The Rest/30: Dump.

Am I lumping four five whole posts in one?

You bet I am.

I lost momentum in the last ten days or so,

and this Blogging Challenge kind of took the hit.

Posting every day took away from visiting other blogs

and commenting/reaching out to other bloggers on a regular basis. 

I didn't like that very much.

HOWEVER.

It was fun while it lasted, 

so let's finish this thing off strong, alright?

---

Day 26 of the Blogging Challenge:

Talk about some of the times you got in trouble as a child or teenager.

{Irrelevant, but... #OnceATrickster #AlwaysATrickster}

Honestly, I don't think I was too big of a troublemaker,

(I can already hear my parents crying tears of mirth right now...)

and can't think of any stand-out stories to tell.

Most of the times I got in trouble was in middle school,

when I would come home with a B,

 or didn't practice piano for two days straight.

(Asian parents, holla!)

Oh, ahem, I got a C+ in Algebra in 8th grade,

and the world ended a little bit.

The only other circumstance that comes to mind right now,

is when I was five years old and stole the last popsicle,

the one that I was supposed to give to my grandpa.

He didn't mind very much, but other people still yelled at me.

I'm a popsicle thief, what can I say.

I also bit my sister's arm when I was a baby in my swinging chair thing,

and she was taking a nap.

She still has the teethmarks to prove it.

DISCLAIMER: I'm almost positive my parents could

write a novel with all of the stories they have of the

trouble I've gotten myself into. But I would rather 

not have them reminding me of the things I've spent

a decade trying to forget.

---

Day 27 of the Blogging Challenge:

What is the nicest thing anybody has ever done for you?

via

I've been very blessed and have been surrounded

by supportive and encouraging people all my life,

so I can't really narrow down the "nicest" thing anyone has

ever done for me. I mean, that prize might have to go to my

parents for housing me and feeding me and raising me,

and my sister for sharing those parents with me,

especially because I'm the biggest brat I know.

Fun little surprises and heartfelt moments - those are nice, too.

 All of the little surprises on my birthday every year from my friends,

 or, when my grandfather passed away last year 

and I had just said goodbye to him on the phone - 

my dearest guy friends each hugged me tight and left my room, 

but then went and found all of my closest girlfriends 

to come in and sit with me while I cried - 

or when my roommate surprised me with Starbucks after a tough final,

 or even when an elderly gentleman stopped me in the mall the other day,

 to tell me that I am a "very beautiful young woman,"

 the likes of which "didn't exist in his day."

These are the moments that tug at my heartstrings.

---

Day 28 of the Blogging Challenge:

Where do you feel most at home? And, describe your dream home.

I feel most at home - wait for it -

at home. 

In my bed, reading my favorite blogs,

watching March Madness with my Daddy,

and listening to my mom yell at me every other minute,

and then feeding me my favorite foods the very next.

Second place goes to my bed at Stanford

(do you see a pattern here, I ask you?) -

it's my very favorite place ever,

and I would not leave... if I didn't have to eat.

Dream Home:

Big windows and lots of light,

subway tiles everywhere,

lots of neutrals with pops of gold and pink and brass,

a palace of a bathroom (or four),

a big fluffy bed,

a luxurious infinity pool,

dark wood floors,

and of course an insane closet.

Oh wait, I'm sorry. I just described Pinterest to you.

{images collected over the years; let me know if you know a source!}

---

Day 29 of the Blogging Challenge:

Describe your best friend.

I have lots of them,

I've already established that.

But this is my big sister Sarah,

and I would do anything in the world for her.

There are no words in this language

to describe how much I love her.

(And I'm sorry I bit you when I was a baby.)

(I swear I'm not trying to do it again in this picture.)

---

FINALLY:

Day 30 of the Blogging Challenge:

Another picture of you, 3 things you like about yourself, & 3 things to improve on.

3 Things To Work On:

01. The ability to resist temptation. (I've got none of that in me.)

02. Time management.

03. Putting myself on a budget.

3 Things I Like About Myself:

01. My ability to stay optimistic in 95% of situations.

02. How I make the conscious effort to be thankful (most of the time).

03. I hold those who I love very close to my heart & will do absolutely anything for them.

We started out with a picture from my photo-shoot with Mollie,

so I thought it'd be fitting to end with one as well.

