8/52

There were only two things about this week that I didn't like: my exam on Tuesday, and the grade that I got on that exam. Other than that, this week was a blast. It was a shorter week since President's Day was on Monday, but the week felt jam packed with its ups and even its downs.

I spent most of the weekend after Pow Wow last week studying... I'm usually okay with studying, but I really hated studying this time around and I don't know why. This was reflected on my REALLY poor performance on my exam on Tuesday. I literally cried. After the exam, we "celebrated" finishing the exam and "Mardi Gras" at Bale, a restaurant/bar on campus. In the "intstagrams" below, I got the one closest to the camera, a blue moon, and going clockwise is new castle, then tokyo tea, and an amf. Fat Tuesday also equals Malasada Day, so when I got back to the apt, my roommates and I went to Leonard's Bakery to get some malasadas after dinner.

On Thursday and Friday, I had no class because they were my off days for my Mental Health rotation, so what did I do? On Thursday, I went shopping! Maybe I'll post my purchases later? The peel off facial mask (below) I got as sample and once I tried it, I fell in love, so I had to get the full sized tube. I also bought some new shoes, and underwear from Victoria's Secret. I also have some kind of obsession with pens, so I got more pens. Friday was a more focused day, I stayed in all day and studied, studied, studied. I also played some COD, but hey, what can I say?

The week ended at Cafe Duck Butt for my friend's 22nd birthday! Cafe Duck Butt is a Korean karaoke bar in a sketchy alley way in town, but it was a blast. We started the night in the main restaurant area for dinner at 8, and we got some Melona Soju on the house! It was delicious. Reservations are key to getting a private room, I called in for a reservation on Tuesday and the earliest I could get a room was at 10. I guess a week in advance is best because I'm totally coming here again. I'll save the rest for a later post with more pictures.

Regarding the 8th picture of the year, I chose "time" as the theme, because it seemed I had not enough time, and more than enough time this week. Time management is such a key characteristic to have these days. Technology consumes us, but when you take time to get away from all of that, you have all the time in the world. This week was key in showing me that. All the moments spent online or on my laptop went by really quickly. The time spent offline and out and about went by at the right pace and I was able to enjoy myself, the surroundings and the different company. I'd love if it if I could get offline more often, but everything is so computer based, especially school work, even trying to get these posts in on time, :P

Other than that, enjoy my collection of old school Casio watches! :)



"The Hundreds" stickers, fuel, amazing face mask, malasada day, drinks at Bale, Cafe Duck Butt karaoke

Books, Bees, Bags, and Underwear

The 2010-2011 school year is nearing, along with being broke. My parents and I took a trip to my school yesterday to turn a few things and pick up a few things. I carried a little list with me to keep track of what I needed and what I didn't need. It was pretty basic: drop of titer results, buy textbooks, buy nursing polo, get nursing badge, etc, etc. I'm really looking forward to this semester, but at the same time, I'm pretty terrified of what's in store for me.

The price of my textbooks this year are quite ridiculous, nearing about $900. Luckily, I found a few used books, but that only took off about $150. I still need to buy an eight-book pack that costs about $450 and it conveniently comes in a box (quite intimidating) as well as two other books. I'm only taking three classes and looking at the amount of books that are required, I'm not exactly looking forward to the semester (studying wise). Here are the books I've gotten at my school's bookstore so far, along with The Perks of Being a Wallflower which I had gotten at Barnes and Noble. I've been meaning to read this book since high school, but I've never gotten around to it, and now I have.

It was also a priority to get my nursing badge and polo. It was really hot, and I was walking around a lot that day, but my nursing badge didn't turn out too bad.

After finishing up at the school, we headed to Ala Moana's Barnes and Noble where I picked up The Perks and some moleskine cahiers for my usual jotting down of notes. I also picked up some Burt's Bees on the way as my tube is almost done with. Not too sure if I mentioned ordering a backpack a while ago, but I now have time to post about it. It's from Urban Outfitters, and it's great for school, or hiking even. High recommended for a durable, spacious bag. Check it out for yourself at their website.

And lastly, I needed a few pairs of new underwear! Really, you can never have enough underwear, especially cute ones! I got them at Victoria Secret's Pink. Most of my underwear is from Pink, and if not, from American Eagle, but I haven't been to AE in ages! I got 5 pairs, what with their 5 for $25 'deal'. Worth it though, I love their underwear.

The top three patterns are not what I had purchased, which is why there's a circular swatch to show you the patterns I really did get. The online website didn't have the patterns I had, but I wouldn't mind getting any of these the next time I'm there. The bottom two are the actual patterns I had bought, and are also my favorite styles. They're really comfortable and I love the lace details.

When we were done browsing elsewhere we had some lunch at Genki Sushi. Always good.

