Seattle

Seattle; the city I knew I was going to fall in love with. For awhile now, I have always dreamed of going to Seattle. Not too long ago, I found flight deals from Long Beach to Portland for an amazing price of $55 one way. Because I couldn't find a $55 one way ticket back from Portland to Long Beach (at least a flight that was convenient for us), I decided to take the Bolt Bus up to Seattle. 

Anyway, we only had one full day in Seattle and I tried to make the most of it. We went to the Chihuly Garden and Glass (which has a very artistic view of the famous Space Needle). Beautiful place to visit (and I don't know too many of my friends who have visited). The Pike Place Market was my absolute favorite. Beautiful, and I mean BEAUTIFUL bouquets for only $5 (and $1 stem of dahlias!). Really looking forward to going back to Seattle in the near future. 

Looking forward to changing up my blog in the next few weeks. I've traveled quite a bit this year and I want to provide my advice and tips from all the places that I've been to. Just need to work it out soon. 

chicago 2013

Oh my. The last time I blogged on here was in June (and I said I was going to blog more often.... oops). Well anyway, while I was gone, I went to Chicago. My boyfriend had the last week of August off so we initially had planned to go to Maui. Change of plans and we ended up in Chicago instead. I've never been to Chicago and Chicago wasn't in our travel plans this year but I'm so glad we went there. It truly is a beautiful city, great food, and great people! Here's just a few photos of our trip. I'll upload more soon.

The boyfriend and I at the bean (Cloud Gate); my silhouette at Skydeck in the Willis Tower (Sears Tower); me at Cloud Gate wearing a $3 dress; somewhere near Michigan Ave.; Chi-Town

hawai'i photo diary

I'm starting to fall in love with the islands of Hawai'i (specifically the island of O'ahu). It has this city life that pleases my culinary taste buds and the shopping to please my style but the island also comes with a beach to watch the sun set in the horizon while the palm trees swaying and the waves are crashing. What more can you ask for? I've always declared my love for New York over Hawai'i but as the years have gone by, I'm slowly falling in love with this island. I guess my attitude with life has changed. I used to be this city girl, obsessed with being on time, always on the go, and a dress to impress attitude. But with life hectic as it is, you start to crave that peace, that slow paced lifestyle where you stop and appreciate the beauty around you. 

Having graduated with a bachelor's degree in business economics December 2012, I didn't know where to start. I didn't know what I want. A 9 day trip to Hawai'i was all I needed to make me realize what I want to do in life (or at least a taste of what I want). I want to see the world. I found so much beauty in Hawai'i that people otherwise would miss that I want to find beauty in places that I have yet to go to. With that said, I am missing Hawai'i terribly at the moment and another trip back to the islands is in the works. I am pushing for a small trip back to Honolulu but we will be visiting the island of Kauai. 

Well enough of that, I guess I should be talking about the photos huh? A view of Waikiki from Hawaiian Airlines flight; a little secret cove; a view of Lanikai Beach from a hike; Diamond Head and Waikiki from a park; Giovanni's shrimp truck in North Shore; the boyfriend and I at the park; life is good and it really is in Hawai'i; view from the rock in Waimea Bay; Lanikai Beach; me; and a sunset.

Street style in SoHo

Him: Uniqlo shirt, UO jacket, Levi's Jeans, & Cole Haan shoes 

Her: Zara dress, Nasty Gal coat, UO boots, & Marc by Marc Jacobs bag

The boyfriend and I went to New York City to celebrate our 10th year anniversary. Initially, we planned on going to Maui/Oahu, but the fact that we were in Oahu in August made us realized that NYC was our best option. To be honest, it came down to Ululani's shave ice in Maui or macarons from Laduree. Laduree won (though I think we would have saved a LOT of money had we went to Maui- can't bring shave ice back home). 

The trip was surprisingly short and the boyfriend got food poisoning towards the middle of the trip and the day before our anniversary. We had to cancel our reservations at Morimotos! Sucks but we're definitely looking forward to Europe especially since we're making a quick stopover back in NY to make up for our spectacular anniversary in our hotel room at the Eventi haha. 

