Kaleforniagirl

A girl from California who loves kale too much... and banana bread. On her way to self-love.

[kaleforniagirl]

Open Nature Mango Greek Yogurt Review

So a week ago I was in my greek yogurt craze and decided to explore the wondrous dairy aisle at my local Safeway. I was looking at the different variety of flavors that all greek yogurt brands have to offer. I was pleasantly surprised to find that a mango flavored one exist (I never knew to be honest). Since it was only around $1.00, I decided to give it a go.

Before I get to the review, I wanted to give a little background information on the brand Open Nature. Open Nature is actually a Safeway brand (on the back it reads, "Distributed by Lucerne Foods"), so of course you can only buy this brand exclusively at Safeway, which to me, is a negative. 

Craving for something with a fruity taste, I dug the fridge only to find the container stored in the back, pretty much hidden from view. When I opened the container, it looks like any other greek yogurt (white, thick). I was a little skeptic at first since my last experience with a Lucerne greek yogurt was disappointing. I had bought a container of greek yogurt by the brand Lucerne (the same that distributed the Open Nature brand), and it came in a container resembling their regular yogurts.

See how similar the packaging is? Anyway, Lucerne's greek yogurt was extremely disappointing, because it did not feel like I was eating greek yogurt, but regular yogurt. On the top cap (where you peel to reveal the yogurt), it claims to be thick and creamy. Creamy? Yes. Thick? Not so much. If you have ever eaten regular Lucerne yogurt (the one picture on the right), it is very diluted compared to Yoplait or any other brand name yogurt. Their greek yogurt line, to me, is just like eating Yoplait.

Anyway, back to the Open Nature.

This one was different. I stirred the container to make sure the fruit on the bottom and the yogurt on the top would be evenly mixed. I was happy to know that the thickness was just like brand name greek yogurt.

I could almost immediately smell the mango upon lifting the cap. It was intoxicating. Another quick fact about me: strawberry used to be my most favorite flavor ever, but for the past year, mango is slowly winning over my heart.

The first bite was heavenly. It had a strong mango taste, but not too strong to the point where it's overpowering. Just right. For some reason I felt like I was eating mango froyo (except the taste wasn't as strong as froyo).

It also had small chunks of mango, but I couldn't really taste it. It was probably because I added some blueberries, which I highly recommend when eating greek yogurt. Because of greek yogurt's tart-y nature, it really goes well with a fruit like blueberry, which to me, tastes "neutral".

I wish I had bought more, but hey, there's always that chance that these could have tasted like crap, and I would be moping over how I wasted a couple bucks.

I did buy the Lucerne brand mango greek yogurt (as pictured above), but I have yet to try it. When I do, I'll be sure to remember to review it, comparing this one, but I'm sure it's no contest. 

Can't wait to go back to Safeway to see what other flavors Open Nature has to offer.

Price: 9/10 (Bought it for $1.00, which is the normal for greek yogurt around here)

Where: Safeway 

Taste Rating: 10/10 

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Final verdict: Cheap, yummy, and would definitely buy again.

[kaleforniagirl]

My Experience at the Greatmall Mayflower Seafood Restaurant

So yesterday out on a whim I decided to hang out with my friend, Nancy. Her brother decides to take us (me, her and two of her younger cousins) to this Dim Sum restaurant.

When I first walked in, the inside was pretty dark, and empty like it was going to close soon (later I found out that they were closing soon and re-opening around dinner hours).

One of the waiters sat us down, and suddenly four staff members came to our table with a cart, and kept asking us if we wanted this or that. Notice that since we were one of the very few people dining there, they were being super attentive to our needs. I know what you're thinking, "Man, that's some five star service right there!", but you'd be wrong. I was annoyed at this point.

We kept refusing certain dishes, but they kept trying to force it upon us. Like I said, it was almost closing time, so it's natural that they would want to get rid of the rest of the food.

