A Birthday to Remember

Today is my birthday! I'm probably just gonna go to Starbucks to get my free drink/food item and go out to dinner with my roommate and some friends tonight, but I already celebrated most of my birthday a few days ago!

If you know me, you know how much I've always wanted to have a debut. (Note: Debut - Celebration in the Filipino culture when a girl turns 18 to represent that she is a woman; similar to a quinceañera/Sweet 16) Anyway, I didn't have one when I turned 18 last year because of money and I was away at college, so I wouldn't have had enough time to have one. It's just something I'd always wanted since I was a kid. 

My wonderful roommate, Alissa, however, took the initiative to plan a modified version of one for me! Long story short, I got dressed up for the occasion and got blind-folded before being taken to Corona Del Mar State Beach. I didn't know where we were going, and although I'm usually not particularly a fan of the beach, for what Alissa did for me, I think it was perfect. 

When I got to our destination, I walked over with Alissa and a few other friends while blindfolded to where we were going to be for the evening. When the blindfold was taken off, there were all my Vanguard friends standing in a line, all screaming "Happy birthday!" to me. I was so touched. Afterwards, I was able to have a photoshoot with all of them as the sun was setting. 

Unfortunately at this time, there was still no Darell. About halfway through the shoot, however, I saw someone walking from a distance, and I recognized his walk. I realized it was Darell and our guy friends and I booked it over to them and nearly tackled Darell to the ground. I was so happy that he was there! We took more pictures before Tammy took me over to have my own photoshoot. 

After about half an hour of taking pictures of each other, Alissa finally called me over and I came over to a pathway lined with (fake, but still real-looking) candles! Most of my friends were standing on either side of the candles so I wasn't sure what was going to happen. With Darell at the end of it, I almost thought someone was going to marry us. 

But no, I walked down the aisle and stood at the end of it. Then, one by one, each of my friends came up with a rose to greet me. The whole setup was a mash-up of the debut's traditional candles and roses. And of course, when we got to the last rose, it was none other than Darell himself. He decided to be a little daring and put the rose in his mouth as if we were going to salsa or something, and everyone was shocked but in a good way. We all loved it and thought it was funny and cute of him to do so. 

We ended the ceremony with a dance to our song, A Thousand Years by Christina Perri, played by my friend Paul and sung by my friends Kaciny, Janelle, and May. It was a little awkward cause we were basically "going in circles on rhythm" according to Darell, but honestly, I didn't care. I loved it because Darell doesn't normally put himself out there like that, so I appreciated it so much. He was the only person I really paid attention too at that point. 

When the song ended, we took some more pictures as a group before heading to In-n-Out. We had dinner there and hung out with Darell, the guys, my friends Ben and Joel, and Alissa in our room before I left for home with the guys. 

Okay, so that post ended up being longer than I thought, but nonetheless, it was an amazing day. It was a night to remember, that's for sure. I did more things for my birthday with my parents and last night, but I'll write about that in another post. I'll just leave you with some great pictures that my friend Tammy took from Saturday to enjoy! They should speak for themselves [:

If you know Darell, then you would understand why this is my favorite picture from the night. ♥  

It was a magical night. And on an even brighter note, I'm finally 19!

Chau for now♥

I'm Tired of Small Talk

"Hey, how are you?" "Good! You?" "Good."

And so that is the way that most conversations go between most people at my school--that may also even be the case elsewhere.

Now I know that in college you get busy so many times you don't have time to have full-on conversations with people, but is there a way to get out of having the same old small talk with everyone?

Think about it. Out of all the people that you interact with on any given day, how many do you actually have a conversation with, one that consists of more than the impersonal "hey, how are yous" and the many "goods" that come right after. Better yet, how many times are you actually feeling "good" (or should I say--well) when you answer that question?

Maybe not all of those "how are yous" are completely impersonal because I try to mean it most of the time when I ask people the question. I just wish there was a more honest way to respond when people ask it back. Most days, I really am feeling "good" but I want to find another way to respond to break the typical answer.

Here's another good one. If you don't say "good," you say you're busy or tired. I know I do. And it is a valid response; being college students, we all know and realize that classes and jobs and homework take up most of our lives, therefore making us both busy and tired. But how do we get past these simple, one-worded answers? How do we have a more honest conversation with people as we pass by? Or when we do have a minute or two to talk to someone, how do we get past the small talk without going too deep right away? (Unless you consider that person a close friend of yours, I don't recommend going deep right after your "heys.")

