My Mom Loves Technology

My mom loves to use her phone (not an iPhone) and her iPad to take pictures, no matter where we are, no matter the occasion. It's freaking hilarious. My sister hates it but it's just too funny for me to be annoyed by it. But really, thank god she documents these things, because how else would we have a bunch of ridiculous pictures taken in airports and in front of famous churches? Think of this as installment number one of my France trip diary, while we wait for me to get my act together and get my cameras developed. (Most of these are just of me because my family is picky and probably won't want me to post any pictures of them here, even though some of them ARE SO FUNNY. (My mom likes to take selfies (or as she calls them, 'face-ies') on long train rides and sometimes I join her.))

[All photos by my mom. Good job.]

My new favorite t-shirt: "Feminism is the radical notion that women are people."

Getting an unidentified meal at midnight in Reykjavik, Iceland (unidentified merely because what meal does one eat at midnight, especially when it feels like 4 pm because it's so light out).

Exhausted and frustrated at the train station in St. Cloud because our train decided to not go to our stop and we didn't have enough sense to realize the trains that were going to our stop were just on a different track so we sat there for an hour, just waiting. 

Me, my sister, and her friend Charlie posing up a frickin' storm in front of the famous church in Chartres. 

Shirt: made by me

Shorts: thrifted in LA

Scarf: ~childhood~

Shoes: Keds (via Savers)

Me on my birthday, about to stab anyone that tries to take one of my snails. 

Shirt: my mom's in the 70s

Overalls: thrifted in LA

Trying to blow out a candle that was simply resistant to my lung capacity. 

Already sour 16.

Also the drink is not blue, the cup is, that's just water.

Sipping some delicious café crème near Notre Dame (yeah okay try and charge 5,80 euros for a cup of coffee somewhere else see what happens). 

Shirt: gift from my aunt

Shorts: thrifted in LA

Watch: birthday present from my grandparents

Sunglasses: France

J-chillin' on the side of the Seine, having a real-life blast, livin' on the edge. 

Shoes: Trotters (via Savers)

I have a habit of wearing the same outfit a million times, especially when I travel. Overalls just seemed like the right choice every time. Also, now you can see how dorky I really am because I wear my running shoes in public. Hey, if I'm going to be a kickboxing ballerina, I need to be in tip-top shape. 

(At the airport on our way back home, hence the obviously genuine sadness.)

Props to my mom for rocking the iPad and cellphone. That takes courage.

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On Est Toujours Fatigué

C'est vrai. Je crois que je vais tomber sur la terre dans quelques jours. Dès que j'ai écrit sur la blog la dernière fois, nous avons marché, peut-être, 70 kilometres. Et nous avons voyagé par train ou par bus de Paris, à Avignon, à Les-Baux-de-Provence, à Saint-Rémy-de Provence (le lieu où Vincent van Gogh a peint la plus part ses tableaux plus célèbres), et maintenant, nous nous sommes arrêtées dans une gare à Marseille, attendant notre train à Aix-en-Provence. Nous resterons là pour un jour, et puis nous irons à Cannes, et puis Nice, et nous dînerons à Ventimiglia, en Italie, jeudi soir, et enfin, nous retournerons à Paris. Lundi, on part pour les Etats-Unis, malheureusement. 

It's true. I think I'll fall flat on the ground in a few days time. Since I last wrote on this blog, we've walked approximately 70 kilometers. And we've traveled by train or by bus from Paris, to Avignon, to Les-Baux-de-Provence, to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (the place where Vincent van Gogh painted most of his most famous works), and right now, we're chillin' at a train station in Marseille, waiting for our train to take us to Aix-en-Provence. We'll be staying there for one day, and then we're going to Cannes, then Nice, and then we'll have dinner in Ventimiglia in Italy Thursday night, and finally, we'll return to Paris. We leave for the US on Monday, sadly.

