Lucy Chadwick. A Selby film for ZARA

Picturesque Hawaii

I regret not taking enough pictures in Hawaii with my Canon. My primary camera was my iPhone and it failed to show how gorgeous the scenery was. Here are a few shots I took with my Canon SLR. Nature was just so breathtaking there; and it needed no filter to capture its natural beauty.

ALOHA ADVENTURE

I'm so sorry for not blogging for so long!!! I went to Hawaii and have been stuck in "vacation mode." It was a much needed vacation away from the hussle and bussle. Actually, Waikiki was a lot like Santa Monica (but better beaches) ... but driving up to North Shore was AH-mazing! 3 facts about my trip: 1. Everyone was nice 2. My hair was frizzy everywhere I went 3. I saw a rainbow every single day. Here's a little video of my Aloha adventure!

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Strawberry Macarons

Here's a little video I put together of our Macaron baking adventure!

PS: My friend Camile taught us how to make these delicious macarons! Click here and here to see the other macarons she made!

THE PILLOWS

I never thought I would make it to a Pillows concert in my life! I've always dreamt about going to Japan just to see them. When I found out they were playing at the El Rey I got so excited. They were really good ... just wish they played more songs.

Bao Dim Sum House

If you're craving dim sum for dinner and don't want to go through the trouble of hustling and bustling food carts, then this is the place to go! The prices are more expensive than the dim sum places in Chinatown or Monterey Park, but the great service, ambiance, and cocktails make up for it. We tried the Juicy Pork Dumplings, Pork & Shrimp Shumai, Scallion Pancake, Egg Drop Soup, Tripe, and a free order of Milk Buns (courtesy of Yelp check in). For drinks we got the Sapporo on draft and a Honey Ginger Mojito. All so delicious!!

TOOTHACHE

I guess this is what I get for eating too much sweets. I've been suffering from a terrible tooth abscess this entire month. I've never been in so much pain in my entire life. I got a fever, formed a bump in my gums, infected my sinuses, and broke out in hives! All of this because of one tooth!! Ughhh and the pain is unbearable!!! Sharp, throbbing pains!!! I had an emergency dentist visit twice & visited 3 different dentists to get their opinions on what I should do with my tooth. I was prescribed Amoxicillin and Vicodin and almost had my tooth extracted until 2 dentists (against 1) halted my extraction. Instead, I got a root canal and have to go back next week to finish it up!

My summer obsession

Root beer dream from Get Shaved! When I'm at Lorenz's house we always stop by the Get Shaved store to pick this up! When I'm at home in LA I hunt that truck down with my phone! haha ... I don't know what it is... but that mixture of vanilla ice cream, root beer, condensed milk, and shaved ice creates a concoction of magical flavors! One time I got a large with 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream! hahaha.. It's still good even when you freeze it and eat it the next day!!

Simplethings

This little pie and sandwich shop has one of my favorite desserts of all time ... Salted Caramel Pie!!! OMG it is AH-Mazing!! The crust, the caramel, the cream ... it's just a little piece of heaven here on earth.

LØV

FIN

Summer of 2011 was one of the hardest summers (academically) that I've ever had in my entire life. It was such a buzz kill to walk at my graduation ceremony in the spring and still had classes to take in the summer. I almost gave up, because my classes were so difficult that I felt like I wouldn't be able to graduate. If you've ever experience summer school, you know that ONE class is already a handful. It's so fast paced and there's so much material to cover in the span of six weeks. I was taking THREE summer classes in Long Beach and working in Glendale. The commute, the load of work, and the difficulty of my classes took a toll on me. There were times when I would walk to my car at night crying about my grade. When I reached my car I had a ticket waiting for me on my windshield. I even remember leaving towards the end of class and running to find any open computer labs to print out a drop form. It was 10PM so everything was closed. When I finally found an open computer lab it was a mile away from my class. I ran back in time for the end of class sweating and out of breath. I gave up and had my Managerial Economics teacher sign my drop form. I even hugged my classmates goodbye. :(

After that week something strange came over me. I obsessively calculated my grade, prayed, and decided that I couldn't just give up. Instead of turning in my drop form I decided to let go of my pride and talk to every single one of my teachers. That's the last thing I would ever do, because It's so embarrassing for me to face my teachers when I'm doing so poorly in their classes. After that I studied my ass off. I studied in my room, at work, at church, during my long commute. I couldn't just throw all of my hard work away. When i finally got my summer grades I remember how overjoyed I was. My eyes teared up just looking at what I've accomplished. All that hard work just makes this degree that much sweeter. It wasn't easy balancing work and school, but I finally did it!

Omeeh Visits

My friend, Julia (Omeeh) Moon, visited me from Berkeley! We only had one day to hang out~ so we visited the Tim Burton exhibit with Lauren and Lorenz. I thought the exhibit was pretty pricy for what it showed, but it was interesting overall. Tim Burton (of Burbank.. lol) just has so much imagination and talent. I think my favorite part of the exhibit was a house model with Steinboy inside. It was very twisted and ran so many stories in my head. After the exhibit we stopped by Milk for some delicious desserts. Then we sweated it all off by playing Just Dance 2 at my house.

Andy's 40th Birthday

My neighbors had a little party at their house to celebrate Andy's 40th birthday. Oh. my. gosh.. I said it before and I'll say it again.. I LOOOOVE their house!! How is it that we live right next to each other and my house is so blah compared to theirs? It was such a cute little party with an intimate gathering. I loved how everything was set up~ the music, the food, the drinks, the lights. Everyone was so friendly and interesting! My favorite was the cheese table. I LOOVE cheese!! .. And with honey and crackers? YUM!!

THE NAKED & FAMOUS

I cannot wait to see them live on October!!! I already bought tickets for their show at the Music Box. Young Blood is one of my all time favorite songs. *_*

Susan Feniger's Street

Lorenz and I finally went to this restaurant! We ordered the Kaya Toast, Vietnamese Skirt Steak, Tatsutage Fried Chicken, Mango Yogurt drink, Hong Kong Milk Tea, and a Salty Caramel dessert that wasn't on the menu. Our dinner came with free curry flavored rice krispies. Overall, the food was very flavorful, but a little on the expensive side. I wouldn't mind going there again and trying some other stuff on the menu ~ like the Smashed Potatoes!

A small taste of paradise

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Simply Breakfast

I love breakfast.... but not for breakfast. This blog is amazing.

i love the piano

that is all.

move, learn, eat

3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ....into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films.....= a trip of a lifetime.

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

veggie pizza for dinner

I got the recipe from my sister. I had major help from Lorenz, Erik, and Pengie. It was soooo good!! yummm.. relaxing night :)