Benefits of going hiking in LA: you might casually walk by the house they film for the intro of Keeping up with The Kardashians. You might not even realize it until your dad points it out to you.
In case you are wondering, this is off of Fryman Canyon and supposedly they don't live here it's just the house they use to protect their safety even though the rest of their lives are already shared with the public, but that's besides the point. There ya go.

Hiking is my "new thing/" I put that in quotes because it's like that one time I wanted to be a YouTuber, or that other time I wanted to be a swimmer, or that other time I wanted to be a check out person at the grocery store. You know what I'm talking about. Life phases. But hopefully this one sticks because I actually like hiking. 

If you ever decide to hike Fryman canyon, right after the top there is an area where you can go up a little hill and then some stairs. DO IT. It will take you over to Coldwater Canyon and theres bathrooms and a pond and a beautiful view. Fun fact: over the bush, past the tree, behind that building, is my house.

Hiking selfie because if I didn't post it no one would know I actually went hiking... That and I wanted evidence of my dad hiking. Also yay for my new hat and no makeup!

After hiking we decided to go get juice because we live in LA and that's the cool thing to do after you hike, right?

Yes, my juice was called "YOLO." I am judging myself.

And then we went home and I made this delicious lunch because again I live in LA and I wanted to take advantage of the weather and my pool and how I don't have either of those things in San Francisco.
BUT THEN! My dad was on a hiking high. And I warned him this would happen. A hiking high is when you go hiking, and then after wards, feel like you can go hiking Mount Everest. I kid you not. It's all those endorphins! And so he looks at me and says, let's go to Runyon. Runyon Canyon is where all the celebrities go and girls wear real clothes because there are cute guys and it's just very weird, but it's a good hike. So we went. And I looked like a person going hiking. And there were cute guys. And I was with my dad.

But look at the view!
AND NO, it wasn't the foggy, that would be my camera. Which has water in it, I think, and makes everything look foggy and gross and underwater. Help.

This all happened on Friday. Like all I did on Friday. Well that and got crepes with my best friend.

But then Sunday, I went hiking again. Because "I am a hiker." And because it was Rachel's birthday and why not. We were originally supposed to go to Runyon but there was no parking and we got annoyed and I still had to go home and pack because I had a flight that night, so we went to Baldwin Hills and did the Baldwin Hills Overlook. I feel like we should've done the stairs, but maybe next time because I did not feel like I got a work out! Then again we were on a time crunch and didn't really have the much time to do a full hike but either way. Here is the view! You can see the ocean, Santa Monica, Culver City, Hollywood, and Downtown! It was really pretty and we asked like 10 people to take pictures of us. THANKS RANDOM PEOPLE!

And again, if we didn't take pictures while hiking, did we even go hiking?

By the time I posted this picture on Instagram, I think people were over my hiking-natureness because it didn't get that many likes. Yeah, I'm look at you.

And then since we live in LA, and it was Rachel's birthday, and I was hungry, we went to a vegan restaurant. I know. I KNOW. I looked at the waitress and said "Hi. I'm not vegan, gluten free, dairy free, nothing. I eat whatever, and I am hungry and want coffee. What is the equivalent to vegan half and half?" And she started laughing and said I'm not vegan either and I love half and half! Cool. My people. So I got iced coffee with like vanilla almond soy milk something who knows. It was kind of bitter, and definitely not half and half, but it was coffee! And then I got chia pudding, because YUM, and Rachel got kale salad because she's vegan and I hate kale. 

So there it is. I am "a hiker." Or I think I am. 

For other hikes in LA from people that are actual hikers, I like to look at modern hiker! http://modernhiker.com/la-hiking/

M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E

Mickey Mouse! Donald Duck! Spring Break turned into a blogging hiatus. SORRY! I got sunburnt so maybe that was karma. Who knows. So this week will be me recapping my spring break adventures, this should be fun.
DISNEYLAND! I have a season pass, but you knew that already. After our half day at CA Adventure and realizing we really didn't like CA Adventure, we went to Disneyland! There is something about Disneyland that makes it that much more magical when you go at opening. The park opens at a certain time, but Main Street is usually open about an hour before so you can go and eat breakfast, get coffee, get a locker, go to City Hall, all that fun stuff. At 9:00AM the voice came on throughout the park saying welcome to Disneyland, the park is now officially open. I know it doesn't sound that amazing, but I also turn into a 5 year old at Disneyland so, keep that in mind.

This is my house. Or, at least, the kids that go to the summer camp I am a counselor at think that it is. That's fine with me! Fun fact: for Miley Cyrus's 16th birthday, she stayed in the room that is in the castle. I wanted to do that, but I'm not a Disney Channel star so that made it kind of difficult.