Je suis passée mon anniversaire à Paris. J'ai fait une promenade à vélo le matin, et l'après-midi nous sommes partis pour le cité (mais d'abord l'ami de ma soeur m'a achetée des pantalons à la style d'une pirate à la marché). Nous avons marché des Invalides au Quartier Latin, et selon ma requête, nous sommes allés au Shakespeare & Co., une librairie anglaise située au début du quartier, et juste en face de la Seine. Elle a une affiliation avec City Lights Books, la librairie en Californie qui a imprimé les livres et poèmes des écrivains du Beat Generation (mes écrivains favoris, comme Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, et cetera.). Après que j'ai trouvé les livres que j'ai voulu acheter--un livre qui s'agit de la vie et l'oeuvre d'Egon Schiele, et un petit livre des écritures et poèmes écrit par Kerouac--j'ai demandé à une employée de me dire qu'est-ce que c'est l'affiliation entre Shakespeare & Co. et City Lights, et elle m'a dit que Lawrence Ferlinghetti, la propriétaire du City Lights, aimait Shakespeare & Co. et la fréquentait souvent. Elle m'a dit de demander à un autre employé pour plus d'information. Je l'ai cherché, et il m'a dit d'un hôtel qui est pas loin de la librairie où les écrivains Beat sont restés dans les années 50s et 60s. (J'ai visité cet hôtel lendemain, et je suis retournée à Shakespeare et j'ai dit à cet employé qu'est-ce que j'ai vu, et il m'a dit qu'il y a plusieurs choses que je n'ai pas vu, comme la Dream Machine, et autres choses.) Puis, nous avons marché au Marais, où on a trouvé des "thrift shops" et j'ai acheté une longue robe bordeaux en velours pour seulement dix euros. C'est très jolie. Après, nous sommes allés au Montmartre pour dîner près de Sacre Coeur et manger des crêpes. J'ai mangé des escargots et une crêpe avec Nutella et chantilly. Après ce jour fatiguant, nous sommes retournés chez nous, et ma mère m'a donnée des autres cadeaux, une édition de Le Petit Prince (mais en anglais) inclus. Je suis en train de le lire.

I spent my birthday in Paris. I took a bike ride in the morning, and in the afternoon we left for the city (but first my sister's friend bought me a pair of pirate pants at the market). We walked from Invalides to the Latin Quarter, and at my request, we went to Shakespeare & Co., an English bookstore situated at the start of the neighborhood, and right across the street from the Seine. It has an affiliation with City Lights Books, the bookstore in California that published the books and poems of the writers of the Beat Generation (my favorite authors, like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, etcetera). After I found the books I wanted to buy--a book about the life and works of Egon Schiele, and a little book of writings and poems by Kerouac--I asked an employee to tell me about the affiliation between Shakespeare & Co. and City Lights, and she told me that Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the owner of City Lights, loved Shakespeare & Co. and still continues to frequent it often. She told me to ask a different employee for more information on the subject. I found him and he told me about a hotel that's not far from the bookstore where the Beat writers had stayed in the 50s and 60s. (I visited the hotel the day after next, and then I went back to Shakespeare and told the guy what I'd seen, and he told me that there were a lot of things I hadn't been shown, like the Dream Machine and some other things.) Then we walked to the Marais, where we found some thrift shops and I bought a long bordeaux velvet gown for only ten euros. It's bangin'. After that, we went to Montmartre for dinner near Sacre Coeur and ate crêpes. I ate snails and a Nutella and whipped cream crêpe. After our ridiculously tiring day, we went home, and my mom gave me more gifts, including an English version of Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince). I'm in the middle of reading it right now.

On a marché beaucoup (trop, peut-être!), déjeuné avec nos amis de famille, et visité des cathédrales, des palais, et des châteaux. New York me manque un peu, mais je serai très triste de sortir ce pays dans moins qu'une semaine. 

We've walked a lot (too much, maybe), had lunch with some family friends, and visited cathedrals, palaces, and castles. I miss New York a little bit, but I'll be super sad when I have to leave this wonderful place in less than a week.

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE SOLE PROVISIONS GIVEAWAY! PLEASE! JE VOUS EN PRIE! 

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Bienvenue à Paris

Je suis arrivée à Paris il y a vers trois jours, mais beaucoup de choses se sont passées déjà. Nous avons voyagé en avion à Reykjavìk, la capitale d'Iseland, où nous nous sommes arrêtées pour une heure et mangé le dîner. Nous avons acheté du chocolat islandais. Cette une langue très bizarre; elle résonne comme l'espagnol mais avec beaucoup de K's. À Reykjavìk, le soleil ne s'est pas couché malgré qu'il était minuit! Je ne sais pas comment personne peut dormir en Iseland. Puis, on a voyagé en avion encore et nous sommes arrivées à Paris a 6h15 ici, mais c'était 1h15 aux États-Unis. C'était parfait parce que nous n'avions pas fatiguées. Mais après, nous avons dû prendre le train à notre maison, et ce voyage a pris trois heures extras. Je me suis couchée immédiatement et l'ami de ma soeur qui restera avec nous cette semaine était arrivé chez nous quand je me suis réveillée. Nous avons promené autour de la ville, dîné au restaurant, et enfin nous pourrions dormir. 