I know this is somewhat not related to the review, but I will educate you a little about myself. Whenever I go out to eat at a restaurant with a group of people that I don't know too well, I never have the courage to order what I want. I just let the majority of the group decide, and I just pick up scraps on the plate. 

This was the situation I was faced with once again. So the outnumbers (I just call them that, because, well, they outnumbered me) ordered shu mai, pork (or chicken? I'm not sure) potstickers, taro balls, shrimp balls, some kind of tofu-thing, these white stuff (I honestly do not know what they're called) bathing in soy sauce, and deep fried balls (I overheard the outside was sweet) with meat filling. As you could obviously tell, my dim sum vocabulary is very limited.  

So what I ate were three pieces of: shrimp ball, chicken/pork potstickers, and shu mai. Not very much I know, but they were the standard of dim sum (at least to me), and you could never leave a dim sum restaurant without eating those. Plus, I just took whatever seemed most appetizing to me (note that I haven't touched dim sum in 3-4 months). 

Every good dim sum (to me) should always be paired up with some kind of spicy condiment, so that's what I did. There was a small pot of chili oil alongside of the salt, pepper, and soy sauce containers.I know I'm being off topic again, but who ever taught it was a good idea to provide salt at a Chinese restaurant? If anything, I wish my dishes had less salt.

Okay back to reviewing the food. The three things I ate seemed very mediocre to me. Nothing great, but not bad either. I think what stood out for me was the chili oil sauce. I kept dipping my dim sum in that to the point where I keep drinking water (I had it refiled 3 times). By the third water refill, I was getting really full. The spicy-ness of the chili sauce and the 3 cups of water after were all to blame.

On a positive note, one of the male waiters refilled my water without me asking, so that made the experience a little better.

When the bill arrived, I couldn't help but wonder if it was going to be high. I have gone to other dim sum restaurants (like actual restaurants, not those take out places), and the bill always come out high, even when you barely ordered anything. One time my cousin from New Jersey came over to visit and he took my sister and I to the other Mayflower restaurant in Milpitas and the bill came out to be $15 per person. PER person. I barely had anything. It was mainly due to the reason that there were many outnumbers (apparently people that my parent knew from a long time ago, but I didn't know they existed until then).

So the bill for this experience resulted in a whopping total of $59.xx (closer to $60). For five people, not including tip. That's whack.

All in all, it was an okay experience. Another thing you should know about me. I prefer take-out dim sum places over any fancy smancy restaurant any day. One portion of dim sum--which usually consists of AT LEAST 3 pieces-- only cost around $2-3, while restaurant dim sums can easily go for $5-6 per portion. To me, you're pretty much just paying to sit at a fancy table and people to serve you. My parents keep on insisting that restaurant dim sum is better, but not in a million chance.

Food:  7/10

Price: 1/10 (Way too expensive for something so mediocre.)

Service: 6/10 (Many points docked off, because the servers kept blabbing stuff in English and Chinese that I could literally not decipher. I was left in a state of confusion so many times.)

Interior/Ambiance: 8/10

Waiting time: 10/10

Total experience: 6.4/10

Final Verdict: Mediocre food with expensive price tag = not worth it. Will not be returning.

Website: http://www.mayflower-seafood.com/indexU.html

Yelp Rating: 3/5 (235 reviews)

[kaleforniagirl]

My Experience at Naan and Masala

So on Valentine's Day, my wonderful cousin Trang--who opened my heart to the wonders that is Indian food--took me to this Indian restaurant called Naan N Masala.

At this point, I am still an amateur when it comes to Indian food. This is only the third Indian restaurant I've been to, so I'm still at the point where other people order for me and I just go with the flow.

My cousin ordered #16, which was the Paneer Tikka Masala, along with 3 orders of garlic naan, samosas, and a mango lassi just for her. She asked me if I wanted to try it, but I refused. Apparently it really washes down that "curry" taste, which was something I didn't want--as you later read below, I wanted the taste of the samosas to linger in my mouth as long as possible.

