WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!

My recent trip to Vegas was.... UH-MAZING thanks to my mom and dad! I literally spent 4 days straight with them, which is a little overwhelming for me just because there's only a certain amount of my parents I can take before they start to annoy the hell out of me. Regardless, I'm very grateful to have them because they honestly take such good care. Apart from family time I also got to have dinner with my friend Sarissa. I haven't seen her since she moved which was about 2 years ago. 

Omg and the best thing of life happened. I actually won! I've been to Vegas countless amount of times and I've never ever won from gambling. After dinner with Sar, I randomly decided to play before heading up to my room. Surprisingly I won $1173 from only putting in a $20 bill. Oh Vegas, every time I think I'm over you, you somehow reel me back in. LOL, viva Las Vegas! 

HUNTINGTON BEACH

Here's what we did on Presidents' Day: We drove down to Huntington Beach, walked along the beach/pier, and had lunch at North Shore Poke Co. We figured why waste a beautiful day staying in when we could soak up some sunlight at the beach. Hard to believe, but I'm looking forward to summer. Palm trees, ocean breeze, salty air, and sun kissed hair! Is it June yet?

90210

Unexpected last minute plans always seem to work out the best. Sherylle and I randomly planned a day out through text within a matter of minutes just the night before. Luckily for me she was able to fit me in on her busy vacation. I took her to Rodeo Drive, and we walked along side all the fabulous designer stores talking about how one day we'll be able to afford to shop here (#lifegoals). After that we ate lunch at Urth Cafe on Melrose. Whenever I come to Urth I always order a Spanish latte granita. Hands down one of the best lattes ever, and if you want a suggestion on food I would recommend the D'Lox Pizza. It's topped with smoked salmon, herbed marscapone, red onions, arugula, and capers. It's the most delicious thing I've ever had from there. Trust me, you need to try it!  Call me sentimental, but in the middle of our lunch I  just thought about how even though we haven't seen each other in years I felt like I just saw her last week. It's so rare to find friends that make you feel that way. Literally the entire day we were catching up with each others lives, laughing, and reminiscing about the past. A date isn't complete without dessert, so we finished off our day at The Grove eating froyo at Pinkberry, and then I dropped her back off at the Ace Hotel in Downtown L.A. 

On a side note I'm counting down the days until she graduates and moves here! Yes, I hold all of my friends accountable for the goals they tell me, especially when it involves moving to California. There's a handful of people I could name, but I'll just wait here anxiously waiting... 

NEW & NOW

Oh hey, February! I can't believe we just got through the first month of 2015. Here's some highlights from January...

• Took another road trip to Las Vegas
• Used the last day of my 3 day hopper Disneyland pass
• Started winter quarter at FIDM aka my 2nd year
• Finally got to party at Downtown L.A. with some friends from school
• Decided to give pescetarianism another chance- I'm going on my 5th week without consuming any meat  
• I started logging down my workouts, and I re-downloaded MyFitnessPal on my iPhone to keep track of my macros
• I put in my 2 weeks at work and I'm now in the process of looking for another job

Thanks for reading! 

P.S. If you're reading my blogs I hope you find it entertaining, helpful, and maybe a little inspiring.

xoxo, Krystal 

SAN DIEGO SWANGIN'

 

I love it when friends from Hawaii come to California. It gives you an excuse to call out of work to spend time with them. I know it sounds horrible, but really when are you going to see them again? In a year...maybe 2? Last weekend we spontaneously drove to San Diego just to spend one more night with our friends. We spent the night dancing away at Bassmnt nightclub. The music was pretty decent, but there's only so much techno/house music I can take. The tickets were $40! A little expensive for my taste, but the dj spinning was pretty well known (but just not to us). Overall it was a fun night, with good company and lots of laughs. I'm glad we drove out there, even though it was just for the day.

#JORDANYEAR

What better way to forget about my age by taking me to a place where I can feel like a kid again. This is my second year in a row going to Disneyland on my birthday. It's hard for me to believe that I'm 23 years old, mid-twenties. Yikes! Either way I'm thankful for another year of life. 

