there's always a first time for everything!

Ever since I was a little kid I dreamed of going to the local fairs with the awesome colored paper bracelet that would let you go on any ride you wanted as many times as you wanted. But I was so preoccupied by the cost of tickets for my parents that I would usually refuse if they asked me if I wanted to go on any rides. (Looking back I kind of wish I hadn't because some of those 'kiddie' rides look super fun?) I'm not saying my parents were poor or anything, but they definitely instilled in me an early worry for money.

So earlier this year (I'm trying to catch up my pictures with entries!) I asked Gladys if she wanted to help me realize my dream. I went to her knowing that she's been going to the Date Festival since she was a kid and braving the 'big kid' rides like a champ.

Admission was $9 and the ~bracelet (it was orange on this day) was $25. I'm very much familiar with the Date Festival since my grandparents like to visit every year, though mostly for the shows and stands. Also, I happened to work here twice. The first year was as a cashier at a pizza stand, and I remember at the time I wasn't even old enough to work and had to get a permit from school. However, I did make quite a bit of money from those two weeks, even though at the time the minimum wage was like $6.75 (though lets be honest, it hasn't gone up that much since then). The second time I worked at a burger stand, it wasn't the best experience because of a certain creepy guy...so I decided not to work there anymore.

Annnd! Last but not least, I happened to win a 2nd place ribbon for a photo I submitted when I was in high school. So I'm pretty familiar with the fair grounds but had never explored the rides area.

The first ride we got on! The 'FreakOut' 

Knotts Berry Farm actually has a very similar ride to this one that I've been on before, La Revolución. Idk but for some reason, I think I can 'feel' these rides now that I'm older? I know I enjoyed the Knotts ride a lot when I was a kid, going on it even two or three times but with the Freak Out I could just feel my chest filling up with butterflies of dread? Nonetheless, I ended up going on it I think a total of four times...because I didn't want to feel left out. Ugh, why do I do this to myself??

Here's Gladys, looking super cute in front of the FreakOut in a turtleneck crop top and SUPER long hair. 

We ended up going on almost all the rides, most of which I could feel myself falling out of and fearing for my life (not even exaggerating). By the end of the night my body was super tired and I'm sure I lost about five years of my life with all that I put my poor heart through. 

The one ride I refused to go on because...

Nope. Yes. these things spin while the ferris wheel spins. Watch for yourself: 

Even Gladys said it wasn't the greatest since she and her sister kept squishing each other as if turned and that it was super uncomfortable! It seemed the attendant was going to give them another spin but even I heard them yell at him that they wanted out lol. 

Andd...the last ride of the night were the bumper cars! Always a classic and always fun to have your neck almost snap while others hit you from behind (um...). 

This happened to be the last ride because unfortunately Gladys' sister lost her bag in this ride and we spent the rest of the night there looking for it (it was later found!). 

Had to take some selfies since my hair was surprisingly behaving! 

Wearing Kat Von D's Painted Love lipstick in Rosary

And of course one of my favorite parts of the fair are the photo booths! 

So, I can finally cross one item off my bucket list. Would I go again? Yeah, maybe going on a date here would be cute (though not with the high school kid who went up to me and said I was pretty, though thanks for the compliment ^_^). But unfortunately I think my body is not quite up to being banged around by metal machinery (I had bruises the next day!). However, it was a great night full of firsts :) 

-Maria

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It's Was a Cirque Kind of Day

So after failing to get last minute tickets to The Lion King while they were touring in Los Angeles... the circus came into town!

I was fortunate enough to attend a Cirque Du Soleil performance when I was younger and ever since then I would often think back on how amazing and inspiring the performance was. So finding out that they were going to be in Santa Monica was a great surprise! (especially after realizing that we were going to miss The Lion King, super sad face)

We went on Friday, January 24th since they were offering a student discount, but...even that price was on the steep side. But I have to say we definitely got what we paid for!

