the last of the mohicans...

My Mom and I watched The Last of the Mohicans last night, and I really liked it! It was, overall, pretty depressing. But it was historically accurate, great acting, and had (my fave) an awesome soundtrack. It had a little too much gore in it for me, but again, it adds to the historical accuracy (I was impressed at the scalping). Overall, I give it 3/5 stars. I recommend it, but I wouldn't watch it more than three times in one year.
Also, I just realized that I never put up a song of the week last week (tisk tisk)! So, I will post one today and one tomorrow to make up for my lack of song supplication.
So, my first SOTW: The theme from The Last of the Mohicans.

tv, tv, & more tv...

So, for this day -- my third day of spring break -- I had the day planned out: I was going to go have lunch, do homework all day, then wind down and watch some TV...yeah, totally did NOT go as planned. I didn't go outside the entire day (even though it was gorgeous), and I didn't do ANY homework (even though I definitely needed to). So, what did I do to waste the day away? That's right, I watch TV. Brain melting, zombie-afying TV. To add to the pathetic-ness, the majority of TV I watched consisted of only 2 shows.
The first show: House. For some reason, I've been getting into House lately. Maybe it's because my parents are both nurses and tons of my friends are going into the medical field (seriously, I think it's become the "in" thing to go into nursing...what's up with that?). Personally, I think Hugh Laurie is hilarious. His British humor blossoms with the character. Birthday/Christmas present idea: season 1 of House on DVD...just in case you were wondering.
The second show: Mythbusters. Truth be told, I haven't watched Mybusters in a SUPER long time, so it was fun to watch the show again. Yes, they do waste money. Yes, they do put TONS of time and effort into just blowing something up. But, hey, it's entertainment, and I like it. Plus, they're super funny AND they live in San Francisco (it's fun to see them go into the city and me say, "I've been there!").
Other shows I watched: Giada at Home, Home Improvement, Everybody Loves Raymond, Last Cake Standing, Spongebob (the 2002 episodes), The Middle, and the news. If only Good Eats and Dirty Jobs was on, it would've been a perfect TV day.
So, what did I learn today? 1) Don't turn on the TV thinking your only going to watch one episode of something then do homework...yeah, no. 2) Set an achievable homework goal at the beginning of the day so you actually get to it and not think "Oh, I'll do it later." 3) Dr. Cameron lost a baby and House feels sorry for her and he really needs to tell her that he likes her or I'm not gonna be a happy Lauren (hey, I think I'm only on season 2 people. I need to catch up!); that cars, dumpsters, and wood tables can be bomb shelters and save your life if there's a bomb 10-20ft away from you; and how to use a food processor to make coleslaw...see, who needs school. TV is educational.

spring break, friends, & doughnuts...

This week is my school's spring break (I know, super late), and I've been trying to plan it out the best I can for seeing people and getting at least a tiny bit of homework done. I went down to Fullerton on Monday to visit my good friend Garrett...grocery shopping, cooking dinner, watching Tangled, playing DDR: definitely one fun day!
On my way back home yesterday, I stopped by Santa Barbara and saw my other good friend Kelsey (I saw so many awesome people on this trip!). It was my first time actually walking through downtown SB (sad, I know), so we walked through a few shops, then realizing we couldn't actually buy anything, we went over to F21 (where I snagged a really cute top). After shopping, we ate dinner at a cute little Italian restaurant.
It was such an amazing couple of days. Short, but definitely oh so sweet. Thank you Garrett and Kelsey for making this one awesome trip! Love you guys!
BTW, I grabbed some Krispy Kreme while I was down south...oh so yummy.

easter 2011...

Happy Easter everyone!! :)

After church, my family and I went up to Carmel Valley to have dinner with my grandma, aunt and uncle, and cousins. It was really nice being with family this year (usually, we just have dinner by ourselves...no fun)! Sadly, I didn't take my camera...but have no fear! While I was looking for old Easter pics, I stumbled upon this old video of the puppies playing. I thought it might make up for the lack of photos. :)
I'm going down south tomorrow and Tuesday to visit a few friends of mine. It will be my second time driving by myself to a place I've never been to...well, I've been through the LA area multiple times, just not exactly where my destinations are now. So it's kinda like it's new?...Maybe? I don't know. Anyways, I'm hoping it won't take me too long. I plan on leaving kinda early so I can stop a lot, walk around, take random pics, all that jazz. So, it should be an adventure! I'm excited. :)

amazing friday...

What wondrous love is this

That caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul...
When I was sinking down
Beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul...
To God and to the Lamb,
Who is the great I AM,
While millions join the theme, I will sing...
And when from death I’m free
I’ll sing His love for me,
And through eternity I’ll sing on.
* * *
Let us remember what wondrous LOVE came, blessed, healed, suffered, bled, wept, DIED, and ROSE AGAIN for US: the very ones who rejected, cursed, whipped, beat, and murdered HIM.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."~ Romans 5:8

"I am the Good Shepherd; the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." ~ John 10:11

waka waka what?...

