hold your breath, it gets better

i don't think i've ever really experienced the "magic" of disneyland (i used to only go with the marching band), which would explain why i'm STILL so excited about my socal weekend. i might actually be more excited now than i was before the trip.
the 2 days of rainy weather didn't really bother me (including ponchos, wet feet, and annoying umbrellas), and i got some really fun pictures! 
the only thing disappointing about rain was the lack of lines to wait in. we were all ready with movies loaded onto my ipod touch and edwin's iphone! hahaha i know, i'm not complaining. and i at least got to finish toystoryII :) 

i now have 3 of my own vinylmation toys, one of them being a "design your own" figurine (the white one). i'm still looking for inspiration but can't wait to do something cool with him :)

they all had their own photographic disneyland adventure, representative of my own. [they will probably make appearances in future adventures too]

shameless plug of the day:   we just discovered a new board game (courtesy of laura & anthony) called wits & wagers and it is HILARIOUS. we played it for hours on saturday (with an intermission of laura kicking a kid's butt in air hockey) haha. it seriously rocks.

anyway...

that's all, folks!

holiday spirit(s)

christmas in the city is beautiful.

even when it's rainy.

this christmas, unlike other christmases past, i did not buy presents; i instead made cards and ornaments. i thought about keeping the mystery and magic of my stars to myself, but i had promised peterkim that i'd post photos, so here they are.

Downtown Portland

if only i knew this way earlier... hahaha

sneaky september

hello, september.
you snuck up on me.

it has been a LONG time since i last posted.
a lot has happened.

it seems that, whenever i'm at my parent's house in vancouver(washington), i have a nice window of opportunity to catch up on my blogging, photo editing, yelp reviewing, whatnot.
and i'm taking it.

i have been everywhere.

a few weekends ago, justin wanted to take me down to SD for a getaway
we went to the races in del mar and checked out la jolla.

i was able to make it to my aunt's funeral in vancouver BC, but not without my signature misadventure -- this time it was my passport.
i had somehow, along the way, forgotten that prior to going to new zealand, i got a new passport.
so when this trip came along and i was reminded to bring my passport, i located and packed it, neglecting to check the expiration date.
once at the airport, i decided to check the expiration, just in case.
2004. wtf? i had 2 passports floating around amongst my belongings?
and omg my picture was so old.
so i called justin. he went into an apartment-searching frenzy. nothing.
[i found out my flight would be delayed - multiple times, forcing pretty much the entire plane to be missing their connecting flights. luckily, us airways rebooked me onto a direct flight to seattle. so i was freaking out at john wayne for about 3 hours.]
i texted lex. she was at work until 11. after work, she told sam, and they told laura.
THEY went into an apartment-searching frenzy.
[and in the meantime, my brother had looked through the remainder of my stuff at his house,
and my mom had ransacked the suitcase i had left with her. nothing.]
by this time, i had given up. i wouldn't be making the wedding, but at the very least i would stay at my cousin alan's place in seattle, borrow will's car, and scout the city for a weekend of exploration when justin came up for his first time.
2am - lex calls me. THEY FOUND MY RECENT, non-expired PASSPORT!!
*relief* - at not having to pay $200+ for an expedited renewal, or $200+ for an earlier return ticket, or being left behind and not going to the funeral.
my roommates rock.

the funeral was an opportunity for the cousins on my mom's side to be reunited, to catch up, and see all the kids of the younger generation playing together.
my canadian cousins took us, the american cousins (alan, my brother, and myself) canadian bowling. 5-pin, with a smaller ball. i was terrible. but we had a great time, and that was my short, sweet, impromptu, misadventurous northwest trip.


then there was vegas.
great people, new friends (and some old ones that i finally got to party with), good times.
i am so thankful to have had the chance to meet so many of justin's friends and actually have meaningful conversations with a handful of them. they're not only a huge bundle of fun together but also genuine, down(downdown...) individuals. (see also: walle's world)

[photo credit: christine.coates]

i got to use my new canond10 underwater camera and it WAS all it's made out to be.
i love that thing.



upon returning to socal, my roommates convinced me to go to the SD zoo with them
and in honor of us all leaving (my last hurrah),
lex&sam treated us to free admission with their memberships! <3 size="2">[more pictures from my dSLR coming later]

and last but not least, a picture of lambo. he's the best.

+pictures of NWadventures (seattle, portland, SF) coming next[preview]

+looking forward to watching the timetraveler'swife w/vix!
+love, starfish <3>

where does time go?

already this month, i have...

been patriotic in my celebration of independence

been reunited with my girls

had a random last-minute beach bonfire

spent the day in venice beach (actually, many days at the beach)

attended my FIRST major concert - incubus @ hollywood bowl!

San Clemente Ocean Festival
apparently an annual event in San Clemente... not so much food but still some awesome stuff to see + surf competitions!

we hung out with justin's friend shaun, and all his boarding buddies for awhile. got some shots of them.

+I WANT A TIKI!!

we finally went bike riding in newport beach - another check off the J-list =)

[can't believe it's already been a month]

+i really need a watch
+put in my notice at work. that's right, I'M GOING TO SF!
+blockbuster is lame. netflix is definitely coming up.
(boo) to customer service and membership retainment
(literally-- they "lose" your info after 3 months)
+the hangover was a definite thumbs up!