CHICAGO, CHICAGOOO!

This past weekend I went to Chicago with Hien and the rest of our Sunday school teachers. Mostly Hien and I just wandered on our own. We boarded the train bright and early Friday morning and were in Chicago by 4. We had lots of fun hanging out, shopping, yoga-ing, and drinking LOTS OF JAMBA JUICE.

We had a lot of fun while in Chicago. On Friday we went to the park to see the orchestra play, then we walked around a little bit. Saturday, Hien and I went to yoga in the park in the morning, then we went out and got breakfast and walked around a little before going to the beach to meet up with everybody else. After that we went to China town to eat dinner and later to Navy Pier to watch the fireworks. Sunday we just shopped around. I got these aviators from UO that I'm OBSESSED with and we ventured off to Topshop where Hien and I saw Joe Jonas. We were star-struck... at least I was. (And not about to lie, I had SOS stuck in my head for the rest of the day). While there, I got a necklace which looks like a rather basic safety pin at first glance but actually has a skull on the side! After our shopping adventure we all met up and the hotel and took our 7-9 block walk back to the train station. 

I also compiled this video of clips I took while in the city:

I've only just got around to uploading pictures from my camera onto the computer and editing them. I haven't been bringing my camera around much either... If you ever see me, slap me for my laziness. Anyhow, I had taken pictures of the outfit I wore on the fourth of July, which was subtly patriotic, with pink white and a tint of light blue.

I've also become slightly obsessed with my new dog, Caesar. He is just too cute and I'm 100% positive he is equally obsessed with me. He follows me from room to room, scratches at the door whenever I leave the house, and when he's not sleeping in my room he's waiting outside the door for me to wake up. I'm afraid he is going to develop separation anxiety. Besides the point, I've been able to capture his cuteness and our love in the form of photo.

Summer's been pretty boring so far...
  x I started Calc I at the local community college to credit up before I go to uni
  x I went shopping on the fourth of July then just stayed in... (loner, I know)
  x I GOT A JOB! I'll be the Jimmy John's sandwich making queen by the end of August...
  x (The most exicting thing by far:) WE GOT A DOG!

That, my friends, is Caesar. He's a 9 month old Jatzu (Japanese Chin and Shiz Tzu mix). He is extremely active and frankly, he might need to get neutered because he humps my leg a little too much for my liking... but other than that I LOVE HIM!

fun with friends (and a camera)

Earlier this week my friends, Han and Tran, and I had a.... PHOTOSHOOT! And I'm using the word "photoshoot" in the loosest of terms. Han's mom has a makeshift studio in her basement and I have a fairly decent dslr, so we thought: Hey, why not? Plus, this isn't our first "photoshoot." Last summer, when I was doing Tran's senior pictures, we also, similarly took some pictures together. It was so fun just jumping around and goofing off since we don't hang out as much as we use to due to jobs, new friends, and drifting apart (cue ultra sadistic lone cello here). But we planned to get together out of the blue because all of us were free of any preexisting obligations and this is what had resulted:

blanket forts, ftw

I promised my brother yesterday that I would build him a tent if he slept in my room. I suspected that he would just forget about it, because I actually had no intention of setting up a tent in my room, however he asked me about it today (I should've known, he's a smart little boy). So I agreed to whip something up and being the young architect that I am, I built an fab blanket fort tent thingy. I moved my own mattress onto the ground and hauled his mini mattress onto the void where mine was. Then I had to find something to hold the blanket up and perfecto: Christmas lights! They're pretty too! I just draped a sheet over it and voila, a tent! It also has perfect access to my chalkboard wall, where he drew Spongebob on this morning.
I guess we're having a brother/sister slumber party tonight!

PARRRTY

We celebrated Hien's graduation along with her birthday, yesterday. I was fun. I started by eating an insane amount of Asian food, then the sushi came and I ate a whoooole bunch of that. I went into Han's room and watched Victorious and iCarly with all the kids (I know, I know, I'm a party animal) (Sue me for loving iCarly, it's such a good show). I painted Lily's nails, pink with hearts, and decided I will never do nails in my life.
We then went downstairs for cake. Although it looked good and was even ICE CREAM, I neglected, saving my stomach for something much better, imo. S'MORES. The fire was lit up and I ran out getting ready to roast some marshmallows. Let me tell you, there is nothng more I love than a warm bonfire and making some s'mores. I was a great way to end the night.

Sonic Lunch with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.

It's my first "official" day of summer. And I say that because it was my last day of school. I am no longer a high school junior and am officially a senior! And I thought that the only way to ring in this great summer was to go see one of my favorite bands, literally right after school got out. And the only way I was able to do this was to sneak out of my house, in the middle of the day, with nobody home... yeah.
My friend, Hien and I ventured off to Ann Arbor around 11:00am to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. at Sonic Lunch-- a Thursday lunch concert hosted by the Bank of Ann Arbor.
Not going to lie we got lost a few times, but in the end we made it there rather safely.

 

We arrived about a half hour late, since parking in Downtown Ann Arbor is ridic. Nevertheless, we were able to make it for a majority of the songs. They played some of my favorites, like Vocal Chords and Nothing But Our Love. 

It ended up being a beautiful day, with the sun shining and a slight breeze. You could definitely tell everyone was loving the vibe and the music. It was so much fun; everyone was dancing and singing, they even had bubbles shooting out the speakers! It was such a good time, so when the show ended we stayed after to congratulate the guys on a good show. 

We met up with Josh Esptein by the stairs and told him how much we enjoyed the show and got pictures. Hien mentioned their matching Ray Bans and he told us how Ray Ban had sent him the glasses. After I brought up whether he had also gotten free tacos for life after I had watched this commercial while I was in D.C. which features their song Morning Thought. He replied, "Yeah, we've been eating free Taco Bell for the last three months. I can get you guys a free certificate for free tacos if you want." Which I replied with a, "Um... YEAH?" He told us to wait while he went to his van to get us three $5 gift cards to Taco Bell each. I told him he was my best friend (I meant it) and we talked about the upcoming album before having to leave. 

To say the least, I hope this just foreshadows the immensity of the rest of my summer.