Taking on SoCal: January 7th - 8th, 2015

With our month-long winter break coming to an end, a little spontaneity was in order. Let's rewind to last week, a handful of friends and I took on Southern California (at least what we could in two days..). I mean, where else would a bunch of college kids go? After weeks of nonstop work over Christmas and New Years, I was so glad to finally catch a break.

5:00am Wednesday morning, some of us didn't get much sleep, but we were on our way...only to be pulled over an hour and a half later, but our experiences with California police during this trip is a whole other story.

We definitely chose the best time of the year to go to Six Flags. All California students were already back in school so #nolinenoproblem. Nothing beats being able to ride all of the good rides back to back (:. After a good 5 and a half hours of walking up and down the park with little to no sleep, you can bet that we were all pretty tired, but let me tell you, my nap in the car going to dinner was the best 30 minutes of my life. We headed to Korea Town in LA for dinner, and yup, I have never eaten so much Korean BBQ in my life.

From here on out, the rest of our trip was pretty much food, food, and more food...but that's okay, right? Before heading to wherever we were staying (we barely knew at this point), we headed to Milk. I can at least speak for myself when I say that I was so excited to finally try it, and I was so glad that they hadn't run out of Thai Tea ice cream sandwiches yet or else I probably would've cried.

We stayed at a small inn in central LA. It wasn't bad, it wasn't amazing, but it worked. Ya know, college kids on a budget. Just to let you know, 6 people in a one-bed room is completely possible... difficult, but possible. After a bit of sleep, we were onto the next adventure in Little Tokyo.

Our first stop of the day - Curry House. All of us love Curry Zen, here in Vegas, so we had to see how this place stacked up. I ordered tofu curry with minced ground chicken and spinach and garlic rice. It was really good, but my heart still belongs to Curry Zen <3. 

A good friend of mine (hi, Kevin) told me about a macaroon shop in Little Tokyo so naturally, I had to stop by Lette Macaroons to pick some up for my mom. After all that curry, of course we had to get some dessert, and really you can't beat $1 mochi ice cream keke. 

More wandering around Little Tokyo shops and Daiso lead to some unnecessary, yet completely necessary souvenir shopping, because why not splurge a little, right?

Our next adventure took us to Hollywood, a first for me. Did a little sightseeing, a little shopping, and for some reason while the girls were browsing around, the guys decided to buy a mixtape...it made for an interesting car ride to our next stop.

It was already past 6, but Hilary and I definitely couldn't leave LA without finally seeing the ever so popular lights outside of LACMA. So glad to finally be able to cross this off of my non-existent bucket list. 

We definitely didn't want to head back home on an empty stomach, so the search for food began. Our first stop, The Original Ramen Burger to tie us over until we actually decided where to eat. In my opinion, it probably wasn't worth the price, but seeing as we don't have anything like that here in Vegas, I'm glad we tried it. 

We finally decided on Guppy House, and my tummy was pretty satisfied. Actually, I wasn't the only one satisfied, the guys definitely had a good time staring at the good looking waitress lol.

If you thought that was it...nope! One more stop to go and it was Half & Half Tea House, another first for me. Probably wasn't the best idea to get drinks right before the 4-hour drive. By the time we got to Barstow, we all really had to go to the bathroom, but Half & Half was so worth it haha. 

11pm, and we were on our way back home. I'm so glad that we were able to experience so much on this trip in only 2 days, but now with a hole in my wallet, it's time for some R&R at home...just kidding, I had work the next day. It's good to dream though, right?

Until next time, Cali. It's been real.

-LT

Recipe: Red Velvet Cookies

One of my favorite cakes...other than chocolate...was always Red Velvet, which is a close cousin of chocolate, if you didn't know. And as per request from a good friend of mine (because apparently I owed her cookies), here's a recipe for  to-die-for Red Velvet Cookies!

Red Velvet Cookies

makes 36 cookies

What you will need:

• 3 cups + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (room temp)*
• 1 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs (room temp)
• 2 tbsp milk
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp red food coloring
• 2 cup white chocolate chips**

*if using salted butter, omit 1/2 tsp salt

**can substitute with regular chocolate chips or anything you want!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a separate medium-large bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment (a hand mixer will work fine), cream butter on high until smooth and creamy. About 1 minute. Remember to scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl whenever you need to. 

On medium speed, beat in your granulated sugar and brown sugar until combined. Then beat in your eggs, milk, and vanilla.

Add your food coloring and mix until there are no longer any streaks of color (or no color) visible. The red color should now be incredibly intense and the dough should still be quite runny, however feel free to add more food coloring to intensify the color even more if you'd like.

Pour in your dry ingredients. With your mixer on low, mix your dough until just combined. You do not want to over mix.

Still on low speed or by hand, mix in your white chocolate chips until thoroughly visible throughout your dough. Your dough will still be rather sticky, so cover the bowl with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate for AT LEAST an hour. THIS IS MANDATORY or your dough will be way too soft.

Prepare two baking sheets and line them with either parchment paper or silicon mats. Gather 1 - 1 1/2 tbsp of dough and roll into a ball. Place them on your baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake for 10-13 minutes.

When you take them out of the oven, they would have only spread just a bit. Using your clean fingers or the back of a spoon and gently flatten them while they are still hot. Also while they're still hot, use some extra white chocolate chips and push them into the top. This gives a little more contrast to the red cookie. Have them cool on the cookie sheet for about 5-10 minutes, then transfer them onto a wire rack to cool completely.