The samosas came out first, being an appetizer and all. It looked liked fried wontons sitting on some kind of sauce. This was the first time I had a samosa, and it sure as hell won't be the last. It was freaking delicious. The filling amazing, the sauce was amazing, and the crust/wrap was amazing. One order was huge. It was two pieces--so one for each. When I finished the first half of the samosa, I was already feeling satisfied. Half of a samosa can really fill me up. Out of the whole dish, the sauce really stood out to me, and I loved everything about it--from the garbanzo beans to the spices. Upon further research, I have come to believe that the sauce used is called Channa Masala, but since I haven't actually tried that dish, I'm not quite sure. There's always a next time. :)

So the garlic naan and Paneer Tikka Masala came out even before I finished the second half of my samosa. When I first smelled the PTM, it smelled really creamy. My first impression its taste was that it resembled some kind of dessert: sweet and creamy. I know. Sweet and creamy? In a curry? I must be crazy. But that's what it tasted like to me. It also tasted very cheesy (but it should have, seeing that it was one of the main ingredients in that dish). At first, I thought the tofu cubes were actually cheese, but they were tofu (thank goodness, because it sauce was already cheesy as it was). 

As for the garlic naan, it tasted great, but then again, I'm no naan expert.

Food:  9.3/10

The Breakdown:

- Samosas: 10/10

- Paneer Tikka Masala: 8/10

- Garlic naan: 10/10

Price: 9/10 (This place is cheap compared to other Indian restaurants.)

Service: 10/10 (This was a self serve restaurant so I gave it a full rating, because I always give the best services~ Joking aside, I really do love self-serve restaurants, because I honestly hate flagging down waiters for simple, measly things like water refills or extra forks/plates. And you know how the saying goes, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself".)

Interior/Ambiance: 8/10

Waiting time: 10/10

Total experience: 9.26/10  

Final Verdict: Will DEFINITELY come back again.

Website: http://www.naannmasala.com/

Yelp Rating: 4/5 (707 reviews)

[kaleforniagirl]

Trader Joe's Speculoos Crunchy Cookie Butter Review

This review is for the crunchy kind (the one with the red label).

Okay, this product has been on the market for awhile now, but today was my first time trying. I know, I know, I have been missing out. Better late than never right? So I bought a jar at Trader Joe's a few months back, but I kept on procrastinating on trying it out. Today, I finally did, and boy am I glad I did. At first I didn't know what to expect. I thought that it would resemble some kind of chocolate chip cookie, but then I read the fine words on the bottom: "A deliciously unusual spread reminiscent of gingerbread and made with crushed biscuits." The word "gingerbread" made me even more curious to try it. If you knew anything about me, I love that gingerbread--or ginger for that matter--taste. 

Before spreading it on toast, I smelled it, and what I got was a light, cocoa-mocha powder smell. As I sniffed harder, I finally was able to smell gingerbread. It had the consistently of peanut butter (not too hard, but not too soft like Nutella).

When I took the first bite, it was heaven. It tasted like ginger snaps (one of my favorite type of cookies), but somehow better. One toast was all it took to satisfying my sweet tooth cravings. 

Price: 8/10 (Bought mine for $3.69; not bad)

Where: Trader Joe's

Taste Rating: 10/10 

Overall Rating: 9/10

Final verdict? Super affordable, delicious, and definitely would buy again. 

[kaleforniagirl]

Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - My First Experience As A Blonde

I had always wanted to go blonde. And so I did this weekend. It was all on a whim. Just like that. 

So when I went out on Saturday (the 18th), it was the first time I went out with my blonde hair. I was still self-conscious about it, because it was just a dramatic change for me. Also, the bleaching job wasn't perfect.

I could tell that people were looking. Staring, maybe, but looking? Definitely yes. Living in San Jose, there are not a lot of natural blonde (well there are if you know where to go), so it's weird seeing blonde hair. Also, fake blondes aren't common either.