Our last stop was to Bed Bath and Beyond which just recently opened in Hawaii, so that was a little exciting. The place is really tight though, they made sure to use every square inch of what used to be Circuit City. My mom got me a Mr. Coffee coffeemaker and some utensils for my dorm.

We came across traffic on our way home, I was driving and had to stay up the whole way. Not fun, but that was my day. I took a bunch of pictures of what I got that day, but ended up using pictures from online stores. Click through each link in this post to see the respective websites of where I frequented that day as well as where I purchased everything mentioned in this post.

We've Got Everything

On Saturday, I mentioned that one of the things I wanted to complete this week was to officially become a licensed driver. Well, my appointment was at 8am this past Wednesday, and I couldn't be any more nervous than I was the night before. I went to sleep at around 3, mainly worrying about what was at hand when I woke up in just a few hours. What sucked was my dad didn't take me out to practice the day before, so I wasn't able to fine tune some things. But, enough worrying about the past, because right now, at this moment, I am a licensed driver!

Hawaii has such a unique drivers license, what with the rainbow, the state seal hologram, and even the state cutout of each island. Of course, for my safety, it was necessary that I blur out some information. Let me tell you, I was so relieved when the person giving me the test told me I just barely passed, literally. The cutoff for the amount of points you were allowed to get was 15, and yes, I got a 15. When the test was over, she kept me in the car for about 10 minutes explaining to me everything I did wrong, and showing me articles of people who have passed away from bad judgement while driving. Everyone waiting outside probably thought I had failed, because even I thought I did.

When the test was over, we headed to the nearby bakery to thank one of my grandmas for scheduling my appointment with her friend. If not for her, I wouldn't have been able to take the test this month. We headed home afterward, and my mom told me to lie to my dad about passing, saying that he didn't teach me a few key things. I couldn't hide it though, I was too happy and relieved that my smile could be seen from space. After a hearty breakfast, we headed out (me being the driver) to Pearl City Sears for a new water filter for the fridge, and to Pearlridge to get a few polos for my dad. At sears, I bought this amazing lace skirt -

Which came with this cute belt -

We had lunch at The Gazebo, which is at the top floor of the mall. I chose to eat a Chinese Chicken Salad; it was delicious. The last stop we made before going home was to Target, and of course, I splurged a bit. We rarely ever shop there, even though my mom works in the building right next to the place. Today's mini shopping spree was mainly school related; every year before the semester begins, I'm able to get a few new things (clothes, basically). Instead of listing each item, I took pictures!

One of the main things I needed for the upcoming semester, black pants for nursing.

My first pair! And they're so comfortable! Who would've thought?!

Lace always makes my day.

I had to get shoes of course, these were too cute to turn down.

I was in need of some new slippers/flip flops, and these were beyond comfortable.

The stud detail on the slippers. Really cute!

And lastly, I got new sheets for my dorm room!

Such a great replacement to my black sheets. Hopefully they're just as comfortable.

And so concludes the majority of my day, as the rest of the day was spent catching up with everything and everyone. Speaking of catching up, I need to finish up the rest of the things on my to-do list. And so I leave you with a line from Modest Mouse's We've Got Everything:

We know everything was built to expire, so I guess we've done everything if we carried it out to sea, pushed it over the edge we'd all have been through.

Retail Therapy

I rarely find opportunities to shop, and when I do, it's usually at a discount store (i.e. TJMaxx, Ross, Nordstrom Rack), or a thrift store (i.e. Goodwill, Savers, Salvation Army). I'm not saying I don't come across some amazing finds, because I do. A few weeks ago, I took a trip to the nearest goodwill and found an amazing paisley print blazer, a dress with a color that I can't describe, and even a polaroid camera!

My room is the worse when it comes to lighting and places to showcase a blazer or dress, so you're stuck with images of the print and color:

When the opportunities to shop do arise, and with sufficient funds, I can't get enough! Although I was planning to save some money for 'more important' things, I couldn't help myself when I happened to stumble upon UrbanOutfitters' website to see that there was a massive sale! After browsing through the selection, I asked myself how I could even think about turning this offer down. 8 items were added to my cart, and with a summer coupon that took off 15%, but with added shipping costs, I spent a modest $53.52. For 8 items, and for pieces that came with around a 75% discount, I felt good. Here's what I had purchased as well as an itemized list of the costs so you can get an idea of the deals.

The blouses/tops all retailed for around $20.00 - $40.00, and the accessories were all retailed at $14.00. I love sales! I also bought a few other things at pacsun today, but it calls for a different post.

On a completely unrelated note, I went on a hike today at Koko Head Regional Park. The name of the hike is plainly Koko Head, but a better name would be The Stairmaster. A good tan, many pictures, and a battle scar - these are reserved for its own post as well, so I'll see you then.

Images used via UrbanOufitters.com

I've made the paisley background pattern available for download here.