If you're anything like me, you cherish and appreciate deep relationships with people. I have made it a goal for myself this school year to deepen the connections I have with the people I made friends with last year. It's much more difficult than I expected it to be--freshman year, all your friends were so accessible to you and events were created for you to be around and meet new people--but it is a challenge that I'm willing to work through. I'm willing to put in the effort to maintain friendships with the people I consider close to me as long as they're willing to meet me halfway. A mistake I made in high school was giving too much and not receiving enough back, and it put me under a lot of strain that was not necessary.

Is there ever truly a way to get out of small talk? How do we get past it and further our friendships? We don't need to get to the nitty gritty of our childhood stories with everyone, but it would be nice to know more about the people around me rather than how "good" they are feeling.

Taking Safety to Another Level with React Mobile

I remember my freshman year of high school when I was walking home with a friend of mine when a couple older girls stopped us. They had asked us if we lived in the area before threatening us with a gun, so they went through our bags and stole all the cash we had on us (thank God it wasn't much) and my iPod, worth about $300 at the time.

Eventually, the girls and their accomplices got caught, but not before they were able to rob a few other people from my school as well. Thankfully, none of us got hurt in the process, but it was still a terrifying experience.

The Home page

Robb Monkman created a free app for the iPhone and some Android devices to prevent incidents like mine from happening after he, himself was held at gunpoint while in college. React Mobile is an app that was launched earlier this year to help protect students from becoming victims of crimes and to prevent other crimes from happening, if spotted from afar. The app turns your smartphone into a safety tool for you to have the ability to inform close contacts and/or your social media sites of your whereabouts at any given time, if you allow the app to do so.

With the push of a button, one is able to send an SOS alert with your GPS location to the authorities, and to whoever you decide to tell. Users also have the option of posting the alert to Facebook and Twitter. The app automatically dials 911 if an SOS alert is triggered.

The screenshot just after sending an SOS
alert.

React Mobile, however, doesn't need to be used just for emergencies. The app has been created so that it is available for everyday use as well, if necessary. The "Follow Me" feature allows users to notify friends and family of their location in real-time if they are every concerned for their own safety. Friends and family have the ability to view the user's location and track them until they get to their destination. This feature would be especially useful if someone was running around at night or if they were meeting someone for the first time or going to an unfamiliar place. I hope that I will never have to use this app, but it is very comforting to know that I have a way to safety, if necessary.

I always say that classic quote, "it's better to be safe than sorry," and I honestly hold that to be true. I encourage downloading the React Mobile app to have it handy if (God-forbid) you were to be placed in an unsafe position. You never know, it just might save your life.

The "Follow-Me" feature

The map of someone tracking you using
the "Follow Me" feature

Still not convinced?
Visit React Mobile's website: http://reactmobile.com
Blog: http://reactmobile.tumblr.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/ReactMobile
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ReactMobile.com

Chau for now, & stay safe!

This post was sponsored by React Mobile. 

Making Your Dorm Room Pinteresting

The past few days have been spent organizing and decorating my new dorm room as much as I can before school starts. I've been doing a lot of things with my job as a Diversity intern and as a music student, but in my free time, I've been getting creative and crafty on a budget. 

I'm not completely done decorating my room just yet (but then again, when will I ever be), but I've gotten lots of it done through lots of little crafts here and there, all inspired by Pinterest!

A few of my projects that I've done over the past couple of weeks:

1. My homemade letter "k"
I'm actually pretty proud of myself for this one. I thought of this idea spontaneously when I was sitting at my desk on Friday night. I have always wanted to have a letter "K" for my initials to display on my wall or desk but just have never been able to buy a wooden one for myself. One of the girls on my floor just threw out a bunch of cardboard boxes that night so I decided to take a nice piece and make one for myself!

I traced the a letter "k" onto the cardboard before cutting it out, resulting in the picture above! 

Afterward, I took a pack of scrapbooking paper I bought from the 99 Cents store and wrapped it around the "k," thus resulting into the beauty on my wall. 

2. Paper Chains 

I took the same scrapbooking paper that I used for the "k" and cut them into strips. The best part was that it was reversible, so I could change up the pattern a bit and it still looks nice. I'm actually pretty proud of what I did with it. 