We got there at opening, and went to Starbucks. (We went to Starbucks about 3 times because we were dehydrated and just wanted iced green tea. Oh well) My mom was at City Hall and I was getting our coffees when I over heard a little girl talking about the castle. Mind you this is right after I had just heard three teenaged girls say "Look how pretty Cinderella's castle is!" You can leave now. Wrong park. Wrong princess. Just, go. Anyways, so the little girl in starbucks looks at her mom and goes "why can't I visit Aurora in her castle?" *Props to the little child for knowing Sleeping Beauty's actual name*

The mom told her that she was sleeping and didn't want anyone to bother her. Then looked at her mother, I am assuming, and said that the castle is boring and she doesn't want the little girl to make her go in and up and down all the stairs. DO YOU KNOW HOW CLOSE I WAS TO TELLING THE LITTLE GIRL SHE COULD GO IN THE CASTLE? I almost took her myself. But I didn't. I just stood there, and let this mother lie to her child. Ugh. So rude.

BIG THUNDER MT WAS OPEN. But it was only open to the friends and family of cast members the day I went, and I don't know any cast members. But I changed that! My mom and I befriended almost everyone, and found out that they only got 4 tickets and had to go on the ride with whoever had the tickets, meaning they had to be off work. So there was a little problem in our plan. Oh well, now next time I have to go on!

In the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room, I ate pineapple dole whip. YUM. 

I'm sure I've been on Storybook but I don't remember and I always want to go but the line is always SO LONG and I feel like it isn't worth it. One day.

BEIGNETS! Or as the boy in line behind me said "bag-nets." And, of course, Mint Juleps. WARNING: Don't squeeze the lemon into your drink. It ruins the taste. It's just there for decor.

The turkey leg: before & after. (Between two people and this was the only protein we had all day. Totally fine with that!)

It isn't a Disney trip without Ice Cream! And I am pretty sure I ate my weight in ice cream. Okay, maybe not entirely, but basically.

THIS IS A CREAM CHEESE FILLED PRETZEL. They only sell them at one cart by Small World and they are $4 and they are heavenly. I never go to Disneyland without getting one. You will also crave them at random times. Like right now, while I write about them.

As we were leaving Fantasy Land, we saw the evil queen from Snow White (aka my mom's second favorite villain) and we got in line to take pictures. She is covering my shirt because I was wearing a Cinderella shirt and she said "Well I don't like princesses, so here, let me fix your shirt." If I were to be a character at Disneyland I would audition to be her. Or one of the evil step sisters. They are always so sassy and hilarious. I love it.

We were leaving the park. And I was telling my mom how much fun I had. And mind you we had only taken pictures with the evil queen because the line for Captain American literally wasn't moving, and then I saw her. She is a new Cinderella and she is so good with kids and she is SO much nicer than the old Cinderella (because I have met like the past 3 because I have a problem, again I turn into a 5 year old) and she asked me if her fairy godmother made my shirt because it was her face. SO PERFECT. Good job, Cinderella. You can stay. ALSO note our heights. Yeah, I'm Disney Princess height. It's 5'7 if you were wondering. I'm 5'8. It can happen. Maybe. Who knows, she was totally a brunette. Look at those brows.

And last but not least, I got the limited edition annual passport holder pin! They come out with one of these every year and make 2,500 of them but you have to be a pass holder and I never was, so TADA! I got it! And I didn't add it to my pin lanyard because I don't want to trade it... ever. So yeah. 

My two days at Disney were magical and I am so glad I got to go over break! Thanks mom for putting up with me and how crazy I get at Disneyland! We were able to get on all our favorite rides, especially Indiana Jones which is going to be closed for refurbishment this month!

And None for CA Adventure. BYE

If you follow me on any form of social media, I would first like to thank you for putting up with my constant posting and ranting. Second, you would know I went to Disneyland for two days! I have a season pass so this may not be surprising but I usually go with my best friend who also has a pass, but this time I went with my mom! She got the two days- 1 park per day pass, which we assumed meant we had to go to both parks. FALSE. We could have done Disneyland both days. But that's besides the point. This trip just reassured me that I really don't like CA Adventure and I really love Disneyland.

We didn't get there until like noon which was fine because we slept in, drove down, got a hotel, and ate breakfast. Totally fine with me seeing as there are only like two rides in CA Adventure that I actually like. 

I don't like CA Adventure because it's super split up, there aren't any lands, and to be honest, it isn't magical. There is something about Disneyland that just makes me smile. (I will get more into this in my post about Disneyland) Whatever it is, CA Adventure doesn't have it.

I do love CarsLand though...

And I also love the Starbucks in CA Adventure, although Disneyland now has one too!

I am also a huge fan of the Toy Story Mania game, but only because I've gotten really good at it.

FACT: I always win at Astro Blasters at Disneyland.

I win!

Monday night we got dinner in downtown Disney and OMG it was delicious.

Disneyland itself has the greatest food for theme parks/just really good food in general, but I don't like any of the places I've tried at CA Adventure. Mind you, I haven't gone to Ariel's Grotto, so I can't say that I have tried everything.

FUN STORY TIME! (That you already know if you follow me on Twitter) While we were at dinner, a woman was making balloon animals. The table next to us had two kids. One boy and one girl. The boy got a sword, and I didn't hear what the girl asked for. She started making it upside down and I thought it was a palm tree. Next thing I know the palm tree has red hair and was Ariel from The Little Mermaid. MIND BLOWN. I want to learn how to make balloon animals. Let me know if you know someone who can teach me.