I arrived in Paris about three days ago, but so much has already happened. We flew into Reykjavìk, the capital of Iceland, where we had a layover for an hour and had dinner. We also bought Icelandic chocolate. It's a really bizarre language; it sounds like Spanish, but with a lot more K's. In Reykjavìk, the sun still hadn't set even though it was midnight! I don't know how anyone can ever sleep in Iceland. Then, we got on another plane and arrived in Paris at 6:15 am Parisian time, but 1:15 am New York time. It was perfect because we weren't tired, which we would've had we taken a red-eye flight. But then, we had to take the train to the house we're staying at, and this leg of the trip took three extra hours. I went to sleep as soon as we got there, and my sister's friend who's staying with us this week had arrived at our house by the time I woke up. We walked around the town, got dinner, and finally we could sleep.

Hier, nous sommes allés au marché en plein air et le supermarché et nous avons achetés des fruits et légumes frais, et aussi du fromage, des céréales, de la yaourt, et cetera. Nous avons assis au café, où j'ai bu un café au lait et partagé un pain chocolat amandes avec ma soeur. Bien sûr, tous était délicieux. Je ne bois pas du café normalement, mais j'ai décidé hier matin que je le boirai, parce que c'est trop délicieux ici de laisser tomber. Plus tard, nous sommes allés à Paris par le RER, et j'ai visité l'American University of Paris. C'est magnifique. Puis, nous avons marché au Quartier Latin pour le dîner, et vers minuit nous sommes retournés chez nous. Vous penseriez que nous voudrions dormir, mais nous ne nous sommes pas couchés avant 2h00. Il y avait un grand orage qui nous a gardé éveillés. De plus, il y a plein de moustiques. Tout le monde a douzaines de morsures. Nous n'avons pas pu dormir, alors nous ne nous sommes pas réveillés jusqu'à 1h00 de l'après-midi. Nous ferons du vélo et d'aviron pour profiter de nos environs. 

Yesterday, we went to the open air market and the supermarket and we bought fresh fruits and veggies, and also cheese, cereal, yogurt, etcetera. We sat down at a café, where I got a café au lait and shared a chocolate almond pastry with my sister. Naturally everything was effing delicious. I don't usually drink coffee, but I decided yesterday morning that I'll drink it while I'm here, because it's way too delicious here to pass up. Later, we took the RER into Paris, and I visited the American University of Paris. It's awesome. Then, we walked to the Latin Quarter for dinner, and around midnight we returned home. You'd think that we'd want to go right to sleep, but we didn't until 2 am. Because we're stupid. There was then a huge storm that kept us all up. On top of that, there are a ridiculous amount of mosquitos here. All of us have dozens of bites in the weirdest places. It's insufferable. None of us could sleep, so we ended up not waking up until 1 pm. To make up for our off schedule, we're going to go bike riding and rowing.

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J'irai en France

Eighty-five percent of my dreams are about to come true because I am set to hop on an airplane to my favorite country in the world tomorrow. The city of Paris awaits me, with its historic greenery and looming architecture and endless inspiration and beguiling language and everything I ever need. I've been practicing my French for the past three nights, starting at 10 pm and staying up until 2 am conjugating verbs, reviewing grammatical structures, working on speaking quickly by singing along to French pop songs from the '60s (I have played that song maybe 80 times since this morning), and just trying to prep my brain for the culture I'm about to be submerged in for a few weeks. 

My passion for everything French is no secret, but for some reason I feel like this trip is going to be especially important. I feel like I'll be able to communicate more, and more easily, and that it will be amazing to get away from America for a while and experience something new. I used to relish my time at home and spent a great deal of it sitting in my room doing whatever the hell it was that I did. But now my apartment entrenches me in a sort of stale apathy that I can't seem to do much with. It makes me anxious and tired and restless simultaneously. I need a change of scenery. France is exactly the place to go for that. 

I'm also going to be turning 16 while I'm there. After a consecutive sequence of abject birthdays, I can just tell that this one's going to be good. I want to go to Shakespeare & Co. in the Quartier Latin and buy French books, and eat delicious food, and wander around Paris. It all seems so unreal, but at the same time I can't wait. The feeling is inexplicable, which is why I'm doing such a bad job of explaining it. 

We also might be traveling to the south a little bit, which of course I am hella pumped for. I want to buy some orange lipstick somewhere, and get a refill of my perfume in Les Baux, and eat fresh fruit from the market in Aix-en-Provence, and see the Palais des Papes in Avignon, and glide along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. And maybe stop in Italy for lunch. Who knows. 

