Ruby Slippers

When I was little and Halloween rolled every year without fail I said I wanted to be Dorothy. And yet, I have never actually been Dorothy for Halloween; I always changed my mind and ended up going as something else. I think more than anything what motivated my initial Dorothy choice was my strong desire for red glitter shoes.

Right before I started my new job I was at Costco and they had Keds for super cheap, and since I needed some shoes I could stand in for hours I snagged a red pair. I think I've worn them to work every single day, and at my first staff meeting my boss made a comment about seeing my "little red shoes" run across the shop. Since then a couple other coworkers have made references to my little red shoes, and I like that red shoes are kind of becoming my thing.




Maybe one day I'll glitter a pair. :]

How about you? What's your thing?

<3

On not being a student anymore

Lola, looking how I felt this summer

This is the first September since I was 5 years old that I did not start a new school year. For the past four years the start of August signaled the start of my last few weeks at home. I start packing right around the second week of August, going room by room and wrangling everything that I'll be taking to school with me into one corner of the house. By the third week of August I've started having nightmares about missing the first day of class (yes, I really did have nightmares about strange circumstances that would keep me away from class on the first day. I really am that big of a nerd). Then it's time to cram everything into my car and start a new semester.

This year is different. Instead of starting something new, I'm pleasantly settled into a routine already, and while it's nice it's also completely unchartered territory for me.

I was so exhausted at the end of last semester I remember thinking, "I just want to be out of school for a while. I just want to have a job, and not have to constantly worry about papers and homework and finals."

In reality the transition from student to regular person was a bit more tumultuous than that. But thankfully friends, this terrible summer is nearly over and I find myself really enjoying things like: being able to read for fun, having days off in the middle of the week, having a job I adore, just having time.

I lost sight of things at the beginning of the summer but now I fully appreciate that this year I'll be able to make all those time consuming recipes I've collected on Pinterest, I'll be able to let my inner Martha Stewart shine, take up new hobbies and do all the things I couldn't do when (almost) every moment of my spare time was spent working on school.

So while I greatly regret the loss of my student discount, I'm going to do my best to savor this new season.

How did you deal with the transition out of being a student?

<3

Employed!

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I have a job now!

I've delayed posting this because I'm not sure how much personal information I want to share in this space. (Especially the type of personal information that pertains to my physical location.) I know how easy it is to find these details out and I don't want to make it easier any creepers to do their creepin'. So for now we'll just say that I work in retail for a fresh, handmade cosmetics company and I am overjoyed to be employed there. Seriously, I've wanted to work for this particular company for so long that I was even following the twitter where they post job listings because I did not want to miss out on any openings. I tried not to get my hopes up too much throughout the interview process, and when they offered me the job I was ecstatic.

Every time I go in and put on my apron it feels like a dream. After 2.5 months of unemployment I was going crazy not having anything to do. It sounds like a short amount of time now but it was terrifying when there was no end in sight, especially for someone who's always planning for the next task on the horizon. It's been a particularly tough summer and this job has been a ray of sunshine lifting my spirits.

So yes. I have a job with a company I'm proud to work for and it's makes me happy every day.

How do you guys feel about the places you work?

<3

Riding the Rails

Last Monday I went on the most spontaneous mini-vacation I've ever planned. It might not actually count as spontaneous, since Estrella and I had been trying to find a time that worked out for a visit for practically the entire summer. The longest-planned most spontaneous trip ever? I think it still counts as a spur-of-the-moment trip because I decided to go the day before, and I bought my ticket just over 12 hours before my departure time.

Anyway, last Monday was finally a perfect storm of schedules and I made my way to Santa Barbara via train. I'd never taken the train in this country before (not that I can recall anyway, I think my mom may have mentioned that we took a train trip once when I was a toddler), and I was surprised at how easy it was. And shocked at the amount of leg room I got! I caught my train at Union Station and a few short hours later I was reunited with Estrella in SB.

I don't have many pictures to show for the trip because Estrella is camera shy and I just wanted to spend time with her. Next time!

I only stayed in Santa Barbara overnight because I had to be back in LA to start my new job (!) but I'll definitely be making the trip again with some more time.

<3

The Resignation Tour 2013

Rx Bandits is hands down my favorite band. In 2011 they went on hiatus after a farewell tour and I was devastated, so when I found out that they were going to go on tour to mark the 10 year anniversary of their album The Resignation I freaked out. Seriously, I was mid-conversation with Estrella when I saw the tweet and I started shrieking. Not only are they my favorite band, but The Resignation is my favorite album. And they were playing at the Glass House, which is my favorite venue! It was a perfect storm of all my favorite things! I had already missed out on the pre-sale by the time I heard about the tour, but I was not about to miss out on tickets altogether so I bought them the minute they went on sale.


