in with the new

so i didn't bring my laptop home with me, but there really aren't many pictures to post. i spent a lot of time relaxing, doing nothing and being inspired by random things.

i'm not really one for new year's resolutions. if i do make them, it's not very seriously, and doesn't work out. instead i'm going to just fulfill one of the purposes of this blog: to travel more in 2009
-the boy and i are going to take a mini vacation during spring break. ideas so far: big bear, san diego, monterey, bodega bay. i've been to all but the first. but it'll be fun to explore together. i really want to soak in the location. find amazing cafes/restaurants. enjoy the natural beauty.
-hopefully this summer will entail a family vacation to the state of washington. seattle and the coastline/islands. (i voted no on cabo or desert. i dislike hot weather, and we've already done a desert trip...cold weather/pacific northwest PLEASE!)
-my dear friend goes to UCLA and has been getting around the greater los angeles area for the past 2 1/2 years using public transportation! needless to say she explores much more than the boy and i. so i plan on being introduced to cool places in downtown LA and beyond. first plan: LACMA to see the vanity fair photography exhibit. other ideas include getty villa and getty center, fashion district... she is my shot of culture :D

storytime!

well, when you miss a place so much your heart hurts, but you can't go back...the next best thing to do is spend time with the people you were there with.

cambridge girls reunion!


it almost felt like we were in a foreign country.
a)we spent more time together overseas, so it's weird being together in america
b)we ate at Javier's, a nice mexican restaurant. where the food was good and the waitstaff hardly spoke english.
we pretended we were taking a side trip to spain and that we'd be returning to cambridge. :) plenty of storytime and catching up on the past 3 months (and reminiscing of course). and delicious ensalada de asada followed by flan.
we were still missing our uc davis girls, but another reunion is in order in january.

torn

(photo by me)
the more i learn in my ethics class the more i want to:
a) pack up my things and move to england, preferably a small, country town like Bath. open up a flower shop or give historic tours.

OR

b)switch my major to poli sci, move to washington d.c. and try to change the world.

Professor Carroll is certainly intelligent, moreso than any other professor i think i've ever had. and insanely rational. although sometimes too rational for his own good. this class has challenged the way i think about every moral issue out there. i've either gone from having a solid opinion to being undecided or completely switching to the other side. it has made me think. think so much that it distracts me from my other schoolwork, from my daily life. it fascinates me. it also makes me realize how many uninformed and/or ignorant people there are out there. it makes me crave more knowledge. but ultimately, maybe surprisingly or rather thankfully, it has helped me strengthen, deepen and learn to defend my faith in the Lord.

and now, because I have only one final left and i'm trying to stay sane, and well we could all use a little humor in our lives:
this is all I can think of when I hear the word "torn"

escape

es⋅cape
1. to slip or get away, as from confinement or restraint; gain or regain liberty
15. avoidance of reality

as a college student i live off student loans and parents, or what i like to call negative income. when the wanderlust makes my heart want to burst, and i am reminded of the less than $100 in my bank account to last me the next two weeks; i must forego the desired plane ticket and escape with my english breakfast tea, dublin pub matchbook, italian leather bracelets and miniature le tour eiffel statue. photos and europe journal help as well...

paris

it's difficult to talk about paris.
it simply wasn't what i expected.
which is the problem.
i had the highest expectations for paris out of all the cities in my whole trip.
i had no expectations for london.
i figured cambridge would be cool but didn't know what to expect.
i actually didn't even want to go to Bath at first.
but paris...i thought it would be my favorite.
i set the bar too high.

i didn't realize it would be so hot. and humid. terribly humid. we spent a lot of time underground on the metro. which was definitely not glamorous. i feel like i didn't get to see the classic, fancy, romantic version of paris.

don't get me wrong, we managed to do A LOT in the 3 days we were there.
we have some amazing memories:

-like that tiny little restaurant around the corner from our hotel. it was empty and the waitress hardly spoke any english. but we had some delicious pizza and the best creme brulee of my life.
-or our constant quest for crepes. and eating lots of them. and eating one on the lawn under the eiffel tower.
-the wondrous gardens at versailles. that went on and on forever.
-being in the presence of such amazing works of art at the louvre.
-walking the champs de elysees
-climbing those 700 steps up the eiffel tower at sunset. and then watching the light show later when we were back on the ground.













i hope my next trip is something more like this:

(unknown)

ethereal

forgive my absence.
upper division engineering finals=death

i've been trying to find moments to chill out and not go insane.
so i bring you:
clouds of europe
something i wasn't expecting to find
yet i became so incredibly obsessed with the sky, especially in england/scotland.
London:



(trafalgar square)

(buckingham palace)

(cambridge)

(on the way to scotland)








(hadrian's wall)


(edinburgh)




(on a hike in the scottish highlands)

(outside my dorm window in cambridge one morning after a rain)






*since blogger is deciding to take 10 minutes to upload 5 pictures and is severely detracting from my study time, this will have to be clouds part 1



(also listening to Ray LaMontagne, whose voice just melts my heart)
currently: "winter birds" off his gossip in the grain album

transportation

i've always loved driving. from the moment i got my license. driving endlessly on back country roads in northern california. preferably on a rainy night. with really good music. it was soothing.

being in southern california, that love has been slipping away. i despise my commute to school now. even with knowing sidestreets that will take me there without even getting on the freeway. europe ended my love of driving. replacing it with the underground. and enhancing my love of trains.

i miss people watching. being crammed into a place with so many different personalities and trying to guess where they are going. like that one couple in London that was so dressed up, the lady's hairpiece was amazing. a gigantic, delicately crafted hat with all kinds of things piled on. probably from a quaint little english millinery shop. all those sweet men, young and old, who carried my luggage for the girls and i, up and down those dreaded stairs in the tube stations. the crazy street performers on the paris metro who would ride in the car with you. "la bamba" was a popular choice. the swaying sensation...i felt it even as i was trying to go to bed that night. waiting for the train to come. napping on those hot italian economy cars. the train station in venice, right on the water.



as much as i love my little camry with it's inexplicably great mpg. the monotony of the I-5 and I-405 are killing me.

i want to be here

side effects of fire (aka things learned in my meteorology class last spring): all the ash particles in the air are trapping solar energy close to the earth's surface. meaning it is about 90 degrees at my house. IN THE MIDDLE OF NOVEMBER. ahhhhhh. i definitely moved to the wrong part of the world.





all photos via underbaraclara

mammoth

found this cozy little spot in the visitor's center

mmmm snowy mountains


treeeesssss

condo+daddy



cousin sydney playing in the tiny patch of snow

the stove=breakfast hotspot

other worthy restaurants not photographed:
angel's (delish scones with honey butter as an appetizer)
slocums (upscale steakhouse, victorian decor with wood paneling and brass fixtures. the lobster bisque was wonderful. the bar got a bit rowdy though)
schat's bakery (many a trip to this german bakery=almond bear claw, apple danish cake, donuts...)


baby brother doesn't like his picture taken

i suppose i should listen because he's now about 8 inches taller than me

mahogany smoked meats in bishop, ca. jerky so magical it merited a stop on the way there AND back. goodies include various beef and turkey jerky, salami, pepperjack cheese, hot links and bacon.


and our solemn final stop. along the eastern sierras, before the desert, Manzanar, home to one of ten japanese internment camps during WWII. there is a small visitor's center with a documentary, artifacts and scaled model. only one of the buildings is still standing today.


unfortunately we spent a lot of the weekend watching fire updates on the news. we were a little concerned that we wouldn't be able to make it home, since my uncle and i needed to take the 91 to the 241. i tend to worry immensely and become paranoid when fires occur, which reminds me that all i can do is pray. my uncle is a firefighter and is specially trained for brush fires, so he was a little bummed to not be out there.
i took these as we drove out of the desert into rancho cucamonga.



this was from the 241 looking toward irvine

we drove right through corona and could see all the burned up hills.