“The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco”

I’ve ben going to San Francisco once or twice a year since graduating college to visit my friends that’ve moved up there for various reasons -- being part of the tech capital, grad school, the feeling of being part of a “ real city,” etc. Being a SoCal girl, sometimes I don’t get why anyone would want to live somewhere where it’s rainy half the time and it’s winter in the summer. (Frizzy hair has just never been my thing)

But then every time I go there, I always come back wondering why I don’t live there. I love walking around the streets and seeing independent restaurants and shops and not just the average Chili’s and Rubio’s.

Being with my friend from college and her group of guys friends, of course we ordered the largest one possible -- the 5 LITER STEIN!

5. Liters. Worth of Beer. In One Mug.

I couldn’t even pick it up until it was passed around a few times. I think it was larger than my entire head. We continued on the night with a few more bars and a couple too many shots, and ended with “Club Cab” (obnoxiously loud blasting house music thru the SF hills) and the makings of a nice hangover for the next morning.

Hannah and I halfway through the 9-mile trek 

After pulling myself together with a big brunch, I got a grand trip around the city and we took a 9 mile trek along the embarcadero to the Golden Gate Bridge and through the Marina. Of course I used this as an excuse to eat my weight in chocolate at Ghirardelli Square, saw some nice views of the America’s Cup Sailing tourney that was being set up for 2013, and then passed out until we ended up getting sushi and going out with more college friends in the Marina. 

Although my heart is here in LA, there’s always a part of me that feels so comfortable being up north in SF. It’s a mild combination of LA and New York and I love it. As long as find a good way to keep my hair tame during the consta-mist weather, it could be a perfect fit... One day.

“The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco” -- Mark Twain

Oh by the way...

Back from a long hiatus :)

Look at My Outfit---You Owe Me a Drink!

WOMEN: Hair cut, hair dye, hair accessories. Shirts, skirts, jeans, leggings, dresses. Earrings, necklaces, bracelets. SHOES-- flats, boots, heels, sandals. Nail poslish; manicure, pedicure. Makeup--various. Perfume, lotion. Waxing-- eyebrows, down there, other. MUST NOT REPEAT often, MUST come up with different combinations. Shower, hair blow dry, hair straighten/accessorize. Design outfit. Put on makeup.
MEN: Cheap hair cut, or do by self. Buy clothing and shoes a few times a year, who cares if it is worn more than once. Shoes, repeated often. Cologne. Shower, shave, dress.
Listed above are the various steps that each gender has to take in order to prepare to look nice, presentable, and attractive before going out. Especially in the single life when one wants to impress others who they will possibly encounter, it's important to be prepared to look great. It's obvious that women have much more maintenance that they need to take care of before hand--planning to take care of things during the day, much different than men who mostly focus on just getting ready that night, maybe just less than an hour before. Not to mention the female lifestyle being MUCH more expensive. And this is EXACTLY why it is expected that men buy us drinks, and why it's acceptable for a girl to get a drink bought for her and ultimately not be interested in the guy. The price of a girl's maintenance, time, and products are equal, if not more, then the price a guy will pay for a $5-$10 drink. Both are tactics to impress the other, and equal out financially in the battle of the sexes.
I get mad when I hear a guy complain about buying a girl a drink and not even getting anything out of it, even just a number. I understand the feeling of rejection isn't great, and that does take more of an emotional tole. HOWEVER, isn't it the same for a guy being interested in a girl only for one male-drive purpose, and not for the longer-than-one-night desire that a woman may have? Same/similar emotional tole. It ALL equals out!
Men should be respectful when they find a girl attractive and do something or pay the price for all the effort she went through to look good for someone just like him that night. My bottom line is this-- MEN: Don't be cheap and think your good wasted dollars aren't going to use--she paid just as much or more to look nice for you! And WOMEN: don't feel guilty or think you owe a guy something because he spent a few bucks on you. Think about all the time, effort, and cash you spent on looking nice for that night!

UCLA beats....#7 Texas???