Before dying my hair blonde, I didn't know terms like "brassy" or " blonde toners". Apparently when you freshly bleached your hair, you get this brassy yellow/orange color and it just looks so fake, like a wig. My hair is currently in this stage of being a blonde, and I hate it. Oh my God, it makes me feel insecure. I just wanted my hair to tone already.

 I've been feeling on cheap, so out of an act of desperation, I googled how to make your own toner at home. I saw this one recipe where it required conditioner, neon purple and blue food color. The purple neon food color was a beautiful color; way better than mixing regular blue and red food color (the result was an awful color). I really thought it was going to work.

So I left the purple conditioner on my hair for an hour and an hour and a half. I was so excited to see the results because I really thought it was going to work. 

Guess what? It didn't. I was so disappointed. I did this Sunday morning (the 19th). 

The only positive thing I got from this was that my hair felt really nice after showering. It was way softer than usual. 

We had no school yesterday, because of the Martin Luther King holiday. I took this opportunity to bleach my hair again. Yes, AGAIN. I really, really did not like the orange color that my hair was. I ended up finishing the whole bottle of developer for this bleaching job. I still have some blue powder left, but not much. 

So all in all this is going to be a good experience for me. I have learned so much about hair, and how to maintain a healthy-looking hair. 

What I'm planning to do tomorrow is ask my mom to take me to a beauty supply store to get more developer, and toner. Yes, I do not have the patience to wait for my hair to bleach. I am going to finally tone my hair, and end this misery once and for all.

[kaleforniagirl]

Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - Update On Saturday the 18th

On Saturday, I asked my dad to take me to Dollar Tree. For the past week, I have been obsessed about making my on Do-It-Yourself Sharpie mugs. I have watched multiple Youtube tutorials, and read many blog articles. 

From what I learned is that you can't use regular Sharpies. You have to used the oil-based ones. I didn't even know they made those. 

And what I also learned was that you have to use the cheap mugs. Even the $3 Target mugs won't work as well. This is because the $1 mugs have a cheap glaze coating, therefore the Sharpie will stay on longer.

To make these mugs, you need you bake them at 400 F after drawing your designs on them. Also you have to let the mugs preheat in the oven too. Meaning you can't preheat the oven beforehand and put them in, because the drastic change in temperature will make the mugs crack (I don't think it's because of how cheaply the mug was made, but this is how ceramic things work).

I ended up buying five mugs. One white and 4 colored. I was so disappointed, because I only found one white one that I could use. There was this other white one, but it had white dots on them and there's barely any room for a design.

I was planning to use a silver oil-based Sharpie to design on the darker mugs (like the black ones). 

Then I came home at 10:45 - 11:00 A.M.

Before I left for Dollar Tree, I already made plans with Nancy to go to the mall.

Remember when I wrote about the experience at the Eastridge mall? You know, with Papaya and Forever 21. 

Anyway, I found these cute bows at Forever 21, and for some reason I knew there was more colors than they had at the store. I went online and checked. They did! They had so many cute other colors. I was about to order it online but my total came out to be $10 and shipping was $6. That's more than half of what I'm purchasing! How ridiculous.

My original plan was to get in and out of Forever 21. All I wanted was the bows. When I saw that they did have the bows, I was so happy. They had all the colors I wanted. Plus, I didn't have to pay shipping, which is always a bonus. 

When we went to the Eastridge mall, they had a sale for 50% for ALL markdowns. I mean all the clearanced items were half off. They made me so happy.

When I went to the one here, there were so many clearanced items on sale. There were so many racks and bins compared to the other one. I looked around for awhile (there were so many to the point where I didn't know where to start). 

I don't know how long Nancy and I were in there for but I managed to rack up $42 bucks. I had to borrow $2 from her and some change.

We went to Daiso and a few other places after that. We walked around the mall TWICE. Note that this isn't a big mall. 

Anyway... we stopped by Marshall, because that was where Dalton works. We even went twice, and couldn't find him. Bummer.