Me and Lena headed out early to avoid the traffic; getting to Pomona like 3 hours in advance gave us time to find stress-free parking and enjoy some pho. The show itself was AMAZING. They played all of The Resignation, and for the encore they played some of my favorite songs off of And The Battle Begun. I had managed to make my way pretty close to the front when the guy in front of me turned around and motioned for me to take his place in front of the barricade. Major thanks to that guy for looking out! After that I got to enjoy the show without getting pushed around and I had the most amazing view.

After the show ended I didn't want to leave! Since I don't know when they'll play again and in 2011 I seriously thought that was the last time I'd ever see them this show felt like a gift. It was such a great show, as always, and I can only hope I get to see them play again.


<3

Book Club: You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried

A couple weeks ago I was logging into my library account and I saw that County of Los Angeles Public Library has an app now! I downloaded it immediately and I'm completely in love with it. Basically it's a glorified shortcut to the COLA website, but the thing that makes it amazing is that it has a barcode scanner so you can scan the back of any book and put a hold on it. You can also manually search, and I could really get used to typing in a title as soon as I hear it and immediately putting a hold on it.

I tested it out when I was house sitting recently and The Breakfast Club was on. The movie was running with little facts at the bottom of the screen. When Bender tells Claire, "You couldn't ignore me if you tried" the fact that popped up said that the line was the title of a book about the brat pack and John Hughes. Using my handy dandy new library app I looked the book up and put a hold on You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and their Impact on a Generation.

I was expecting something more like film theory, but Susannah Gora's book reads a bit like an in depth version of an audio commentary that would run over the collected works of John Hughes. Gora tends to focus more on the drama; which actors bumped heads with Hughes, which films almost went unmade because of the tension on set, who dated who during filming. It was all really interesting, but there were times where Gora's own feelings definitely shone through. At several moments she implies that the actors she interviewed felt one way, even if they said something else to her.

Despite that, I still enjoyed it. Like a lot of American teenagers, John Hughes movies have a special place in my heart, so I liked hearing all the backstage gossip as well as hearing the actors comment on their iconic roles. But now I want to re-watch all the movies Gora mentions. Anyone up for a Hughes film festival?

<3

Fun in LA: Disneyland!

Disneyland is a weird concept, if you think about it. You pay a huge amount of money to get into the park (not counting what you have to pay just to park your car), and once you get inside you're pretty much forced to spend more money if you want to eat or drink anything. This is not to mention the cost of any souvenirs you might pick up. You basically pay for the privilege of spending more money and standing in lines longer than the rides themselves. And yet, on any given day Disneyland is packed!

Maybe this is a symptom of becoming an adult who's more conscious about money (hello student loans), but lately I've been more skeptical of Disneyland even though I love it. Up until this week the last time I had been was almost 3 years ago. Even though we talked about going every time I was home for a break I couldn't justify spending so much money in one place, which is why I was so excited when a co-worker of my mom's offered us free tickets. It may be a strange money-making machine, but you can't deny it's fun. 

We got to go on almost all of our favorite rides, Pirates was closed and I didn't want to lose my hat on Space Mountain so we missed out on those. The guide we had on the Jungle Cruise was hilarious! As it is I'm a fan of cheesy humor and I love puns so the Jungle Cruise is right up my alley, and this guide had the best one-liners I've ever heard on the ride. I realized that I had never been on Peter Pan so we braved the line and it was totally worth the wait. It was a fitting day for my first ride because I finally caved and bought the Peter Pan hat that I had been wanting forever. I also got to have my favorite Disneyland treat, a Pineapple Float, so I was a happy camper.

One of my favorite things to do at Disneyland is peek into the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and see the little ones getting their hair done like princesses. Honestly I don't know what it is because when I was that little I don't think I would have liked being in the princess dress or having a bunch of glitter in my hair (I had a very strong anti-tulle stance), but seeing the looks on those little kids faces as they get their hair done is too much for me. I just see them there looking like they've never been happier, and how it really is a magical experience for them and it gets me right in the tear ducts. 

As always my mom is not pictured, but rest assured, she had fun as well. 

Outside Club 33

Jungle Cruise

Pineapple Float

Waiting for Captain EO


End of the day, photo credit: mom

Fireworks! Photo credit: mom

All in all it was a magical day, so mission accomplished Disneyland. 

<3