’s again for brunch and a crazy set up with Hawaiian, Chinese, and Filipino food that night at the grad party. Kalua pig, beef broccoli, lomi salmon, lumpia, pancit, guava cake, everything you can imagine really! It was quite beautiful. The next day we flew out, but since the first fight that morning was full, my family had time to go out for a really great bowl of tonkotsu ramen and a mango passion slushee boba before heading to the airport for the second time that day.

Tonkotsu Ramen from Monta Chaya – cheap and yummy.

Also, I got a couple goodies and visited a new area on the trip. This time, we decided to explore the little shops around The Linq hotel and the High Roller Observation Wheel.

*Fun fact: The High Roller is the tallest observation wheel on the planet, a few feet higher than The London Eye!

In between the shops showcased pieces from Las Vegas’ graffiti artists, which fascinated me to all ends. The colors and artistry really was incredible!

A picture with one of the wall art pieces. Follow @the_isi_ group and @without_a_ruler to find more similar to this one.

My absolute favorite piece at The Linq.

In the complex, I found the Polaroid Photo Bar that conveniently printed any picture whether on Instagram, Facebook, or even on your phone, as a polaroid for only $1 an image. I decided to print out five of my Instagram pictures and they came out so cute!The trip was very fun for only lasting a few days. Traveling for family is my favorite kind of traveling, and I am incredibly blessed to travel the way I do for the people I love. Stay tuned this week for a blog post of my next adventure that actually started less than 24 hours after I landed back home from Vegas. Lemme give you a hint – clear waters and great food!

✽ Song Recommendation: Tee Shirt x Birdy

BeautyCon Dallas!

Hello lovies! Welcome to Dallas, and also welcome to my first travel log! This weekend, overall, was filled with a lot of shopping, makeup, eating, laughs, and screaming. It was a great few days to start up my spring break of my senior year, and I am so thankful for everything that happened this weekend. So without further adieu, let’s start this log by summarizing day by day:

Saturday (3/14/15 or Pi Day haha): Beauty Con 

Rising up out of bed with the frantic shakes of “oh no, we didn’t set out alarm,” my cousin Laynie and I rushed to get ready for the well anticipated BeautyCon Dallas. This convention, known normally for their shows in Los Angeles, houses common makeup venders and also includes panel sessions with famous YouTube and other social media personalities. After an hour or so of prep and pack, we headed out to start the road trip.

Laynie and I in the car, on our way to BeautyCon Dallas.

BeautyCon time! The tickets were scanned from our phones, bags were checked, and we finally entered into the convention at around 11 in the morning. Though there were many long lines that in my mind resembled Disneyland, we still had a great time. Stands from NYX, Tarte, BirchBox, Tattoo Junkie, were running and on each side of the convention warehouse, there were two stages that manned panels for serveral talks and meet and greets that were scheduled for the day.

The “Building A Brand Online” panel ft. Weylie Hoang, Leigh-Ann, Makeup by Mandy, MacDaddy, etc.

Now for the highlight of the day: getting to meet the famous Weylie Hoang from WahlieTV and ilikeweylie on YouTube. If you haven’t heard of her, I advise you to watch her videos and also the vlogs of her and her boyfriend Wah. They are the cutest! Weylie, by far, is one of my favorite Youtubers and I get a lot of style tips from her. I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to meet this amazing girl and the other people on the panel, as well as Jeanine Amapola and the well known @Mac_Daddyy and his fierce eyebrow and contour game.

Weylie and I at the meet and great session after her panel. The sweetest girl ever!

Lastly, to end our day, we picked up a 1/4 lb burger to ease our grumbling stomachs. With great thanks to the Yelp, we found this great hipster-like burger joint called Uncle Uber’s Sammich Shop in the Art District.

The logo graffiti-ed on the side of the building.

Let me tell you, there is nothing like a really good Mushroom and Swiss burger after a long day of riding in the car and walking. Fairly good pricing for the quality of burger and it went down well with a side of fries and a lemonade.

Mushroom, melted swiss, lettuce, tomatoes, and mayonnaise.

Sunday (3/15/15): Shopping Day

Sunday was definitely a lot more relaxed than the day prior to it. For once in about a week and a half, I was given the peace and quiet to sleep in till about 11:00 am (which is considered “late” to me). This was a blessing in itself to be honest! But what was even more a blessing was the fabulous breakfast from the award winning Breadwinners restaurant.

Logo on the panels surrounding the restaurant.

A sneak peak of the menu and cafe area of the restaurant.

(L-R) A side of 2 scrambled eggs, fresh squeezed orange juice, strawberries and creme waffle.

Now this is not an exaggeration. From the freshly squeezed pulp infused orange juice to the perfectly buttery side of scrambled eggs, this meal was a life changer in itself. So much that it deserved 4 pictures I guess! For the rest of the day, us girls spent a well deserved five or so hours of shopping. Other than the drive home, that pretty much sums up our trip.

Overall, this weekend had many highlights and will definitely be one to remember. If you have any questions regarding food or hotel recommendations, please be free to comment on the post!