2013

Hello world! It indeed has been a long time since I've blog..... since June? July? Oh my! It's a new year already and since then I've went to Hawai'i (again) and New York just last month and the boyfriend and I are finally going to Europe in 3 months (Paris, Rome, Venice, Barcelona, Naples, and other cities and countries). I've also officially graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Economics and have been off and on looking for a job (it's a bit overwhelming you know, growing up is intimidating and I doubt myself all the time- financial analyzing is scary). But expect more posts in the near future: old and new photos. 

Love, Kat

sights and tastes

A couple snapshots from my trip to Hawai'i. The views from Diamond Head was rewarding after an exhausting hike up to the top. Tiki torches scattered all over Waikiki light up at night. Very Hawaiian. An enormous pancake from Mac 24/7. If you've seen the show Man vs Food then you are familiar with this pancake. Food won and there were three of us eating it. The statue of Duke on Kalakaua. Tan tan ramen from Goma Tei; my favorite ramen EVER. Waikiki at night, so breezy. Our first taste of Hale'iwa. Such a refreshing change from the hectic (but not so hectic) city life of Honolulu. The road down to Waimea Bay where my friends jumped off the rock there. Looking through these photos makes me wish Hawai'i oh so much. Can not wait to go back!

aloha 2012

zara top, nordstrom rack skirt, and american apparel swimwear

Summer time. After graduation, me, the boyfriend, and 6 other friends headed to Hawai'i. Crazy fun trip filled with laughter, drinks, beaches, hikes, FOOD, a YSL arty ring, and an amazing beach house that we stayed at in the North Shore. I love Hawai'i more each time I go and boyfriend and I have decided to save up for a trip towards the end of summer. That being said, no more date nights, no more crazy shopping trips.... which means, exercising, cooking intimate dinners and more blogging! For real this time. Oh and internship searching. Found a couple finance internships but I haven't quite got the motivation to select apply just yet :)

bahamas photo diary: part one

1. Epcot

2. Downtown Disney

3. Cake and champagne for the wedding reception

4. Sitting in our stateroom's porthole

5. Atlantis

6. Beef tenderloin and lobster medallion

7. Rack of lamb

8. Disney Dream

9. Palm trees in Nassau

10. Flowers on a street in Nassau

A couple photos from the Bahamas trip the other week (already?). Beautiful but very interesting place. Definitely different from what I'm used to (yeah like driving on the opposite of the road tripped me out for a second). Anyway, hope you all had a wonderful weekend. My weekend was spent at a one year old's birthday yesterday and studying today. Tomorrow I'm heading to LA with the boyfriend to buy my brother a gift and probably grab a bite to eat! I love LA adventures. 

bahamas

castaway cay, bahamas

Hello bloggers! Just got back from a trip to Bahamas to attend my cousin's wedding (my cousin got married on this beach!). Arrived in Orlando Wednesday morning and left to the Bahamas via the Disney Dream Cruise Line Thursday afternoon. The wedding was on Saturday on Disney Cruise's private island: Castaway Cay and this is the view of the beach from our stateroom. So beautiful! Was gone for a week and lost a lot of sleep and I have an exam tonight to study for so I'll leave you with this! 

vegas through instagram

1. boyfriend and i wearing nike sneakers. wearing uniqlo parka, h&m oversized gray shirt, and zara jeans

2. hotel room

3. necklace and earrings from h&m

4. full montagu sandwich from earl of sandwich

5. topshop at fashion show mall

6. jewelry that i bought from topshop

7. stuffed animals that the boyfriend won for me at circus circus

8. date night at mesa grill with the boyfriend

9. t by alexander wang and theory finds from last call (fashion outlet in primm)

10. new mexican spice rubbed pork tenderloin from mesa grill

11. the best breakfast in vegas: mon ami gabi. slow braised beef eggs benedict and those potatoes, sooo good

12. kobe bryant poster outside of fashion outlet in primm. i had to sorry!

Quick vacation in Vegas for spring break. It felt good to get away from reality but we're now home. Had plans to go to LA today and have breakfast at Larchmont Bungalow but it feels good to just stay home and not doing anything since it won't be long till our next trip (we have a wedding to attend).