fall break review.

during fall break, i split my time between denver and reno. i don't have any photos or exciting updates from my time in reno because i was sick, so i did very little besides rest. but my mom had some surgeries, which she is still recovering from. she had her first post-op yesterday and there seem to be no complications. my dad said she still needs a nap most days, and it has been a slow healing process, but hopefully she will be at 100% soon.

while i was in colorado, i also did a lot of resting and relaxing, but it was a treasure to spend the time with my grandparents. it was especially sad leaving this time. my grandpa said "i suppose there is no certainty, but we hope to see you again soon." that brought tears to my eyes for sure, but i tried to hide them. he has good days and bad days. fortunately, while i was there he was doing pretty well and seemed very happy.

my sister decided that we should go to pikes peak during my visit. here are a few photos from that excursion:

we stopped when we were about halfway up at this beautiful lake. it was really an ideal time of year for this trip because some of the leaves were changing color, and it was such a pretty contrast with the pines.
we stopped to see this little fox, who a local told us is named bart. he slowly crossed in front of the car and did not seem too fearful of people. i was tempted to get out and try to approach him, but i didn't. :]
sooner or later, we got up to the timberline. it's pretty funny how drastically the scenery changes when you get up so high. it's very desolate and rocky compared to the dense forrest that you find below the timberline.
jamie told us that this road has not always been paved. it was scary enough driving on the paved road, but i cannot imagine driving on it when it was just slippery dirt. there were a few times when my heart was just racing from the sketchy road.

when we made it to the top, we stopped into the little shop they have up there. i suddenly remembered that i had seen a little feature about pikes peak donuts on the food network, so i had to have a donut... which turned out to be a $4 mediocre donut. ha.

it's very rocky and pretty scary in some areas at the top, but i tried to be brave and go out a little way to explore. i'm honestly amazed that there are not more accidents up there, although i did not inquire about how many there are... so who knows.

my sister and i both made pretty poor shoe choices for the day. i had tennis shoes in the car, but i forgot to change. so yeah. it was definitely slippery.
and then thanks to my shoe choice, i ended up embarrassing myself in front of several people waiting to take photos here. one of my shoes flew off [you can see it in the photo] which complicated my landing to the point where i stumbled around and pretty much fell. not one of the highlights, but it's funny to me now.
on the drive back down, we got to see several goats. well. i think they are goats? haha.
jamie put my jumping photos to shame here.
and finally, a sister picture.

here are a few other photo highlights from denver:

my sister and jamie went to san diego a couple weeks before i was there, and my sister discovered pinkberry. she is officially in love. haha. so we went to downtown denver one day to get a snack there and do some window shopping.
after our snack, we drove by a bunch of disappointed broncos fans leaving a game.
we ate at a thai restaurant one night, and i thought it was pretty hilarious that they had "pineapple chicken" on the menu. it turned out to be pretty much the same as standard sweet and sour chicken. not exactly traditional thai food, but it was really good. and the heart shaped rice scoop made me smile.
we also had cupcakes on the last day i was there from a place near my grandparents house.

the hat that my grandpa is wearing was passed down from my grandma's side of the family. he has a really hard time staying warm, so he wears a hat most days... i loved this hat in particular. it's hard to see in the photo, but it's like an old beaver hat. :]

my sister came to reno two days after i left denver to help my mom since i had to go back to school two days after her surgery. since i knew she was coming to reno, i wasn't planning to go to denver, but then as my break was getting closer, i just decided that i should go. and i'm really glad that i did. :]

fall?

yikes. i sure have been a bad blogger.

i'm battling a bad cold right now, but i wanted to stop by and say that i'll be posting sometime soon.

my fall break is just finishing up, and i am sooo not ready to go back to school on monday. this break felt just a little too nice. even if the weather has been a little warm on the warm side. i guess it will be cold soon enough. i went to denver to see my grandparents, and then to reno to be with my mom, who had surgery today. she is recovering at the hospital still. because i have this miserable cold, i couldn't go see her today. hopefully she will be coming home tomorrow, and hopefully i will have kicked this cold by then too.

when i woke up in my bed here in reno today, i got really sad about the thought of going back to vallejo. i guess the adjustment is one of those "one step forward, two steps back" kind of situations. i need to get back into the grind of school soon too because my next block exams will be here before i know it i am sure. while i survived the first round, it didn't go as well as it could have... not just in terms of grades, but in terms of how i handled the stress and anxiety. but i now that i know what to expect, i know how to prepare better. i wanted to have a strong start, but i pretty much knew what i was doing to myself when i put off studying until the weekend before my exams. that kind of thing just doesn't work out well anymore for me. i've never really had to pay a price for my procrastination... and it's hard to change habits when you don't pay a price. but it's definitely time to start working harder.