Someone was kind enough to offer to take this picture for us before the show. Gladys wore a sparkly dress with booties and I wore a dark blue velvet skirt and a black lace long sleeve crop top. I know, I know, deffo gotta take better pictures showing our outfits.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures or videos to share of the actual show since they're very strict on camera use after the show starts. However, I do have these pictures of what it looked like before the show: 

Cirque's props are so amazing, they're so clever in transforming small places into a the greatest of adventures. Despite choosing some of the cheapest tickets, we were still able to have a great view. 

Another gentlemen was kind enough to offer to take this picture for us. I'm starting to wonder if we just look lost to people, struggling to take selfies? 

We were starving after the show, even though we had just scarfed our way through a hot dog and popcorn (our fault for not eating before we left the house). Even though my feet were k-i-l-l-i-n-g me, I suggested we get go to 3rd Street Promenade for some food. We ended up going to Johnny Rockets, which I'd give 3/5 stars, considering they gave me a tiny plate and could barely eat a piece of chicken without my fries spilling out from the other end of the plate!

Here's Gladys ignoring me -__-. 

Kidding, she was just on the phone with her dad. Doesn't she look pretty? The waiter complimented her on her outfit, said it made her look 'cute'. 

Is this something all Johnny Rocket restaurants do? I thought it was cute, especially watching some the embarrassed waiters going through the motions. 

So those 1.5 inch heels were killing me so much (the result of wearing Doc Martens since the beginning of 2014??) that I convinced Gladys to help me find some cheap flats to wear on the way home. Well...that was the plan until I saw these at DBShoes: 

Steve Madden in Kyli for 50% off. And there was only one pair left in my size! I ended up walking home in these and stashing my other heels in the box. Still in pain from the other heels but these at least have some cushioning for the balls of the foot. 

With an unexpected purchase in hand, we got on the bus back home before it became too late and arrived home exhausted. Hope we can make it to another Cirque show in the future. Maybe in Vegas??

-Maria

P.S. Bonus picture of my hair after flexi rods! The curls unfortunately didn't last too long because I did them in a haste in the morning and didn't give them enough time to dry. 

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Friday Night

Midterms are over. Yay!

This week was just filled with a hectic back-to-back schedule, trying to cram in a bunch of last minute studying and work in between classes. Not to mention that it didn't give us any time to go grocery shopping, meaning...well we might have had one or two semi-decent meals sometime this week?

So for surviving this mess of a week, we headed over to Denny's! We actually wanted to go to Ihop but we'd have to take the bus and...ugh. We were so lazy tired that we decided to just make the 15 minute walk over for some well-deserved food.

Our fashion? Did I already mention how lazy tired we were feeling? It was also 57º so any outfit we'd put together would be covered by scarves and jackets.

Thankfully Denny's had the heater on, so we were able to breathe instead of eating with our scarves suffocating us. Here's Gladys, deciding what to order (she ended up going with a ~French Toast Slam). 

Here's me being uncomfortable with Gladys taking a picture of me. I ordered coffee (mMMm) to go with my French Toast Slam, which I didn't even think of taking a picture of because of how STARVING I was!

Me again, looking like I have noodle arms or something.

We didn't quite feel like going home after, even thought it was almost 10 and most of the shops were closing up. Instead we just walked around and went into Urban Outfitters to browse their book selection. Although very expensive, I love looking at their mannequins for inspiration. I didn't plan on buying anything BUT I finally found a watch that fit my wrist and some socks that have a see-through mesh panel that I thought were v. unique and cool. 

Tiny haul that I wasn't even expecting to get. I got the bracelet for Gladys because wow finally something that fits her insanely freakishly small wrist. This was my first ever purchase at Urban Outfitters, I thought it was really cool that they give you these fabric bags! They're so thin I'm thinking I can just fold one in my bag and carry it around now that most stores are starting to charge 10¢ per bag. Oh, and also stopped by Target to get some beauty products that we were running low on. 

Well, that's it. That was our Friday night. I wasn't sure how to start off this blog, I wanted to post something dazzling with super duper outfit pictures but then I figured this was a good way to start? To just showcase another day in our lives. 

Because under all the clothes, places, and adventures...it's basically just us. 

Welcome!

-Maria

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