I'm particularly loving this one because I feel it's incredibly "true personality" of me -

very, very imperfect, but also extremely happy!

---

And, that's a wrap for the Blogging Challenge!

Regular programming will be back on April 1!

(April Fools?)

4

March Favorite Things

March.

'Twas an extremely busy and stressful month,

but it was capped off with a whole week of doing

absolutely nothing. Oh wait, that's not quite accurate...

I was busy catching up on Once Upon A Time episodes.

Speaking of - all of Emma's potential love interests -

Captain Hook, Neal, August, Jefferson...

be still, my conflicted heart!

Here are some of my other favorite things from the month of March:

01.

I bought this on a whim,

and am now profusely thanking my spontaneous tendencies.

You can literally use this for ANYTHING -

I use it to condition my hair, moisturize my elbows, face, and body,

and I'm thinking about taking a spoonful everyday in my coffee or eggs.

It makes my skin baby's-bottom-soft.

Unforeseen use: emergency air freshener when driving by a smelly cow pasture.

02. 

I earned Gold Card status back in October,

but apparently my love of Starbucks is unrequited,

because they never sent me my bling.

One strongly-worded letter later, and here she is!

At least she tells me what I want to hear -

I'm putty in her hands already.

03. 

For my flights home last weekend,

we arrived early both times by about ~20-25 minutes,

and I got the emergency row aisle seat on both planes -

for the first flight, I was even in the B Boarding Group too!

Probably my two most efficient flights ever -

I was just chilling with my music and my magazines, livin' the life.

I hope I didn't run out of flying luck for my flight back to school!

04.

This show is pure gold.

24karat business right there.

I mean, I already knew Chelsea is hysterical,

but then add her hilarious office cast & this show

literally has me slapping my knees.

New favorite show.

05. 

For Winter Quarter's traditional (No) Finals Trip to Los Angeles,

my roommate and I gallivanted around the City of Angels Beautiful People & Expensive Cars,

and made it our goal to try and gain 50 pounds as quickly as possible.

Here, I have Cherry Vanilla + Thin Mint (!!!!!) ice cream from Sprinkles.

Next time, I'm getting the cupcake tops too.
(LA posts to come next week - woohoo, party up in here!)

...and, I'm out.

xx

PS. Linking up over at Dancing With Ashley today!

6

25/30: My Wise _____ Once Said...

Day 25 of the Blogging Challenge:

(five more days!)

what is the best advice you've ever received?

source unknown - the best token of life's wisdom out there, don't you think?

Over the almost-twenty years of my existence

(birthday month, I see you coming up!),

I've received plenty of solid advice from friends and family.

There have been the time-honored, and very necessary

words of wisdom such as: be kind, follow your dreams, moisturize,

eat your greens (still working on that one), the hardest part is always starting,

etc. etc.

There are two very particular pieces of advice, however,

that have stayed with me through the years and helped me immensely.

And those are the ones I'd like to share with you today:

1. When you taste something delicious,

hoard it and feast upon it every chance you get.

(Just kidding.)

(Not really, but let's pretend.)

THE REAL #1 PLEASE STAND UP:

#1. I forget who told me this,

but someone very, very wise said that whenever

you fail at something, or whenever you don't get what you want,

think about this:

what makes you so entitled?

and that will change your entire perspective,

make you work harder,

and/or work differently to gain what you want so badly to achieve.

and

#2. My middle school orchestra director, Mr. D,

once told me to never use the word "hate,"

because it's too strong of a word - he said to use

"strongly dislike" instead. I slip up every now and then,

but it has still given me perspective on what I truly love and hate -

there are very few things in the world that I actually hate (and should hate),

and it's very liberating to realize that.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

6

23 and 24/30: Poetry and Soulmates

Yesterday, I once again failed at posting

for the Blogging Challenge on time,

and I'll thank the weariness from traveling for that.

But then I looked at the topics for yesterday and today,

and realized these two were meant to go hand and hand!

Poetry and soul-mates!

Poetry to obtain a soul-mate, perhaps?