We also stopped by Sanrio (where Emily worked) and she wasn't there either. Bummer. Again. (Later I found out that both of them didn't work on that day... I'll probably tell the story in another post).

Nancy bought some Chipotle to eat at my house.

We ended up watching Sherlock (Season 3, episode 3), and she had to leave like 20-30 minutes after.

So yeah. It was a pretty good day.

Edit: I forgot to put that I also bought some fake roses at Dollar Tree. I was surprised. Their fake flowers are pretty decent, and way cheaper than Michaels. I bought one of every color, except blood red (pastel pink, pastel yellow, white, and pastel purple).

[kaleforniagirl]

Tuesday, January 21, 2014 - Update On Last Friday

So last Friday (on the 17th), I had this major urge to bleach my hair blonde. That was all I could think about the whole day. I was going to do it. I was going to go blonde. 

We got out five minutes early that day because we had practice drills.

I was so excited to go home and start bleaching my hair as soon as possible. 

I waited until 3:17 P.M. (17 minutes) for my aunt's car. My aunt is never late. She is always 10 minutes early, so I thought it was pretty weird.

Then I walked back to the villa, and I was about to call my mom and ask her where my aunt was. Then I noticed at 3:05 my mom sent a text saying that my aunt wasn't able to pick me up. It was so frustrating because I hate getting notified last minute that I have no ride home. I was pretty desperate at this point, and I was about to call my cousin to pick me up, but thought, "Nah... she has better things to do."

So I did walk home and I came home around 4:15 PM. It took me almost an hour to walk home, and I was sweating bullets by the time I came back home. 

I started right away on my hair. When I took a shower, I noticed the color didn't really came off as much as I wanted. It was still somewhat orange. So I did it a SECOND time as soon as my hair was dry and showed it's actual results (of course hair is way darker than its actual color when it's wet, so I had to wait for it to fully dry in order to see the result). 

I applied it directly on my head. For anyone who has bleached their hair before, this is extremely bad and highly not recommended. You never put the bleach directly on your scalp. Also, note that I was using a number 40 developer. which is the strongest and harshest one you can use on your scalp (normally people use a number 10 or 20 since it's way softer on your scalp). My scalp and eyes were burning at this point. I know, I'm not a very smart person.

My mom came home, and saw how blonde it was (she still doesn't know that it was the second time I bleached it on that day), and told me to go take a shower. I was frustrated because I didn't even had it on for 30 minutes. I did it anyways, because like I said, my scalp was burning and my eyes were tearing up pretty badly (even after I removed my contacts).

I still wasn't satisfied with the results, but hey, it was better than the first application. It was still so... orange.

[kaleforniagirl]

Sunday, January 19, 2014 - Update On Last Thursday

So last Wednesday my mom told me that on Thursday she would take me back to Eastridge to find more clothes at Papaya. She also wanted to stop at Bath and Body Works to buy more of those wallflower refills.

She told me that she would come home around 7:30-ish. She came home at 8:00. I knew we weren't going since the mall closes at 9:00 P.M. It was around 8:02 that she was like, "Let's just go."

So off we went.

We got to the mall in less than 10 minutes. We stopped at Bath and Body Works first and mom bought nine of the wallflower refills and I only got one bottle of lotion. 

Off course we headed to Papaya next. And I was so disappointed that the $7 racks that I went back to the $3 ones. I only managed to find one shirt for $3.

And that's all we got.

At least now I know I wasn't truly missing out on anything.

[kaleforniagirl]

Sunday, January 19, 2014 - Update On Last Wednesday

So I haven't been updating much and I want to sincerely apologize to myself. I was supposed to keep up with this blog on a daily basis, but I couldn't even managed that.

Okay, I would like to start with mom and I did last Wednesday (January 15th, which was also Phuong's birthday). 

