[connecting]

this whole past week has been full of connections made, in all aspects of the word.

connections with people,

connections with new things,

and connections with perspectives.

it's definitely nice to be young... just knowing that i still have time to do take opportunities for things i'm passionate about as they come is reassuring.

anyway.. here we go. the photos.

bittersweet fun @ discovery center =)

caught up with koichi at the olde dubliner @ the district
good friends, good drinks, GOOD TIMESme, koichi, laura, dan, and alex mar!



i finally connected with the game of golf.
which needed to happen, after working at tustin ranch golf club for almost a year!
and as said in the alchemist, it might have been beginner's luck, because i had a GREAT time, did pretty well, and i'm hooked.

laura and me

we had the party cart complete with music and pink caddies

(although neither of us are pink people)

and we had SO much fun playing -- probably because we don't play by the rules ;)

it's spring! momma + baby ducks

brand new club rentals... thanks steve watson


our cart + the boys' cart


my awesome boss (f&b director @ tustin ranch) jeff, was super awesome and gave me+laura a $100 gift certificate for Scott's in Costa Mesa.
It was BEAUTIFUL. food, service, and overall experience were amazing.

it was a celebratory dinner for laura's promotion to Special Event Manager
and my [pending] promotion to full-time Events Coordinator.

my industry rocks.
tonight we were invited to an open house/meet&greet @ house of blues in anaheim
free drinks, food, and even tickets to the mary mary concert tonight!
we gave our tix away but had an awesome time networking with a few very cool people
+my business card got picked in a drawing! i won 2 tix to any HoB show and a HoB pint glass. =)

managers @ tustin ranch (minus brian).

_life is good. l♥ve it.

the best back-home birthday

today:
_san gabriel automotive
_kingburg kitchen
_cathy's bakery
_half&half tea house
_guitar center


on my days off, i always want to get a lot done. while its like an almost-mini-vacation, i like my vacations productive - errands, quality time, and new things make the perfect agenda.

so after picking up the applause (my new acoustic vintagey beater), i headed up to san gabriel to get some new brakes on my car. richard [my mechanic] rocks. i ended up getting new brakes/rotors, filters, and an oil change.

in the meantime, will and i did some quality chinese-style damage. we ordered in mandarin, at all the places we went to! i'm glad i still remember hahaha... and for a cantonese guy, will's mandarin is pretty damn good. [i'm afraid his vocab is better than mine]

it was definitely the best hometown birthday i've had in a long time...
lots of awesome fobby soul food, a good heart-to-heart, and sweet weather.
we had a much-needed catchup afternoon.

soy tea egg
(cha yeh dan)

beef noodle soup
(nyo roh mein)
pork, sea cucumber, and shrimp dumplings
my long awaited bday cake!
i havent had this in YEARS.
crispy layer cake from cathy's!

and of course, it was a good day out for lambo
got some new elixirs for the beater and ran into jake cheung!
totally forgot he was asst manager at guitar center... thanks for the hookup =)


the boys made for great company today.

+new music on my ipod, happy sleeping dog, quality time with an old friend
+time to learn some new songs on the old guitar
+i should really try this mobile blogging thing... i'm always so much more inspired on the go than i am by the time i finally sit down at the compy
+tomorrow is going to be awesome. right?

new love

i am going to find me a guitar (i don't know where my one went)
and learn this song!

simple truth [beautiful mess]

this beautiful mess is still here
and 'it's nice to say
that we played in the dirt all day'
-jason mraz


there's no lies,
no wondering, or questions, or what-if's.
just the simple truth
that maybe, you're meant to grow apart
that you need to let go
to be honest with the things you've discovered
you now need.

it's a bittersweet yet comforting feeling, to know that we're on the exact same page.
that we are thinking the same thing, drawn to the same concepts,
and needing to get there completely different ways.
we've learned so much, grown so much, and now it's time to grow in some different soil.
it's a new adventure


just like the rest of my life.

i moved back into the woodbridge apt. i live in the living room now,

and i hang out with laura all the time.

plus lex and sam
the afghan the wannabe rapper. who also has a grown-up fort.. in the dining area.
it's good times. most of the time.

my birthday was awesome.
girl time was much needed, and all of us totally bonded over the weekend, talking about relationships, goals, traveling, and life.
after graduating college, i've started to realize how important it is to maintain friendships -- and unlike college itself, your friends are no longer defaulted by what organizations, classes, or activities you're involved in, but they are instead people who know who you are now, understand who you want to become, and have maybe known you in a different time. there's something about it that just makes you feel grounded and gives you the ability to candidly be yourself in any situation or conversation.
after 5 years in college, i've taken my experiences and found that i somehow have gravitated back to old friends that i've discovered have grown in similar ways as i. and it's nice that, ironically, as far as i've come from jr high and high school, and even earlier years of college, i'm as close as ever to them.
i'm not sure if that made much sense.
so here are some pictures from vegas!

first, our little misadventure... poor fiona's car w/ busted turbo :(

we got to vegas at 5am

eap new zealand girls <3 a very awesome birthday boy
thanks ken!

that's us. girls night out!

hotel preparty shot

i'm so thankful for these 3... they're so important to me <3 style="text-align: left;">
and laura took me to TUNATOWN on main st huntington beach!
that place was freakin awesome
but i got jipped on my bday dessert! stupid chef was a pervert. haha

+you and i both.