All kidding aside,

Day 23 of the Blogging Challenge:

share your favorite poem.

via

I'm scatter-brained and cannot find my favorite poem for the life of me- it's a recent favorite that I found on an adorable blog that has since disappeared from my bookmarks. I can't remember the name or the poet, and only that it was about gratitude and I shared it with my creative writing class last quarter. Hopefully, a piece of rumpled notebook paper with it is stashed in my dorm room somewhere. While you wait on bated breath for that moment (don't) - I'll share with you a lovely poem I found while Googling up a frenzy last night for "thanks poem" "poem about gratitude" "favorite thanksgiving poems" "poetry thankful gratitude" "SOMEONE PLEASE JUST TELL ME WHAT THIS GOSH-DARN POEM IS, I'M SORRY I FORGOT."

Anyway, it's just as lovely:

DO IT ANYWAY

by Mother Theresa

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; 

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere, people may cheat you;

Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, someone could destroy overnight;

Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it will never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God;

It was never between you and them anyway.

Wasn't that just beautiful?

...and...

Day 24 of the Blogging Challenge:

do you believe in soul-mates?

via

{cheers to all the wonderful people in our lives.}

If you've read this post or this one,

you'll know that I do - and not just the conventional ones either.

I believe in the idea that there are certain people out there,

who you were meant to meet,

and who you were meant to impact and who were meant to impact you in return.

I believe that when you finally do meet them,

it suddenly makes sense why everything had to happen the way they did -

they were all just a series of events to lead you to meet this person.

I do believe in soul mates -

and not just the true-love-Cinderella-and-Prince-Charming kind,

but also in the kind of soul mates who come together

as best friends, or as family, or mentor/mentee, or even an animal and a human.

And now, I'm off to watch my homegirl J. Law in

Silver Linings Playbook.

Ciao!

6

21 and 22/30: Keys to Happiness + Today.

ALL DONE.

DEUCES, WINTER QUARTER.

FOREVER.

I'm just a little happy in case you couldn't tell.

(This happiness might also be from UNC's stellar game right now.)

(Knock on wood.)

I missed yesterday's Blogging Challenge post,

because I was busy pulling my hair out,

wanting this final to just get with the program and be done.

So firstly,

Day 21 of the Blogging Challenge:

what are your keys to happiness?

(I'm taking friends & family & everything mentioned in

this post out of the running, because that'd be silly.)

My keys of happiness are...

via

Soup.

Especially tomato-basil soup right now.

This one looks knock-me-over-and-name-me-Sal good.

(I have no idea what I just said.

Zip. Zilch. Nada.)

via

When Harry Potter stars kill me with their adorable-ness,

and I just want to jump out the window

(in a good way)

with Tweets like this one.

via

Shoes.

What I would give up for a closet like this one -

the answer scares me just a tad.

source unknown.

Coffee.

It warms my soul.

Also, check this out (thanks Lauren!) -

coffee shop ambiance without the coffee shop prices!

via

and...

Traveling.

Who wouldn't be happy w/ a passport in hand,

and thoughts of a new destination in mind?

Trolls, that's who.

Secondly,

Day 22 of the Blogging Challenge:

what is something about today that you don't want to forget?

The feeling of being done with the hardest quarter ever.

AND - 

That Tarheels win.

The second half was tough, 

but we made it through -

and now onto the next!

5

20/30: It's All About Caroline/a

Only 10 more days to go with this Blogging Challenge!
My present self (so, my future self to my past self - mindgames)

is so very thankful for my subconscious deciding

to do this challenge for the month of March.

For one, it's been the busiest month so far,

what with spontaneous trips to LA
(can't wait to share more!) and Finals Week.

So as I'm struggling to the finish line

(literally typing my last lines of code forever as I speak, I'm so happy),

it's nice to have these readily-made & short/sweet prompts to answer.

I have missed visiting all of your blogs though,

so I'm so excited to be back for real next week!

Day 20 of the 30 Day Challenge:

what is your favorite song?

via

I would say my absolute favorite song(s),

are a three-way tie between

Carolina On My Mind - James Taylor,

Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond,

and Moon River - Henry Mancini.

What can I say,

I love my name!

(and Breakfast at Tiffany's, of course!)

6

19/30: Plans? What Plans?

Day 19 of the Blogging Challenge:

what are your plans for the next year or so?

via

I don't plan into the future,

and that fact about me 

could either be my biggest advantage,

or my biggest weakness.