Here's some photos I gathered off the internet of places I might be going. 

[Photos via Google.com.]

This is where we go running. We run that whole frickin' thing. It's like, 7 kilos. Sometimes we bike it.

The Promenade des Anglais, right on the coast of the Mediterranean

The market in Aix-en-Provence

The Pont d'Avignon

Montmartre, home to the Sacre Coeur and an ungodly amount of Parisian beauty

One of my favorite bridges on the Seine, the Pont des Arts. I'm bringing a lock to put on it this time.

Shakespeare & Co., the store in which I plan to work when I move to France.

The village of Les Baux

I'm not bringing my digital camera with me this time because it's so heavy and I'm worried I'll break it and/or my back, but I just came bought some disposable cameras to use instead because they're very light. Basically what I'm saying here is that there won't be much live-action reporting from France, but who knows if that even matters? I'll probably write about the trip sporadically on here.

Have a blast back in the States. I can't decide if I'll miss them.

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Get(ty) At Me

Things that are freaking wild: my fambly took a trip to the Getty Center yesterday on the same exact day of the year as we did the first time, June 25th. That wasn't even planned at all. No one had any idea, and probably would never have known, had I not diligently and over-obsessively recorded every moment of my life when I first started this blog. Things that are also, once again, wild, a lot of the photos I took yesterday are nearly identical to ones I took the first time we went. I guess my I-should-turn-this-into-a-postcard instinct hasn't evolved one bit in the last two years. 

After being stuck in approximately an hour and a half of Sunset-Boulevard-traffic, we finally made it in one piece to the Getty Center, but instead of having a leisurely two to three hours to spend there, we had only one. We basically just walked around and I took photographs with my camera while my mom took photos on her iPad (it's the cutest thing in the world to watch her do this) and then I ran into the museum for a quick ten-minute jog around the galleries. I made a pit stop at the gift shop and bought four bangin' postcards. Diary entry terminates here. 

Also, I was wearing clothes, so I forced my sister to take photos of me again. She was less compliant this time, but with brute force, anything is possible! (I AM TOTALLY KIDDING)

[Photos of everything but me by me; photos of me by Rachel.]

Paradoxical architecture is pretty damn awesome. It's not that paradoxical at all I just thought that combo of words looked nice.

Peep the original twin right here. The quality of this photo is way better than the other one, but they're the same exact thing. I must evaluate my originality. 

Dress: Lilka

Sunglasses: France-land

Unamused. I feel like there's always one of those in every outfit post. Also if you look really closely at my shoulder you can get a glimpse of how badly sunburned I got. 

Shoes: thrifted

Lil' flowers that looked like bananas! 

A pair of bee friends j-chillin' on some fleurs. 

This one is almost the same exact photograph, the original just employed crappy iPhoto effects. 

There you have it. A time warp. 

Until next time (isn't that what they say at the end of Blue's Clues?).

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Current Obsession: Mexican Embroidered Clothing

It was around a month ago that I was in California, livin' it up in the greater Los Angeles area and various cities in Southern California. Note: a major digression is about to begin (was that an unintentional music joke?). You know how Southern California is often abbreviated as SoCal? One day while waiting for the bus in L.A., one of them said "Local" on the top, and I spent a solid minute trying to figure out what part of California "Local" represented before I realized that it was simply a non-express bus. Digression completed. 

One of our small day/late evening trips included Old Town, San Diego, the oldest town in California. Since the town is only a fifteen minute drive from Tijuana, Mexico (unfortunately, we didn't cross the border even though we were so close. We weren't really in the mood to get involved with the drug cartels.), it has a very Mexican-inspired feel: Mexican restaurants, people, and stores everywhere. While in Old Town, we stopped by some cute street and alleyway markets selling clothes native to the area. As soon as I saw those embroidered dresses and blouses, my heart swelled the size of an average-sized balloon, filled with love for these garments. Due to the simplicity of the silhouettes and fabrics, the embroidery itself stood out like a beautiful, hand-sewn, vibrantly multicolored thumb. I go through phases where I admire the homey charm of embroidery, and I am definitely experiencing one of those moments right now. I think it's safe to say that I'm currently obsessed. Things that really suck: I was completely broke after we left Los Angeles and couldn't buy anything, but that just means I have to make something myself. Hashtag seamstress problems. 