ok. well. i think it's time for bed now.

and by the way... october, you came way too soon!

lush review two.

there is a lush right across from the apple store in emeryville, so i've had ample opportunities to stop in there during the past few weeks. the first time, i bought two bath bombs [butterball and keep it fluffy, which is the purple one below] and got samples of two different hair products. the second time, i got summer pudding soap, a sample of karma kreme, and the ickle baby bot bath bomb. it's [obviously] the one shaped like a little robot. i've been resisting it forever, but i finally broke down and bought it. i haven't tried everything yet, but i have tried a few items, and i think i have some older reviews to post as well.

i first tried the butterball bath bomb. [not pictured. oops!] i've always heard good things about it, but i am not really a fan of this one. it's supposed to be very moisturizing, which i guess is what you could call it. while it felt pretty nice during the bath, it left my skin feeling funny afterwards. it left a waxy residue that was no bueno. it also left a residue all around my bathtub, which i am not a fan of either. so i don't think i will buy this one again, unless i am in need of a seriously moisturizing bath, which won't happen while i am still living in the bay. my skin is so different here compared to nevada. i don't have to use nearly as much lotion anymore.

anyway. the hair product samples that i tried were interesting. first was curly wurly shampoo. it smells like coconut and even has little chunks of coconut in it. i let my hair air dry afterwards to see if it really worked any magic with my curls. sadly, it did not. my hair was actually less curly than usual. so i don't think i would buy this as a curly hair product. i also tried the coolaulin conditioner. the sales lady said that this would be better as a leave in product, or something to smooth out my curls. i used a small amount of it after i got out of the shower, but i had to wash it out because i did not like the smell. so again, i'm afraid this was not a winner in my book. i have heard really good things about lush hair products, but sadly, i have never had much luck with them. i guess i will have to do some more research and try some other options.

i am happy that i finally bought a lush soap because now i don't have to take a bath to use lush. :] i really like the summer pudding soap. yay! a happy review. :] i cut off a small chunk to take into the shower so that my whole piece wouldn't melt away before i could use all of it. based on my research, this is the best way to use their soaps. i enjoyed the smell, and was happy to find that it wasn't too overpowering. it smells a little bit fruity, but in a good way, a little bit almond-y, a little bit vanilla-y/spicy. i don't know how to really describe it. there are ground almonds in the soap to exfoliate the skin, but it's pretty gentle, which was good because i tend to have sensitive skin. i will probably try a different soap next time, but i will get this one again eventually. oh and i don't use it everyday. i'm probably going to use it once a week or so because i don't need to exfoliate that often.

the karma kreme lotion is so so. i prefer the helping hands lotion because it has less of an oily finish on my skin, and the smell is a little more subtle. the karma kreme is supposed to contain lush's signature scent according to the sales guy. it has a little bit of a citrus/pine smell, which is nice, but i don't really like the patchouli part too much.

a while ago, i tried what i think is the floating island bath melt. i still have half of it left, so i will be able to refresh my memory about it one of these days, but i remember that i really liked it. it left my skin feeling moisturized, but not waxy like the butterball.

i've also been using the comforter bubble bar (in fact, i used it last night) and i still really like it. it makes the water super pink, which is fun, and i've been using maybe 1/6 of the bar and getting so many bubbles! my skin feels nice and soft today, which makes this product a winner in my book.

i guess that is all i have for right now, but i'll do another review once i've tried more products. :]

disillusioned.

block exams are coming up monday-thursday, and i'm lacking the motivation to study for them. so today, i bought myself a watch as a reward to start studying. yep. a reward to start studying. talk about one of the biggest disillusions ever. yikes.

i don't feel like i have very much to update about, but i guess i have more than just a new watch to discuss.

i am still struggling with my adjustment. i get lonely multiple times a day. i miss my friends, family, james, and old classmates. i feel tired a lot. i don't feel like studying ever. i doubt myself and my decision to come here everyday. but everyday it's also getting a little tiny bit better, so i'm sure over time i will fully adjust.

school is not hard, but i have not kept up with it. now that it's time for block exams, i am feeling really overwhelmed with the amount material i need to review.