She picked me from school as usual, and I asked her to stop by Bath and Body Works so I could pick up that bottle of lotion (Rio Rumberry) that I have been wanting for awhile now. When we got there, we headed straight to Bath and Body Works. I was so disappointed that the only lotion they had was Aruba Coconut, which smelled good, but wasn't unique at all. Meaning that it smelled like any other generic fragrance lotion. 

Mom ended buying those wallflower refills for like $3 each (they smelled really good when she tried them at home).

Anyway, so we went to Forever 21 next, and they had a sale (additional 50% ALL markdowns). There wasn't a lot of items, but we managed to find something. Mom and I bought some sweaters and I found these really cute bows for $1.80 and $2.80 each. We ended up racking around $50 bucks. Oooh.

We didn't know where to go next, so we headed to Papaya's. They were having these clearance racks that said ($3 or more, $5 or more, $7 or more, and $10 or more). I started rummaging  through the $3 section and I noticed something. There were some of the clothes that Phuong and I bought last month for way more than $3! I'm guessing we bought it around $5-$7, and I was pretty sad, but then I realized that when we bought it at that time, we'd never thought that it would go down THAT cheap. 

Time flew by in there. Next thing we knew it 3-4 hours passed. I used the fitting room like literally THREE times, with six pieces of clothes each time. There was so many cute clothes for cheap I couldn't resist!

The total damage? Around $150. Ouch.

The clothes I got were clothes you don't see people wear in public often. They're the type of clothes that shows your midriff, but it looked SO cute on me I had to get it.

When I came home, I kept asking my mom, "What if there were so many cute clothes in the $7 that I didn't check thoroughly?" All I checked were mostly the $3 and $5 racks. Before I could even reach the $7 and above section, I've already got like 20 pieces of clothing in the grasp of my fingers.

Later she told me the words that sounded like music to my ears, "We'll go again tomorrow after I come home from work."

I was so relieved.

[kaleforniagirl]

Monday, January 13, 2014 - The Great Gatsby

So on Saturday, I decided to go over to Trang's house so we could watch The Great Gatsby.

I woke up Saturday morning and went to Costco, Smart & Final and Lucky 7 to pick up grocery.

Then when I came home I made dinner for mom and dad. I made them Thai-inspired fried rice and stir fry. For some reason after going to Krung Thai (a local Thai restaurant), I've been wanting to make the fried rice.

I changed it up a little. Instead of cashews, I put in honey-roasted peanut, and instead of raisins, I put in Craisins (you know those delicious dried cranberries).

So when I was done making dinner, I asked Dad to drive me to Trang's house. It was around 5:30 pm. 

We were about to wait longer to make the pizza, but then I was too excited (I brought a bunch of toppings over, and the flatbread I had bought at Costco that morning).

The flatbread pizza turned out amazing.

We added chicken, pineapple, spinach, broccoli, and red bell pepper. We also searched up a recipe for pizza sauce, but decided to add whatever it in (basil, rosemary, and oregano). The recipe also called for those dried, grated parmesan cheese, but then I was like "What?" I know it sounded weird at the time, but oh my god it made the sauce tasted so good. You can actually taste the creaminess in it. To be honest, it tasted a LOT better the pizza sauces you get at Little Caesar's or Costco. 

So after we ate (oh and Trang made these yummy sweet potato fries but sadly I couldn't digest them), we went upstairs to watch the Great Gatsby.

Oh my goodness. I never knew Tobey Macguire's voice was THAT annoying. He wasn't annoying AT ALL in the Spiderman trilogy, but in here, he was extra annoying. I couldn't even describe his voice... it was like pre-pubescent and cracky.

Anyway, the movie itself was pretty good. I wished I had remembered more from the book so I could compare it. And for some reason the ending was way sadder in the movie. I think it was all do to Leonardo DiCaprio's excellent acting. That man needs to win an oscar soon! I mean even Jennifer Lawrence won and oscar, and she's only 22! Plus, she hasn't been in the acting business for as long as he has. What a pity that is.