The thing that I really adore about embroidered apparel is that it looks sort of rustic yet very happy and romantic, all at the same time. These sort of dresses are frequently very reminiscent of Frida Kahlo. And you know I luh dat bitch. They are particularly perfect right now because: a) it's summer and it's hot and cotton is the shiz,  b) flowers are fantastic and make everyone cheerful, and  c) there's something that I can't quite place that's just so festive and pleasing about decorative sewing. 

I spent a lil' while today browsing Etsy for the best o' the best in Mexican embroidered clothing. Below is my selection of those said best. 

Photos via etsy.com.

Frida Flowers dress from Honeywood Vintage (this Etsy store is totally rad; I highly encourage you to check it out. It's also not extremely overpriced for someone who has more than ninety-nine cents to their name like I do) 

Mexican White Tunic from Made in Technicolor (also a solid store option if you are in the market for a garment of this ilk) 

Black Peasant Vintage Tunic from Mafufa

Vintage 70s Embroidered Mexican Maxi Dress from Raggedy Threads (once again, Raggedy Threads is a super duper snazzy shop to look at) 

Vinage 1970s Mexican Embroidered Dress from Tailor's Chalk Vintage

Handmade Bohemian Maxi Dress from Honeywood Vintage

Colorful Cotton Embroidered Dress from DESIGNER CHIC

Are you in love yet? Because I am. If this doesn't become a high-fashion trend within the next few seasons, I will make it a trend. 

I just watched my cousins attempt to eat over ten pounds of food as a part of their yearly birthday challenge, so I'm still a little traumatized. 

It's the weekend? 

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Some Like It Hot

...Especially if they live in California. The sunshine state (I think that's what they call it) is home to several of the country's most famous filming spots for television shows and movies, most likely due to the fact that it's beautiful out all the time. The temperatures are high and the humidity levels are low, unlike New York where it's just a nasty combo of heat and sweat. We stayed on an island off of San Diego called Coronado for a few days while on the west coast, and effing geez, it was one of prettiest little places I've ever been. And I've seen a lot of pretty places in my day. The Hotel Del Coronado, located near the beach on the island (the number one rated beach in the country; its sand has gold in it, that's how perfect it is) is the filming spot for the Marilyn Monroe movie Some Like It Hot, hence the title of this post. 

A few days later, we took a mini road trip up to Malibu to see the critically acclaimed beaches. And when I say "critically acclaimed," I mean it. These shores are more famous than the actors in some of the movies they shot there. Here are some examples: Malibu Shark Attack (not like that's a well-known movie or anything, it sucks royal hippogriff), scenes from Planet of the Apes, and The Even Stevens Movie. The beaches of Malibu are also the setting for Two and a Half Men, Hannah Montana, So Little Time (that awesome Mary-Kate and Ashley show we all watched religiously and had the corresponding Gameboy game for--unless that was just me), The Big Lebowski, and Iron Man. While reading about the place on Wikipedia, I discovered that the music video for One Direction's "That's What Makes You Beautiful" was also shot here. Gr8. Does Malibu Barbie ring a bell? In addition to actors on set being on Malibu beach, actors off set live on the coast, right between the mountains and the ocean. It's a terrific spot, especially if you like being in constant danger of being killed by tsunamis and landslides. Perhaps both at once if you're having a particularly luckless day. 

This is the last post of my Cali-forn-I-A travel diary, and I've saved the most gorgeous for last. 

Photos by me.

The Hotel Del Coronado in all of its glory. 

Oh, just kidding, this is the hotel in all of its glory. It's like an estate unto itself. A manor of sorts.

The San Diego Bay and its little babies, just chillin' in the water, all casual-like. 

Malibu beach's pier lookin' sultry in black and white. 

Please just take a moment to try and imagine that you live on this beach. Think really hard. ...Can't do it? Yeah, that's not even in my realm of impossible realities either. 

Piers are a great invention: they let you trick people into thinking you took a picture from the middle of the Pacific Ocean. 

We got a little excited with our sno-cone and went multi-colored/flavored. We even went so far as to sprinkle some sweet and salty plum powder (somethin' crazy and completely unreal in any place but Malibu) on top. 

One of the classic shacks in which the lifeguards in Malibu Shark Attack attempt to take refuge when the mutant sharks try to kill them. Why they didn't just leave the beach is unfathomable to me. 