I like to see where life takes me,

what plans the universe has planned for me,

and then work with it from there.

It's also because I believe planning things

jinxes those very plans.

What do I have planned for the next year or so?

Not much.

It'll be something along the lines of,

finding an internship and working over the summer,

coming back to Stanford in the fall,

and working on my degree,

and then hopefully getting to travel abroad

sometime in the winter.

(I just jinxed myself, didn't I?)

And then senior year.

Wow.

Let's not even go there.

3

18/30: Yo Hablo

Day 18 of the Blogging Challenge:

what language(s) do you speak?

Relatively straightforward question.

via

I am fluent in English & Mandarin,

and know a smattering of Spanish.

Hola.

I also speak:

celebrity gossip,

sales and deals and Louboutins,

Tarheel love,

Harry Potter quotes,

brunch all food,

girl talk,

and with you guys - 

the language of blogging.

Oh yes, there is such a thing.

Link ups and sponsorships,

GFC and Bloglovin',

giveaways and scheduled posts...

It's a language in itself.

I have as proof the strange stares from non-bloggers

when I mention any of the above.

Have a lovely evening, friends!

7

17/30: Hello, LA!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, you leprechauns!

Hope you're getting your fair share of green (and gold)!

Day 17 of the Blogging Challenge:

what are you looking forward to the most?

As I am typing this,

I am sitting in my roommate's bedroom at home,

in Orange County.

Our tradition every Finals Week,

is to either travel somewhere (it's only been LA so far),

or to have friends come visit us.

Raise your eyebrows all you want,

but it's actually quite conducive to my studying habits

(aka I work well under pressure).

With that said,

I am looking forward to what's all going to go down in LA

today and tomorrow:

Diddy Riese (check!),

Bowl of Heaven,

Griffith Observatory,

Bottega Louie,

Sprinkles Ice Cream,

Georgetown Cupcakes,

Old bookstores,

LACMA,

Cafe Rio (!!!!),

CHELSEA LATELY,

and more!

Be prepared to be bombarded with LA photos next week.

#CCTakesLA.

Also,

Spring Break's next week,

and I'm going home to Houston,

and I'm looking forward to a big bowl of beef noodle soup upon arrival.

7

16/30: Two Years.

Day 16 of the Blogging Challenge:

how have you changed from two years ago?

Easy.

high school graduation, june 2011.

Two years ago, I was still in high school,

living the extra sheltered life.

I went to school, came home and did homework, and then put that on repeat.

I relied on my parents for everything.

To this day, I've never washed the dishes.

I don't know how to turn on the stove.

My job was to focus on school and get into college.

But now.

In these two years, I've learned worlds about myself.

I've cultivated my passions, figured out my beliefs and values,

figured out what I wanted to do with my life.

And somewhere in the midst of all that,

I've learned how to do my own laundry,

take public transportation and find my way around,

get a job and therefore have my own spending money,

fly on airplanes independently,

and loads of other real world practical knowledge.

Actually upon second thought,

I'm pretty sure that's pretty much it.

All of this learning for the last two years,

have simply been... liberating.

ps. I know I've been lacking on the visiting other blogs & saying hello

to you all front - forgive me, it's been a nightmare around here lately,

but i'll be back on the grind soon! :)

5

15/30: I Believe...

Woohoo - halfway done!

Day 15 of the Blogging Challenge:

List five things you believe in strongly.

(look at pretty angels - paige, kylie, and karen.)

(welp, scary no-makeup face. sorry.)

(BUNNIES.)

(& fluffy chickens. and unpictured #BabeThePig and #NoNameGoat.)

(stay tuned about this one!)

(Disclaimer: of course, this doesn't include my ultimate beliefs:

family, friends, good food, and a gracious God.)

4

14/30: A Day in the Life

For the first time in a really long time,

I'm done with all of my work.

(Disregarding next week's final, papers, and assignments.)

I don't even know what to do with myself right now.
But this is what I did do in the course of the day,
as per Day 14 (Happy Pi Day) of the Blogging Challenge:
what did you do today?

3/14/13:

6:05 - alarm goes off.

I need to get up & finish my final essay for Communications.