i finally got to go home last weekend, but i didn't get to enjoy it as much as i had hoped because my group had to give a book report on tuesday. the "book report" consisted of a written summary, a 30 minute presentation/skit, and a quiz to give to the class after the presentation. although i made a point to tell my group that i would be leaving on friday, they decided to meet on friday to discuss everything. i was beyond angry when i found this out, but there was nothing i could do about it. i also made the mistake of volunteering the fact that i am a pretty decent writer. so during their meeting, they decided that i should be responsible for writing the whole summary. and hey, why not make me write the quiz too. the best part was that they didn't tell me. i didn't find out until i asked someone how the meeting went. grr. on monday, i left reno early so that i could make it to the second group meeting where i expected that the presentation and skit would be ready to run through. wrong. no one was prepared. i started throwing out ideas about what should be done and said, and the two "narrators" asked me to write everything down for them. ahhhh. moral of the story: i don't like group projects. especially when i don't get to choose my group members. on tuesday, i was expecting the worst, but thankfully, the presentation was not as much of a disaster as i had anticipated.

oh. our book was written in 1925 and not available at any nearby public library or the school library. we bought a copy on amazon and had to take a photo of every page [it was over 300 pages long] then turn it into a pdf. i'm so glad that little adventure is over. and i have granted myself a vacation from responsibility of future group assignments. the next few are going to have to be someone else's responsibility. [easier said than done, i know.]

on friday, before i found out that i was responsible for the basically the whole book report project, i went to a bbq with james and got to see some of our friends.
i just think the next photo is funny.
sadly, that was the only time the whole weekend that i got to see them. but i also made time to enjoy the rib festival with james and my parents a little bit. so yummy!
aussom aussie ribs are always my favorite.
we ventured out this year and tried some different vendors. we found that texas thunder was pretty good too.
on monday, james and my dad brought ribs home for us. they both decided to try the beef ribs... which apparently have meat the size of a small steak on each rib. crazy!

oh. i forgot to mention that the week before last week, i started having computer problems. well. the hinge on my laptop broke. i took it to the apple store and found out that they could fix it, but needed to order the part. the nearest apple store is right by the bay bridge, so i went and met thu and jason in s.f. for the evening. we didn't do a whole lot because they were just exploring pier 39 when i got there. but after they left, i drove up to coit tower.i really enjoyed it. it was the first time i've made my way up there, and i am definitely going back soon. i was afraid to actually go up into the tower because it was dark, and i was by myself. so i am looking forward to that. the views in the little parking area are great too though.

last week, i got to take my laptop to be fixed, which meant that i was without a laptop while i was in reno and supposed to be working on the book report. i decided to get a new one because i am super dependent on having a computer now for school. i went with the macbook pro, and i love it so far. :] i got the repaired macbook air back this tuesday, so now i have it as a backup, which is good because i get really stressed out when technology doesn't work for me! i am not good at troubleshooting. ha.

what else... oh. today was james' last day of work in reno. woot! he is going to be in reno next week, and then move down here after i am done with block exams. i'm so happy that he will be here soon to keep me company and help me cook [hahahaha. and by that, i mean cook for me.] and go for walks with me, and visit cool places, and keep me on track with school stuff. he is still trying to sort out the job situation here, but he has a couple of leads, so hopefully something will pan out quickly.

this has been a pretty random update. i guess it's time for me to get back to studying. bummer.

eta: i just realized that i have not blogged in a long time. so coming soon: an august update and a lush review! :]

wise words.

have you seen the taylor swift cards at target? i had to use some serious restraint to prevent myself from buying all of them. :]

bbbs event.

aside from getting a nice sunburn in the traditional farmer's tan pattern, i enjoyed the big brothers big sisters event that was hosted by the pharmacy students at my school on sunday. i volunteered to work the spin art station or macaroni art station, and i was assigned to spin art with thu. sadly, the turnout wasn't that great... we had over 100 pharmacy students hosting the event for about 20 kids. ha. that meant that thu and i got to do a little experimenting with the spin art machine. it was semi-dangerous because it didn't have a cover or a good way to secure the paper into the spinner... so occasionally the paper would fly out of the machine. one little girl got pretty scared by it, but not scared enough to prevent her from requesting to do it again. :]

because of the low turnout, it was almost like a pharmacy social instead of community service. a few of our friends came to hang out at the spin art station because their own stations had plenty of workers and no participants.

on the left of the next photo is amy ngo, who is a second year student, and on the right is amy ng, who is a first year and also happens to be in my small group. it's always fun meeting other amys... and since i am terrible at remembering names, it helps with that too. :]

amy ngo was working at the macaroni art station, and she brought this little masterpiece to me. haha.

anyway. that was basically the rest of my weekend. i'm glad that i was able to get out and socialize a bit... even if i am suffering from a sunburn now. ha.

my first quiz is tomorrow in our biological science track. all of the information so far has been so simple that i have zero motivation to look it over, but i suppose i should make some effort. i hope you all enjoyed the weekend!

alone time.