So we ended up just talking to eachother (me, Trang To, and Trang Le) until it was like 12:30 A.M. Yes, A-M. Trang Le drove me home, and we had to walk out into the street into the cold night. Hey, it was a free ride home so I couldn't complain.  

It was because of that very moment, I've been suffering for endless nose drippings and random sneezes. It's terrible, I tell you. 

I'm sick again. Yipee.

[kaleforniagirl]

Friday, January 10, 2014 - Risk

So yesterday Nancy went on Facebook and out of the blue, asks if anyone wants to go to Hoang's house.

It ended up being me, Emily, and Nancy who went to Hoang's house. I am still amazed at how nice her parents are. Her dad actually went to Independence and waited to pick us up. That is simply an amazingly kind gesture. 

When we arrived at her house, we went out to Alum Rock Park. I'm not exactly sure what time we went, but I distinctively remembered we came home at 6-ish. It was unbelievably late. When we were walking back, the sun was setting pretty quickly and it got dark really fast. Even Nancy and Hoang--who were walking in front of us--were starting to blend into the trees. Yeah, it was that dark.

We finally got home, and you could not how relieved I was. It was scared that us four will end up in some kind of horror flick.

We played Risk. It was the first time Nancy, Emily and I played it so it was pretty interesting. Hoang ended up winning (no surprises here since she was the only experienced one). 

I just came home from her house, and boy am I tired!

Oh and I forgot about the deliciously pizza. Maybe it was because I was craving for pizza for the longest time (about 1-2 weeks), but one slice satisfied me so much. It normally takes at least 3-4 slices to keep to happy.

Good times, good times.

[kaleforniagirl]

Tuesday, January 7, 2014 - Face of An Angel, Body of A God

Where do I begin? Let's see... if I could recall correctly it was around October when the American Cancer Society Club started holding their meetings. 

He was tall, not exactly slim, but very well built. He was light-skinned, and his hair was dark, ashy-blonde. He had a perfect smile. 

I've seen walking around whenever I go to my 4th or 6th period. I remember seeing him walk by himself and I just want to come up to him, hold his hands, and walk him to his next class. 

So during 3rd period, we were standing outside the tech lab (the one by the B Villa bathrooms), waiting for our teacher, Ms. Jay, to open the door and let us in. My friend, Feven, randomly said something about some guy having the perfect body. At first, I didn't see who she was talking about. Then she said that she was talking about the guy behind her. It's him. He was wearing a grey hoodie and khaki skinny jeans. Oh my god, he is perfection. 

Ever since Feven pointed it out that he had a nice body, that was the only thing I could think about today. I looked at him a little more than usual. Even though he was wearing a grey hoodie, you could practically see his pecs bulge out. He also has broad shoulders, so that makes his pecs even more big, and my lord that is attractive.

[kaleforniagirl]

Monday, January 6, 2014 - Back To Square One

Now that school is back, there's not much time for fun.

Morning came and I heard my dad call my name several times. He said something about it being 8 o'clock. Of course my brain hasn't fully woke up. Then I sat up and looked at the time on the phone: 8:07 AM. Oh crap. School starts in 13 minutes. At this point, I gave up on trying to make it to 2nd period, so I took my sweet time waking up, putting on clothes, making and eating breakfast, and brush my teeth. 

Tina gave me an awesome mug with a hashtag for the handle. I can't get over how cute that mug was. She knows I love mugs, and I love that about her. 

I got several compliments on my hair today, and I have to say, I'm starting to really like this color. I told myself that around the end of January, I was going to dye it 2-3 shades lighter. Hopefully my hair doesn't turn into crust after that.

What came to me as a shock today was that Emily told me that Dalton (the guy she's been seeing) is somewhat of a Christian and homophobic. Yes, I know. A homophobic. I have never known anyone to say straight up that they're homophobic. For some reason, I will never be able to interact with anyone that close-minded. Maybe, I'm overracting. Maybe this is none of my business. There's one thing I know: I don't like this guy already.