I'm pretty much in love with this song right now. It just makes me want to get up and dance!
I've been told this would be a good Zumba song...think I should try it? :)

katie & oliver...

I had the wonderful privilege of photographing my friend Katie and her beautiful son Oliver yesterday. We had a great time! Oliver was SUPER cooperative, and was really interested in the camera, which helped a ton...except when he tried to grab the lens, haha.
I knew I was going to have fun with these photos. I mean, look at those GORGEOUS blue eyes!! I was so stoked to get some shots of them.
Katie and Oliver, you're both so beautiful -- inside and out -- and I'm so glad I was able to capture these precious moments of you both. :)

cosmic machines = sotw...

OK, I know I've posted stuff about Florence before, but I just LOVE this song. It has fullness and complexity to it that I just can't get over...plus, it has a piano and harp intro (two of my fave instruments)...I mean, piano and harp? Genius!
I had originally wanted to do my ballet final to this song, but we decided to dance to this song. Not my first choice, but the dance is actually pretty cool (it's more modern with a balletic twist). I'll just have to dance to Florence when no one's watching. :)
So, my song of the week: Cosmic Love, by Florence & The Machine.

spring sale...

Forever 21 is having a REALLY big yellow tag sale right now. So after work, I hopped on over and took a quick (1 hour long) peek at some of the sale items...I walked away successful! Here's a couple of pieces I'm now the proud owner of:

This skirt (I also got it in olive!).

This skirt (only $4!).

And a top very similar to this one. Mine's purple with thicker detailing on the neckline (I think they took it off of the main F21 site, but they had A TON in the SLO store).

My entire purchase: 5 adorable -- and simple -- pieces for only $24!...I love sales. :)

mama the birthday girl...

Yesterday was my Mom's birthday, but being the busy busy family we are, we celebrated it on Sunday...It was a lovely day. After church, we went over to the Inn at Morro Bay for brunch...

...my starter: a salmon bagel with my choice of toppings (SO yummy!)...

...my entree: calamari spinach salad with lemon vinaigrette (amazingly tasty)...

...and last, but certainly not least, my chocolate lava cake (yes, it was as good as it looks)...

After brunch, we went home for presents and some Just Dance 2 (dude, that game is a serious work out). Then we ended the day by heading out to the Melodrama. If you're ever in Oceano or Pismo or anywhere near there, you need to go to the Melodrama. So stinking funny!
Mom LOVED her Josh Groban tickets! She can't wait for the concert...and neither can I. :)
Overall, it was an awesome day for one awesome Mama. Love you Mom!

enya + lotr + homework {+sotw}...

I was doing homework all day today (with a couple of food breaks, of course), and I still have a little more to do before my tests next week and the week after (yay for "mid-terms"). Anyways, I'm going off topic here. While I was doing homework, my Enya CD started playing on my iTunes, and May It Be came on. I love that song. Yes, it totally makes me think of LOTR. But I love it still (I love the movies, so why not love the songs?). Enya is REALLY good homework music. I can tune it out really easily, but when I need it, it totally makes me go into deep thought. I'm really glad she sang for the LOTR movies. She was the perfect person for the job. :)

So, my song of the week: May It Be, by Enya.

barbers and opera {sotw}...

My friend and I went to see The Barber of Seville at the PAC today, and we thought it was pretty good! REALLY long, but good. I also discovered that this was the opera with the song "Figaro's Aria"...being the classical music enthusiast that I am, I was pretty excited. So, my song of the week? You guessed it: "Figaro's Aria," from the Barber of Seville.

fun project {purple fan}...

So, I recently ordered some insanely purple nail polish from Avon, and ever since, I've had this weird crave for really dark purple things! I have no idea why, but I'm pretty much in love with the color right now (hey, it's a pretty color!). Especially with light blue (LOVE the combo).
Random story: I was laying on the floor of my room with my dog, and I happened to look up at my little plain white splotchy fan. Then, an idea hit me: I should paint it dark purple! I mean, I didn't buy the fan in the first place (it was in the house when we bought it), so I might as well personalize it. Plus, my room is a light blue, so it will be a nice contrast without going too crazy. Thus, the decision was made. I'm going to paint my fan purple.

...My Dad and I went to Ace and bought some spray paint (since we were painting one side, we only needed a little, plus spray paint is quick and easy)...

...We laid them out on the deck, roughed them up a bit with steel wool...

...paused to read Zits...

...then began to spray! Spray like the wind (accidentally spraying a tiny bit onto the deck...sorry Dad!)!...

...and viola! I now have a purple fan. It's a great color, and (again) the purple and blue combo is perfect.
This project has me all excited for when I move off to college and go searching for free/super cheap old furniture on the side of the road that I can pick up and paint!...Well, that's the plan anyway. We'll see if it actually happens. :)