this is the first weekend i have spent alone here, and it's feeling strange. i went to target twice just to kill some time. ha. i am so glad that target is only about 10 minutes away. today, i took care of some last bits of cleaning that i've been putting off, and waited around for the washer and dryer to finally be delivered. the only problem is that the wrong power cord was ordered for the dryer, so i still can't do laundry! it's pretty annoying. so i decided to get more cupcakes and check out the outlet mall in napa tonight. it's a smaller outlet mall, but i like it. the size makes it totally manageable to explore in one evening, and it has most of the stores that interest me.

school is moving along... but i am not really keeping up with it. eeek. the thing is, it has been all review for me so far, so i have a tendency to drift off during lectures. i should just pay more attention so that i don't have to review it on my own time, but that is easier said than done. some of my classmates like to ask a lot of questions. i mean a lot. way more than necessary, and usually pretty irrelevant. very annoying. it's not that i am opposed to questions, i just feel like sometimes the question sessions get really out of hand, and it has been causing all of the professors to run out of time and not finish their lectures.

i have also identified one professor who i do not like. she is the only person so far who seems like she does not really want us to succeed. just the manner in which she talks to us, the material she presents, and the way she teaches are all unfortunate. luckily, we don't have her very often. all of the other professors so far are pretty great or at least good. :]

last friday james, sarah, and howie came to visit for the weekend and mike and tiffany joined us on saturday. it was so nice having familiar faces around.

friday night, we had dinner at what has come to be one of my favorite local spots. it's an asian place called princess garden. they have a mongolian bbq option, or you can order dishes off the menu. i've done both, and been satisfied each time.

after dinner, we headed to berkeley to see what it was like. it turns out... it's not that cool. definitely worth the extra little drive to go into the city. a classmate had mentioned this one pool hall/bar that we checked out, which was actually pretty cool. but it's probably the only cool spot in berkeley because it was completely packed. the wait for a pool table was over an hour. we eventually found this small pub that was pretty calm, so we just hung out there for a bit.

on saturday morning, i slept in and james took howie and sarah to a breakfast place that thu told me about called momo's. james said it was the best huevos rancheros he's had. :]

that afternoon, we headed to san francisco. our first stop was at this pork place howie wanted to find. it's actually in this cool market in the ferry building. i will definitely go back there. they have a cheese place that is really amazing, a bread place with delicious rolls, a patisserie with the best chocolate shortbread cookies i've ever had, and lots of other cool little specialty shops.next, we headed over to the haight. james wanted to find some shoes, but howie and sarah ended up finding shoes instead. haha. go figure. as we were walking back to the car, we passed a hat shop that was having a party. it was pretty silly. howie and sarah each found hats they liked though, so i guess it was worth the stop. after that, we went over to north beach to meet mike and tiffany at the stinking rose. i've eaten there several times because it's semi-famous, so everyone always wants to try it. honestly, i am not a big fan. i feel like there are much better places anywhere along columbus street, but sarah really wanted to eat there thanks to the hype. so we did. hopefully next time, i can convince them to eat somewhere else. ha. after dinner, we did some bar hopping, and stumbled on this super packed dance party.it was pretty fun. i think everyone managed to have a good time that night. :]

the next morning, i suggested another spot for breakfast called the red onion. i had eaten there on thursday with thu, jason, will, and his fiance after our trip to get cupcakes [which was a success]. i noticed they served breakfast, so i made a mental note to come back and try it. i think everyone was pretty happy with the food. i got a little too full considering the next item on the agenda was to head to six flags and ride roller coasters. i'm glad that sarah wanted to take this photo too. i hate being the only one bothering people for a group shot. plus, during a class trip in 6th grade we took a photo on this whale, so i think it's fitting to have another one. :]
after two rides, i called it quits and went to look at animals with sarah who wasn't super into the rides either. usually, i am more of a trooper, but not that day. it all worked out though... i think everyone got to do what they wanted to do and ultimately enjoyed the day.
i had just eaten frozen strawberry lemonade that was soooo good, so my lips are a little extra red here, but this is probably my favorite photo of james and me in a long time. we were getting bored watching the killer whale show. i think the whale was having a bad day because the announcer kept telling us to watch for something, and nothing would happen. ha.
the dolphins were a little more into their performance though. it was nice to sit in the shade for a bit during these shows too. it was really warm, and i felt a little silly because i told everyone to make sure they had a sweater because it's been chilly here lately. it was seriously the first warm day since i moved here. go figure.

i was pretty sad for everyone to leave. it hits me kind of hard sometimes, and that night was one of them. the adjustment to being here alone is taking longer than i thought, and it's also harder than i anticipated. james is working out his plans to move here hopefully next month, so i am really looking forward to that. i have made some good friends through school, but i can't rely on them to keep me company all the time. haha.

i guess that is all for now. tomorrow my school is hosting a big event for big brothers big sisters, so i will be staying busy most of the day. :]