3. Cell phone case display

This one is the simplest and easiest to do out of everything I did: all you need are push pins, a cork board, and cell phone cases! In this case, I have the iPhone 4S, and when I was figuring out how to organize them without just throwing them into a drawer, I decided to just stick some push pins onto the board and hang them by the hole where the camera goes. And voilà, you're done! Because the camera isn't centered, the cases naturally tilt to the side, but I think that's what makes them so cool. 

4. Mason jars as pen/pencil holders

These mason jars were from the 99 Cents store, as well as the scrapbooking paper that is covering it. I simply cut the paper to fit the jars and wrapped them into a cylinder shape and stuck it in the jar. Simple as that!

5. Picture Display on the wall

You can probably tell from the pictures hanging by clothespins that this was definitely inspired by Pinterest. I made a couple adjustments, however. 

Instead of using hooks like in most pictures that I've seen (and what I've seen friends do), I used poster putty. I had an overabundance of it and not any of the hooks most people use. Because of that, I molded my poster putty into hearts so it'd look pretty and I attached the yarn to it. 

The yarn, clothespins, and picture frames are all from the 99 Cents store (isn't that so great? so many great things), while the poster putty is from what I had last year and some of the pictures were printed off of YorkPhoto. All other photos came from parties that had photo booths. 

That is basically my dorm room! My roommate and I are still looking for a couch to place in front of our tv, and I'm still looking for a canvas to paint something to put above my desk. Other than that, I'm pretty much golden. I love my room so much, and am pretty proud at what I was able to do with it. I hope y'all enjoyed seeing what I've done, and maybe I can help conjure up some inspiration for you as well. [:

Chau for now! ♥

Going Back to School: Before

It's that time of year, where everything about going back to school is on everyone's minds. From buying school supplies, to buying clothes, and moving out of your parents' homes to moving into your new dorm or apartment--this is a very exciting, but stressful time of the year. It is also very bittersweet because there's usually one of two feelings running through your head at this time: One: you're very excited to see friends again or move into your new dorm or two: you're hating the idea of homework and papers and deadlines once again.

If you're in college and living at school like I am, you have to pack up your stuff, buy (some) new stuff, and say bye to your friends once again before you go move into your new dorm or apartment. I'm currently less than a week away from moving back, and I feel like my life is so unorganized from everything I have yet to do.

This post is here to help prepare for going back to school! At first I was originally going to just write about everything going through my head, but most people feel the way I do when thinking about moving back to school or going back to school. Here are a few back to school tips to prep for before going back:

• Lists, lists, lists! Lists are how I keep my life organized! Right now I have lists of things to do, things to buy for my dorm room, and even things I need for this blog! Whenever I come up with something new or need something new, I just add it to my list and keep it near me so I can always add or cross things off as they happen. 
• Use Pinterest for inspiration! I've been obsessed with looking through Pinterest for design and organization inspiration for my desk and dorm room. There are so many cute and (sometimes) cheap ideas for crafts and other things to decorate your room! I'm making a list of things I need to recreate some of it [: Follow my Pinterest for some inspiration and ideas of your own!
• Go Thrifting: As I have mentioned before, thrift shopping is a great way, not only to buy cheap clothes, but to buy cheap furniture and other items as well! And you don't have to use things in the condition they're in. You can always repaint or reuse it for something else! For tips on thrifting, here's my previous post about it! 
• Keep, Store, Throw out: If you've been in college for more than a year, chances are you've realized that there are some things that you use more than others (and other things you don't use at all). When looking through your things, have three piles: keep, store, and throw out (or donate). Your keep pile will be everything you'll take back, the store pile will be for things to keep at home, and the throw out pile is for everything you don't need. That way, you won't have too many things in your tiny dorm room or apartment. If you'll be a freshman in college, you could always do this for cleaning out your room! This will make your room less cluttered when you come back home from school! (Your mom will also thank you, haha.)
• Take your time. The last thing you want to do is rush packing, only to find out you left all your underwear at home! This tip is especially important if you live a few hours away or out of state from your school. Another tip that goes well with this one is to double-check everything before you leave. This can also help if you're a forgetful person like I am (making a list would help make this part easier too!).

There you have it! These are my tips for a transition back to school that should be as smooth as possible. If you have any tips that I may have missed, please let me know in the comments below! I hope you have fun getting ready for school [: 

Chau for now!  ♥