Ever since I deleted my Facebook I've gotten so much more done than I have in months. I've been writing, blogging, cleaning my room, doing arts and crafts, standing in long lines, and doing a lot of worthwhile nothing. I felt that while I was using Facebook, I was wasting time. I feel as though my minutes are better spent sitting doing absolutely nothing but thinking than scrolling through endless photographs and meaningless status updates brought to me by people I don't care enough about to actually talk to. And you know how I feel about wasting time. Or maybe you don't. I like it as much as a superstitious person would like if they walked underneath a ladder while a black cat ran in front of them and a mirror smashed to pieces on the ground before their eyes. 

Have a marvelous weekend, dear readers. By the way, I really appreciate those of you who have continued to come back here even though my posts don't go directly to your newsfeed anymore. That's dedication. I'll send you a mental thank-you note on paper infused with pressed flowers and the text written in calligraphy by a professional scribe. 

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Careful, It's A Zoo In There

Welp, I'm back on the east coast. California, it's been so real. That was a totally rad trip, which is exactly why I will continue to show you pictures I took whilst on the other side of the continent even though I am no longer there. #moderntechnologyrulez 

As I mentioned the other day, we took a trip to the World Famous San Diego Zoo! Upon entering the menagerie, one of the men checking tickets looked at me sternly and said, "Be careful, it's a zoo in there." See, the humor there is that it was in fact a zoo in there in every sense of the word. Clever bastard. 

We hopped right on a bus that toured us around the entire park (and when I say "hopped right on" I mean waited in line for twenty minutes listening to small children wail and complain and then got on a bus); afterward we began tackling the zoo on foot. Our goals were to see the pandas--because my mom thought pandas were koalas and she actually had no interest in the Asian bears--capybaras, zebras, and lions. We walked for hours trying to find all of our animals, and for the most part we succeeded. We just didn't see the koalas due to the fact that my mother thought they were pandas. When we reached the panda exhibit, she looked at the bear and went, "What the hell is this?" Or something along those lines. No disrespect to panda bears was intended.

At the end of the day, we saw some people dressed in spandex and velvet dressed as animals dancing on a stage with chairs and hoops and fabric. It was quite a spectacle. Prior to this performance, we rode the Skyfari, which is essentially a tram running from east to west across the zoo. It was terrifying. 

It's July 4th, as you all know, so I'm a little distracted right now--tryna get my patriotic festivities in order. I'll just show you some gorgeous lil' aminulz instead. 

Photos by me. 

This is either a cheetah or a jaguar or a panther. Either way, it's beautiful. It makes me wanna be a feline.  WHY WAS I NOT BORN AS A LARGE JUNGLE CAT, MOTHER?

MEERKAT!! Just strikin' a pose. Casual. 

This bird looks prehistoric. He's staring right at me. He's going to eat me, I swear to god. Please stop staring. Please.

The zoo is also home to some weirdass plants. 

L'éléphant! How majestic! And multicolored (?)! Does your nose hang low does it wobble to and fro...

This, my dear readers, is the wonderful capybara. Capybaras are the largest rodents in the world. They live primarily in South American rain forests. They have webbed feet with three toes in front and four toes in back. The natural predator of the capybara is the jaguar. They can hold their breath underwater for several minutes. The reason I know an abundance of information about these widely unknown creatures is because I wrote a 26-page picture book about them in 4th grade, and the obsession is still going strong. I made a papier mâché capybara and named him Kenny. Elly made me a capybara stuffed animal for my birthday (yes, made) with only two legs in total. I've been waiting since I was nine years old to meet one of these babies in real life. It's been a long time coming. 

Me 'n Kenny, j-chillin at the San Diego Zoo! Peep the little red arrows surrounding the love of my life. 

Fun fact: in Australia, people call zebras 'zeh-brahz.' 

"Mess with me and I cut you biyatches."

Flyin' high in da sky juu knoe how I feel! 

This man was wearing a chocolate brown velvet jumpsuit/leotard, doing gymnastics on three chairs. I wanted to hug him so much. 

If I were ever caught in this position I would a) have broken hips  b) be crying and c) immediately fall over. Three reasons why I am just not a gymnast. 

After we exited the zoo, we took a drive to Old Town, the oldest town in California ("Oh rly I wood nevar hav gessed frum the name"). There was a Mormon church and a flea market (two separate entities) where vendors were selling handmade goods native to the area (as well as Mexico; we were a mere fifteen-minute drive from the border). I am suddenly obsessed with embroidered dresses and shirts. My sister bought me a gold and silver bracelet for my birthday, while her and my mom bought beaded hair things. Trust me, "thing" is the only way to describe them. 

Happy Independence Day! We're going to Coney Island to see a Cyclones game, so I'll be takin' some photoz. 

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