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.

This Delicate Balance

Nature always has a knack of showing us things that we don't quite enjoy unless we take some time to really look at it. Living in Hawaii has its benefits, especially for my parents. Year round, my parents are able to tend to their garden and landscaping and are able to produce great things by getting their hands a little dirty. Being home this summer I was able to document some of the plants (mostly flowers) that my parents have put so much hard work into. These posts will come sparingly. In a week, I'll be back in school and not at home, so at one point, I may start sharing pictures of nature elsewhere, rather than my front/back yard. For now, I'll focus on what I have here.

Summer Sunsets

I love sunsets/sunrises. They were a lot more enjoyable at home before my parents decided to plant a few palm trees and other plants in the backyard, and during my freshman year in college when my dorm was situated in the perfect spot for sunset viewing. This past year (school year), my dorm was located in a corner, and nowhere near an area to see the sun. But this year, I made sure to get a dorm where the sun and my alarm clock are the only thing waking me up and not the garbage truck on its morning run.

A couple nights ago, one of the better sunsets graced us with its presence, and I decided to capture the moment for myself. As I said, my parents have planted a bunch of palm trees, and they have gotten pretty big over the years. This is the view from the ground.

It was a complete fail, and I was running out of time. I looked over to my neighbors backyard, who has absolutely no plants (other than grass), and he had the perfect view. We have a pretty solid wall between us, so the only thing I could do was set up an old kitchen stool on some unsteady rocks under the laundry line, and snap a picture of the sunset that he can see, but coming from a different angle and a few feet higher. I can be pretty clumsy, so I took a couple pictures as fast as I could, and wa-la, hawaii sunset magic.

When I do move, and I sure as hell plan to, this is one of the things I'll miss...

Music Monday: All Summer

With summer coming to an end and school coming to a start in a mere two weeks, all I can look forward to is fall/winter. But that's not what this post is about, it's about summer! Earlier this summer, three great artists, Kid Cudi, Rostam Batmanglij from Vampire Weekend, and Bethany Cosentino from Best Coast, came together and put down a track exclusively for Converse's project "Three Artists, One Song". All Summer brings along a great, nostalgic, feel good, let loose feeling of freedom that comes along with Summer.

Listen to the track, download it for free, or watch the accompanying music video all at the website HERE. You can also watch how great these three artists flow together in the video below.