I swear, these are some of the best things I have ever made. They're basically a little cake in cookie form; aka heaven on earth (so my coworker says). 

...you're welcome Hilary <3 

Cataloging my Addiction: Fall/Winter Pickups (pt. 2)

I've previously featured my clothing items in my last post,"Fall/Winter Pickups (pt. 1)", so if you haven't seen it already, go check it out! (And I apologize in advance for not taking better care of my shoes!)
 

Black satchel: Forever21

During the holidays, Forever21 was having an amazing 50% off all bags and shoes. I've been looking for a good bag for a while; something with structure and a sleek appearance. The shoulder strap is a good length and is adjustable and the bag itself is just big enough to hold everything I need (i.e. wallet, keys, water, lip balm, etc.).

Wedged platform booties: Charlotte Russe

Now, I love Charlotte Russe shoes, but I actually somewhat regret buying these... It was during their BOGO for $5 on Black Friday, and when I couldn't find the other pair that I wanted, I bought these anyways. Shame on me for impulse shopping...

Black "Desert Cool Booties": Forever21

Me and a friend went down to the Strip to look around the Forever21 at Fashion Show Mall. I already had my eyes on the chocolate colored pair of these shoes online, but of course they were out of my size in-store...but luckily, I ran into these black ones - the LAST size 6 they had, and to my surprise, all shoes in the store were 50% and I snagged these for 13 bucks!

Chocolate "Desert Cool Booties": Forever21

After getting the black ones, I knew I just had to have the chocolate ones too. I need more brown shoes anyways, all my shoes are black! In fact, I hadn't even made it home before I ordered these online at, of all places, Taco Bell... but sadly, the 50% off shoes deal wasn't online.

Black wedged booties: Target

It was my mom who actually got me these shoes at Target for only $10! I actually wear these quite often. They're comfortable enough to wear to school on a regular basis without killing my feet, so that's a plus.

Tan wedged booties: Target

Just like the previous pair, my mom also got these for me at Target, and with the original price being $30 each, $20 total for both pairs is practically a steal. 

Cataloging my Addiction: Fall/Winter Pickups (pt. 1)

Since I've started working at the mall again at the end of 2013, I've constantly been surrounded by temptation to do nothing but shop, shop, and shop some more, and with Spring just around the corner, I figured that this would be the perfect time to make this post. So here I am cataloging my Fall/Winter pickups over the past few months. I put them in chronological order as best as I could...heh.

Hi-low black dress: H&M 

I saw this dress in the recently-opened H&M at the mall I work at and instantly felt the need to call it mine. It was a hi-low dress and although I was in love with hi-low just months before, I wasn't really feeling it so I simply just pinned up the back. (It's not on the mannequin because it wouldn't fit without the dress ripping, so...)

Burgundy dress w/ sweetheart neckline: H&M 

This was around the time when H&M was beginning their huge holiday sale. Snagged this dress for $10! (Even though at the time it was still marked 12 or 15 dollars.)

Cropped denim jacket: H&M

White sheer tribal crop top: H&M

Teal V-neck knit sweater | Red scoop-neck knit sweater: H&M

I needed something red to wear to work, (red and black was our Holiday spirit day) and when I saw "BUY ONE GET ONE ALL SWEATERS", I just had to.

Cobalt blue dress: Forever21 

Finally, something not from H&M. Of course being as tiny as I am, and Forever21 sizes often running big, it wasn't a perfect fit, but it was pretty darn close. A few amateur alterations here and there and it fit me perfectly!

Paneled patterned dress: H&M

Another sale dress pricing at $10 that I thought would be nice if I ever had a business casual event or something of the sort. It's a size 4, also meaning too big for me, but nothing a few easy alterations couldn't fix. I've already marked it all out and everything, but still as of today, I haven't found the time to finish it.

Black mesh knitted sweater: H&M

Blue polka dot crop top: Forever 21
Blue/grey speckled cardigan: Forever 21
Black basic circle skirt: H&M

Brown anorak jacket w/ pleather sleeves: Forever21

Loose pink T-shirt: Wet Seal
Speckled Cardigan: Charlotte Russe

This is pretty much my go-to lazy outfit. You can tell how much I wear this shirt by how wrinkled it is (whoops). And I absolutely love Charlotte Russe cardigans.

Burgundy/navy/cream flannel: Forever21

Black/white speckled sweater: American Eagle

Me being the cheapie that I am, I normally don't shop at American Eagle. I love their clothes, but I usually don't get anything. So when they had their Additional 50% Off sale, I knew I had to jump while I could. And I'm glad I did because this sweater is so comfy!

Loose black crop top: Forever21

Cream sweater: Forever21

Army green anorak jacket w/ hood: Forever21

Compared to the other one I bought, (earlier in this post) this one fits so much nicer and the gigantic hood is a nice touch in my opinion. This is one of my favorite pieces to layer with (esp. with flannels).

Red/navy/cream flannel: Forever21

Black/white floral pants: H&M

I've really been into floral prints lately, so in preparations for the spring, I felt that these were completely necessary.

And so this concludes part 1 of my three-part Fall/Winter pickups! Don't worry, parts 2 and 3 will be a whole lot shorter, I promise. To reduce super long posts like this, I'll probably be doing these more frequently because I'm pretty sure I'll still be shopping now that Spring is almost here, so keep an eye out for those!