My friends and I walked into Cabo Cantina early Saturday afternoon getting ready to drown our Bruin sorrows with their $10 bottomless mimosa deal because our notably unranked team that is the laughing stock of the Pac-10 was playing the powerhouse team, the Texas Longhorns. Texas has made championship games, high ranked bowl games, and has sent numerous players to NFL in the past few years. In other words, their football team is awesome.

After having a losing football team for all four years I was at UCLA, I was most definitely expecting a major loss for this game—exactly why we chose the bottomless mimosas. We weren’t about to be soberly ridiculed by the majority of the people there, the USC fans who were watching their team score against Washington State on every possession. Need I mention we were the sole Bruin fans there, sitting in a sea of red? We were up for it though, just as long as we had a good waitress that could constantly refill our drinks.

All of these poor expectations, the USC game blasting on 8 of the 10 tv’s at Cabo Cantina, and not to forget the mimosas, was what made this Bruin victory against Texas so beautiful. I wouldn’t even call UCLA an under dog, they were just simply a joke. It was like an elementary school kid playing Kobe Bryant in a one-on-one basketball game….and winning. At the beginning, every down we got was a huge celebration, you know, because that’s usually the best we get. When the touchdowns started coming in, and the Bruin defense took down the Texas offense time after time, the thought of winning actually became a reality. And we could not believe it, and neither could the USC fans, who started cheering for us as well (they hate Texas too, so why not root for the Pac-10 team).

Thank you, Kevin Prince (and Norm Chow) for finally going a full game without an interception, Jonathan Franklin’s amazing performance, rushing for 118 yds, and the defense’s incredible stopping, only allowing Texas one touchdown and one field goal through the entire game. (Final score: UCLA 34 – Texas 12)

The Bruins NEEDED this. Not just for Rick Neuheisel’s job, but for UCLA morale. Give us kids some hope. What an amazing day! (…Obviously not for Texas though, what a true embarrassment). Keep it up Bruins!

How Both Sides Still Suffer After a Decade: The NYC Mosque Protest Near Ground Zero

Last week, I visited New York City for my first time. Despite all of the remarks I’ve heard all my life about how it’s the greatest city in the world, the unbelievable pizza, the miles of incomparable shopping, and the “Sex and the City” high class night life, what I always associate New York with is the biggest day of history in my life, 9/11.
It would just so happen that the week that I visited New York was also right in the middle of the most recent controversy concerning the 9/11 attacks—the Muslim attempt to build a mosque only a few blocks away from the site of the World Trade Center.

So the real question is, who is right? Is it the Muslims who own the private property and have the constitutional right to build their mosque? Or is it the sensitivity of the families who lost loved ones after the attacks? In my opinion, both sides are very questionable. I had the privilege of speaking with protesters on both sides of the debate and honestly can’t really make up my mind to decide how this should be handled.
On one side, the Muslims do have every right to continue to build their mosque on their private property and have freedom of religion to use this site to pray. It is not just or fair to discriminate against every Muslim and associate the suicide bombers with each individual that supports these beliefs. Is every Christian responsible for the actions of the Nazis? Is every Jew responsible for crucifying Jesus? The generalized stereotype of the Muslim population as supporters of those that performed the attacks on 9/11 is very unconstitutional, and they should not be punished for the acts of a few. People held signs up that said “Mosque, Yes! Hate, No!”, “Love They Neighbor”, or “World Peace: Let it Begin with the US.”
However, the other side of the protest focused more on emotions and sentiments of the thousands of people that were lost in the attacks. Protesters mentioned that it was too soon for something like this, as well as too close. One woman was very passionate about this issue and kept screaming “No way! Noooo way are they getting that close after what they did!” In this instance, discrimination was very obvious. However, another couple was more peacefully protesting the issue, just saying that they lost a very close relative and a few very close friends, and that it just wasn’t time for something like that to be built. It hasn’t even been a decade yet since the attacks and everything is still very traumatic for some. In overlooking the issue, we as the people of the United States face a burning question: is it our responsibility to follow the guidelines of the Constitution and grant the privileges and freedoms to deserving citizens, or is it too soon to confront the blatant issue of anger and animosity, and continue to let the families of victims grieve? Hopefully this religious issue that has turned into political chaos will be resolved with compromise and peace, avoiding the hatred that it could potentially cause on both sides.