Problem: my hand has learned to turn off my 10 alarms

without my brain knowing.

7:04: wake up.

until 7:57: essay-writing.

It's about blogging.

I'm loving this.

until 8:34: reading blogs & getting clothed.

until 10:15: Communications lecture.

last class!

until 11ish: facetime w/ parents, derp around on my phone.

until 12:03: naaaaaptime! (best time.)

until 12:48: lunch. it's pizza & salad day.

the only time i see any semblance of vegetables ever.

until 1:00: listening to breakaway by kelly clarkson on repeat
while straightening my hair.
it's short now & doesn't need to be straightened,
but i got hungry & it's too soon after lunch to get away with eating,
and the hot straightener smell makes me think of cookies in an oven.

until 1:50: picked out a new outfit
and did my makeup.
yes, i'm aware we're already more than halfway through the day.

until 4:00 - work.

(mah office.)

until 4:45 - it's such a beautiful day,
so i met with my girl lolo outside of starbucks,
and i sipped my passion tea lemonade 
while browsing the web.
freedom is sweet.

until 5:30 - food.

until 7:00 - food coma.
don't know what's happening.
("doing work" in the Old Union.


not actually.)

until 8:05 - Comm section.
last class of the quarter!
such a relief.

until 8:25 - a nice walk home.

until 9:30 - the roommate and i picked up
KB, who is on the softball team, and Lauren.
Made a Target run.
Hid cookies and candy and drinks in purse.
(post-purchase, obviously.)

until 12:30 - went to see Oz.
(that's where the cookies and drinks come in.)
a much better movie than i had expected - 
it was hysterical!
and i want a zach-braff-monkey of my own, please.

at 1:05 - zonked out.

4

13/30: Gosh Darnit, I Have Too Many Soulmates...

I just got off my soapbox from yesterday,

about how my freshman dorm-mates are my soulmates.

Today, I'm going to show you another set of soulmates.

I'm guilty of having so many, I know it,

but believe me when I say I'm not exaggerating -

when I met the people I refer to endearingly as soulmates,

my soul literally figuratively (whatever) woke up a little and said,

"oh there you are, I didn't even know I was missing you!"

Sappiness over, I swear.

Day 13 of the Blogging Challenge: 

someone or something you miss.

I met these three girls on the first day of EPGY,

a summer writing camp at Stanford the summer after of junior year.

We first started hanging out after

drawing chalk images of the Hogwarts Express and Death Eaters,

and then building a sandcastle of Hogwarts.

(Yes, I did say we met junior year and not kindergarten.)

Through the next three weeks,

we did absolutely everything together.

There were many moments where

we laughed so hard, we fell on the sidewalk for many minutes.

In the above picture,

we had paid a biker boy person $5

to bike us from the dining hall back to the dorm

(a whole 1 mile).

I love and miss these girls like crazy,

and can't wait until the day we are reunited as a foursome!

(Sappiness over, for real this time.)

6

12/30: Happiness Is...

Can we first just talk about how it's MARCH 12 already?

In terms of marking off holidays through the year

(because that's how sane people keep track of time obviously)

we've only got St. Patty's, Easter, my birthday (yeah that's right),

Memorial Day, Fourth of July, the birth of the royal fetus (yeah. that's right. again.),

Labor Day, and then it's Halloween again. It was just Halloween.

Mindblown.

Aaaaand.... back to business we go.

Day 12 of the Blogging Challenge:

Close your eyes. Think of a time you were very happy.

you mean to tell me you don't spend your time trying to get Oreos from your eyeball into your mouth?

I have my entire freshman year in my mind.

Not just my freshman year - but my freshman dorm.

I sound like an old broken record by now,

but truly, truly I've met my soulmates here.

My soulmates do strange ish, that's the moral of the story.

In seriousness though,

it's those little moments I miss so much.

Simply sitting in the hallways doing our homework together.

All of us eating our meals together in our dorm eating area just for us.

Bus rides to Tahoe for a ski weekend,

opera trips where we dressed all fancy but fell asleep,

nighttimes when we meandered around the halls finding people to chat with.

And then there's this year,

where I spend my daytime and my nighttime and all-time

except naptime doing computer science homework.

Done with life. Bye.

5