A note to my 24 year old self:

Krystal, 

I'm not going to tell you all the things that you should've accomplished by now, because there isn't a time limit on happiness or self-success. I just hope that you continued to count your blessings no matter how hard things got for you over the past year. Did you finally lose that 15 pounds you've been complaining about? Haha. If not, it's okay. What matters most is that you're taking care of yourself, not just on the outside but on the inside as well. I hope you've managed to let go of some of your bad habits. Please keep in contact with your loved ones, even when you get carried away with all the other things going on in your life. Stay positive and most importantly stay true to yourself. Never let the city or anyone change you unless it's in a good way. 

Sincerely, 

Me<3

KEVIN'S 23RD BIRTHDAY

Today is January 28th and Kevin's birthday was on December 29th. I'm just a month behind on updating you all, but better late than never right? We spent a weekend in Vegas for Kevin's birthday. I surprised him by booking a room at The Palms Casino Resort. Let me just say that The Palms made such a great impression on the both of us. We'll be sure to book with them again in the near future. Reasons? I'll give you 5...

1. Room rates are affordable 
2. Located off the strip
3. Less hectic to come in and out of
4. Swanky/spacious room with an amazing view (they upgraded us to a suite free of charge)
5. Coffee Bean & Tea leaf and Earl of Sandwich is located in their food court

Kevin's one birthday wish was to go sledding. It took us a total of 3 times to get up to Mt.Charleston due to some gps complications. By our second attempt we were on the verge of just turning back around but I'm glad we didn't. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I've seen snow before but I've never witnessed actual snow fall. I was in absolute awe of Mt. Charleston's snowy scenic beauty.  It's definitely a must see if you're ever in Vegas. Sledding was also another first for me. I was terrified because I had no idea how slippery it would be. To make matters worse I wore booties with no grip whatsoever. Thankfully I didn't eat shit, but I continuously slipped here and there. 

It was such a nice little getaway for the both of us. What a successful birthday weekend it turned out to be, and here I thought Vegas was only good for turning up.

2015

"Never look back, darling. It distracts from the now." Edna Mode, The Incredibles

Happy New Year, everyone! 2014 has definitely been a journey for me. I got accepted into FIDM, went back home to visit just once, had one of the best summers ever with a bunch of my friends in Vegas, and visited Disneyland one too many times. I'm grateful for everything and have no regrets. 

New year, same me, but with new goals. Yes, I'm that person who makes resolutions and falls off track by February, but here's to a new year and hopefully a better me anyway.

1. Drink more water & less coffee. I love my lattes but I need to substitute my cravings with 0 calorie water. 
2. Be punctual. I'm the worst person when it comes to being on time. That's a horrible habit that I need to break, especially in the work field. I never leave myself enough time to get ready, or I just underestimate how long I actually take to get up. 
3. Focus on my health. I just turned 23 (yikes to mid twenties). I have to buckle down and really take care of my body. I may not look overweight, but for my height I have a lot of extra chubs to get rid of. Living a healthier lifestyle for 2015 and on is a must. That means eating healthier and putting in time at the gym at least 4-5 times a week. 
4. Cook more often. I'm not the best in the kitchen, but when I am it's probably with instant easy meals to make. I want to learn how to make healthy yet delicious meals. 
5. Stop procrastinating. That's self explanatory. Being proactive especially when it comes to school work and projects is very important now that I bumped up my classes to 5 next quarter. 
6. Travel outside of the U.S. California and Hawaii are beautiful places to visit/explore, but I want to travel to places that's way out of my comfort zone. One country that I've had my eye on is  Scotland. Fingers crossed for a trip to Aberdeen, Scotland (to visit my bestfriend)  this year! 
7. Make more time family. I've never been a huge family oriented person, but the older  I get the more important family means to me. I don't need to spend every waking moment with them, or share every detail of my life with them, but just making that extra call or text out to my parents and siblings back home would be nice. 
8. Quality over quantity. I'm referring to fashion and not people, although it goes both ways. The more I learn about fashion the more I want to start investing in pieces that will last me a lifetime, rather than buying something extremely cheap, but having it fall apart with the first couple washes. Unfortunately, with quality comes cost...so this one will be a struggle. 

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2015!