After dinner, we headed back to the park for World of Color, but decided to go back to CarsLand... again. Because it is one of the few fun things in CA Adventure.

And then we saw World of Color.

And it was magical.

And we ate churros.

Moral of the story is: CA Adventure is not Disneyland. It's just another theme park. I'm sorry. Yes, it is ranked above several other theme parks in my book, but if I don't have to go back to CA Adventure for awhile, I'll be happy. It isn't magical, it has a weird vibe, and I just don't know how I feel about it. I also don't like wearing my ears there. So that's saying something

(Mickey Mouse ears... that is)

Stay tuned for my post about the magical land of Disney!

"So LA"

Hello and happy spring break! Officially. ALSO, some super exciting news, I got accepted (offered?) to the Her Campus site meaning Her Campus will be starting a chapter at my school! YAY! I will probably do a post all about that, but let's talk about my kick off to spring break this weekend, shall we?
Alright, so here is my warning- this post is kind of, sort of, very Los Angels-y. Meaning, I went to an award show and got all fancy, and walked on a red carpet, and hung out with fabulous people. But don't worry, this wasn't the Oscars. One day, it will be... one day.

My flight got in Friday night after having the girl next to me stare at me the entire time, and having to deal with the weird, annoying, guys on the other side of me. It's fine I listened to my podcasts and Beyonce and it was fine. I came home to an unexpected text from Mr. Snapchat which was interesting to say the least. But this post isn't about him. At all.

Saturday morning, my mom and I woke up to go to brunch and get our nails done. MAGICAL. I got the French Toast. Surprise, surprise, surprise. Also, there were some comments on my picture saying that I should start a brunch blog. How do we feel about this? I would just make a separate tag... Let me know, because I would actually love to do this!

Okay, so back to the fun stuff. I went to Starbucks and they messed up my drink, so they gave me my drink, in a trenta. A TRENTA. I finished it. Over like an hour and a half, but Oh My Goodness it was obscene. Like no drink should be that size.

After nails we went to the mall and ran some errands, and then came home to start getting ready. The doors opened at 4:30 and we got there around 5. Let's just say there was a red carpet and I was ALL for it. We got our pictures taken (now I need to go find who took them and where they will be posted) but we weren't interviewed. Guess we aren't that cool.... yet.

 Then we headed inside to two different types of bars: the open bar and the mashed potato bar. I thoroughly enjoyed both. Also, I had no service there so tweeting wasn't a thing and all of my texts went through even though I thought they didn't so that was kind of embarrassing.. But not as embarrassing as these bathroom pictures I took...

The award show itself was long but entertaining, and I had this guy (aka the world's largest glass of wine) to accompany me. 

As I was walking out of the show, there was a photographer who stopped me and asked if he could take my photo. I said yes... of course, because uhm, what? And so as I was walking out I looked back and had my photo taken like a real A-lister. I am actually cracking up right now. Welcome to LA.

Post award show included cookies, cream puffs, and coffee. I can deal. We then went to the after party because, Los Angeles and spring break. The party was at the top floor of a hotel and they had SUCH GOOD FOOD. They were lacking in the open bar department though. Oh well. These ladies were "sober" and she proceeded to tell me why I shouldn't go into entertainment PR. Okay, lady. My mom also showed her the picture I took of her taking a selfie prompting her drunk convo with us, but she kept calling me pretty, so OKAY.

TRUFFLE MAC N CHEESE NEED I SAY MORE? I had like three of these.

Also, tuna cracker things. YUM.

This morning we lost an hour and made up for it by sleeping in. We went to the Farmer's Market, Trader Joes, and Gelsons and then TARGET. My favorite things.

Tonight I went to dinner with my friend, Rachel and saw the most gorgeous sunset!

Also, on the way home, I finally found the Teen Vogue issue with Lea Michele on the cover, so I picked that up.

And now to pack and sleep for tomorrow aka DISNEYLANDDDD. I'm going for two days with my mom, so I won't be posting until Wednesday. And that post will probably be about Disneyland. And it's going to be magical. So prepare for your Twitter and Instagram feeds to be filled with Disney. YAY! 

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

My Spring Break Plans

T minus 6 hours until I am boarding my flight home and I could not be happier. It has been two months too long, and this past week of midterms and essays galore has taken a toll on on mind life. So here are some of my hopes to do over break because clearly I really like making lists of things to do because I like checking them off the list. It makes me feel productive. This is also why I write to do lists and also put them in my phone. I'm an oddball, it's okay, I know.

*UPDATE ON YESTERDAY'S POST: I got a response, but it was very anticlimactic and didn't go anywhere. About 6 texts were exchanged. Whomp whomp whomppp...

1. TACOS
2. Disneyland
3. Tan
4. Blog/YouTube catchup
5. Homework catchup meaning do homework that is due later on in the semester
6. Netflix (I get to watch two movies on Netflix for homework *smirking emoji*)
7. Watch Dallas Buyer's Club, 12 Years A Slave, and The Lego Movie

What else should I do over break?