Will American Idol survive?

With the exit of Simon Cowell and his brutal, but let’s be honest, most respectable remarks, will the number one show on television be able to survive? Let’s back track to last year after the loss of my personal favorite, Paula Abdul, and her always slightly slow (hilariously drunk-ish) remarks. As much as I love Ellen DeGeneres, she honestly didn’t bring the musical touch or any kind of diversity to the table. She was too nice to the contestants and didn’t have much to criticize except possibly what they looked like or a few funny remarks here and there. Even she knows this considering she dropped out after only one season.
As obsessed as I became with the Adam Lambert, Kris Allen season, last year just didn’t do it for me. It was much harder for me to follow—but maybe that’s just because of the lack of talent and boringness of the contestants? Or was it because of the different judging dynamic with the lack of Paula-isms?
Now that Ellen is gone (nbd) and they’re thinking about letting Kara and Randy go, will the show be able to continue with a brand new panel of judges? Does it depend who they are, or has the whole show been put to shame forever with the huge loss of Simon? Because we’ve seen singers come and singers go—we need the controversial, funny, flirtacious attitudes of the judges! Not only that, but Rickey Minor, the band leader, who brought all the great compositions to the show, has gone to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Will whoever this new guy is perform to our musical standards?
With the recent rumors of possible getting Steven Tyler from Aerosmith or Jennifer Lopez, it looks like FOX has taken a turn for a total celebrity panel, which would definitely keep viewers initially interested, but in my opinion, will not keep the show at number one. They should have let the show exit in style instead of watching such a great American classic crumble for its last season. Seacrest out!

Facebook: The College Lifestyle

Four years ago I was accepted into UCLA. After the initial excitement of getting into the university and submitting my intent to attend, the next most exciting thing was getting my e-mail address. Why? Because I could get a Facebook account…. Yes! The hype to join the exclusive college network was thrilling because all of a sudden, me and other students were introduced to our new classmates by the click of a button. Although Facebook has now opened up to almost everyone, including our parents (who would have thought?), it has become a vital part of the social scene at almost all universities, high schools, and has even been introduced to the adult and business worlds.

Recently graduating from UCLA, I look back at my college experience and can’t even imagine how my social life would have played out without Facebook. Each time Mark Zuckerberg decided to change around the format, (in which people got really upset about change until the next one appeared, when they would wish they had the former one back), a piece of my social life at UCLA drastically changed. This includes the introduction of the news feed, status updates, and Facebook chat—all which made it easier not only to keep in touch with people that I normally wouldn’t converse with, but honestly, let’s admit it, to view other people’s pictures and activities and make a judgment of how they live their lives.

What would the last four years be like without Facebook events? Tagging photos? Reading other people’s wall-to-wall conversations? Being in an “official” Facebook relationship? Knowing the life story of the person you see at that party without ever having met them? Yes, to anyone not of the Facebook generation this may seem completely crazy and perhaps even a bit stalkerish, but to our generation it’s very normal, if not vital to our socializing.

However, there are of course many downfalls to Facebook that affect the college student in a negative way. The issue of being Facebook friends with an ex girlfriend or boyfriend can have an enormous impact on trying to get over them. Inadvertently you run into their pictures and are forced to view images of their “oh so fun” single life, see other people writing on their walls, and basically viewing what their life is like without you—of course posted online in the most positive light for them to make it look like their doing great. It’s not natural to be forced to see these things when trying to get over a relationship.

Also, the fact that all of this personal information and possible inappropriate pictures are stored online can be detrimental in the workplace. Not only can employers view a horrendous picture of you doing a keg stand in your bra (no this did not happen to me, just an example!) and decide not to hire you, but they can also catch lies about excuses you have made, such as reading your status that reads you are at the beach when you told them you were on your way to the dentist.

Overall, Facebook has highly affected not only our social scene, but our professional lives as well .To imagine college without the online social network is trying to imagine what life was like before cell phones---oh wait…