[kaleforniagirl]

Saturday, January 5, 2014 - The Sign of Three

So we watched The Sign of Three today, and oh my god. In this episode you could clearly see that Sherlock has come to the realization that John doesn't need him anymore, and that is utterly heartbreaking. When he was making that speech in the end... his face at the end. He said something along the lines about John not needing him anymore because him and his wife are having a baby on the way. This cannot be happening. No one replaces Sherlock Holmes. 

Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch are excellent actors. Who would have thought people scream over two almost-middle-aged men. I would. I would love to meet either one of them over any other celebrity any day.

What is so charismatic about the two of them? If you look at the Hollywood perspective, they are definitely no Chris Pine or some Hollister model. They wouldn't be what you consider the traditional hot-looking men. I can't pinpoint why these two men are so desirable. Is it their personality? Well definitely... but there's more to that. 

Is it Benedict's eyes? Oh dear lord, those crystal-clear, ocean blue eyes. I could drown in them forever. Or is it his voice? That voice of his can drop me to my knees faster than he could mutter the words, "Vatican cameo".

What about Martin Freeman? He's an adorable man, that's for sure. According to Google, he's only 5'7". I find that even more adorable. And his jumpers! Oh his adorable jumpers! And the fact that he resembles a hedgehog makes him even more--you've guessed it right--adorable.

[kaleforniagirl]

Saturday, January 5, 2014 - Closing The Chapter of Christmas Break

Wowee. It's already 11:30 pm right now and behind the screen of the laptop, I can see that Mom and Phuong are packing for Phuong's departure tomorrow. Has two weeks gone by that fast? I still remember Christmas at our house. It wasn't the best Christmas to be honest, but last year wasn't any much better. 

I wanted to accomplish so much during the past two weeks: from getting my driver's permit to making more bows for my online store. And Phuong and I told eachother that when we see eachother again, we would continue on making our homemade scrubs. None. Nothing was accomplished whatsoever. What a huge pity. 

At least I did something good for the last day of Christmas Break. As you can see below, we went to Union Square and we finished the night off with watching the second episode of Sherlock BBC, The Sign of Three. 

I guess I didn't accomplish much because Phuong was home. The last time we saw her in person was September, roughly about three months ago. Maybe she's just a huge distraction to me. Now it's going to be another three months until the family and I see her again (around April aka spring break).

[kaleforniagirl]

Saturday, January 5, 2014 - San Francisco: Part Two

Today we mainly walked around the streets of San Francisco (Union Square to be more specific). We went to Ross, H&M, Forever 21, Victoria's Secret, and more places I cannot recall right now.

What I bought today

So when we stopped by H&M, I wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as possible because of how hot it was. Suprisingly, it was the only store that we stayed for the longest time. There were tons of "BUY ONE GET ONE FREE" signs everywhere. The ones that stood out to me most was the clearanced jewelries and accessories. They were already marked at least 50% off, and then you get an additional free one. Great deal! I bought some cute earings and necklaces. I bought these star bracelets for (with BOGO it comes out to be $1.50). There were five in the pack, so I thought "perfect!". I was planning on giving one to each person (Nancy, Tina, Lena, Emily, and one for me). It could be some sort of "friendship" bracelet kind of thing... cheesy, right? Anyway, you can see all the other stuff I bought from Daiso and Forever 21. I was pleasantly surprised that we found a Daiso. To be honest, I thought Daiso was only in the San Jose/Milpitas area. In there, we saw a cute foreign family and their eldest son was especially the cutest. I couldn't comprehend what language they were speaking (I also asked my sister Phuong, but she had not idea either).

[kaleforniagirl]

Sunday, January 5, 2014 - San Francisco: Part One

So today the whole family decided to Union Square in SF, because Mom and Dad have never been there before. We first stopped to pick up food for the trip. 

Buying food at Lee's Sandwich and Thanh Son

At Forever 21

So I bought two beanies and a collared top at Forever 21. When we were checking out, I saw the cutest sushi bag and I had to get it!