Oakland Chinatown Street Festival

Over the weekend, we went to the Oakland Chinatown StreetFest with a couple of my DB's classmates.





Some days, I'm lazy with my clothes. This is a normal, no-need-to-think-about-it outfit. You just gotta keep it simple, sometimes.

Wearing: Forever 21 lace top, Victoria's Secret tank, American Apparel shorts, Rainbow sandals, Ray Ban sunnies, and vintage Coach bag.







Blended mocha latte with boba from one of the stands.

Wearing: Essie Chinchilly nail polish



We were a bit disappointed since we had the image of a "food" festival in our head rather than a street festival. We were expecting food when all we got were booths with pinwheels, Dora backpacks, little tchochkes, hair products, and "as seen on TV" products.

Lucky for us, we were traveling with two girls that were Chinese. We navigated our way to a hole in the restaurant by the name of Shan Dong. We let the girls order for us since they knew the food better than we did. Greatest choice ever!



Shan Dong makes their own hand cut noodles, which were amazingggg. A little heavy on the onion, but the noodle is the shining star here.



Lightly pan fried pork dumplings that were HUGE. And so so good. Four thumbs up.



My DB was taught a new method on how to maximize the amount of dipping sauce per dumpling. Poke holes in it, of course! The happy face was totally unintentional.



Last but not least, we have the onion pancake. Divine, as the rest of the menu. My DB even devoured two pieces despite the fact that he hates onions.



We headed back to the BART with happy stomachs.

Things That Make Me Smile

No one's a fan of Monday's, so I decided to compile of list of things that make me smile.



1. This coin purse. My dear friend Ian got it for me from his trip to Cambodia. I think it's just the cutest thing!! I keep all my quarters in it for laundry.





2.  Speaking of Ian, he's number two on my list. He made me a video for my birthday that had me smiling from ear to ear. He's made me a song for me on my birthday 3 years now! This time, he was playing the ukelele rather than his usual guitar. Please excuse this picture, it was taken at 2 AM the night before I left to Berkeley. Anyone that knows me knows that if I'm home, I'm always in PJ's.



3. This Le Creuset baking dish I got for a STEAL at Ross! $12.99 for this gorgeous thing. Can you believe it?!







4. Cinnamon Swirl bread from Trader Joe's. Perfection.



5. Fresh cut fruit. I'm used to having fresh cut fruit in the fridge at all times and now that I'm on my own, it's no different. I realized that cutting up fruit is some serious work; Thanks mom for always doing it back home!

My 24th Birthday

My birthday yesterday was amazing. Despite how many times I told my DB not to worry about getting me a gift or taking me out to eat because of our budget, he went above and beyond.

When we came home at midnight the morning of my birthday, he sneakily ran and grabbed a box from underneath his table. Turns out that he had my present for days, right in front of my eyes. I was oblivious because he had a ton of packages that came in the mail (mostly law books) so I didn't really pay attention.



Oh, that Amazon smile. He had it wrapped by them because wrapping is not his speciality. They used some serious heavy duty paper.





Eeeeep! A beautiful Kindle!! My inner nerd is ECSTATIC.



This was just the beginning; My DB had made dinner reservations a week in advance at a restaurant. He refused to tell me the name of it until we got there. Turn out it was an intimate French restaurant by the name of Rivoli in North Berkeley. The restaurant itself is pretty small and quite popular with the elderly crowd, which means I fell in love with it instantly.



They had a table ready for us with "happy birthday" confetti scattered all over the table. Presh.





Any restaurant that serves bread while waiting is a winner in my book. They even gave us sea salt to sprinkle on top. How unique!



My dish: slow braised rosemary and garlic pork roast, artichoke and potato gratin, green and yellow beans, maître d’hôtel butter



My DB's dish: pollo al ajo, olive oil fried potatoes, roast eggplant, peppers, summer squash grati



We finished off dinner with dessert: a hot fudge sundae, with whipped cream and toasted nuts.

My goodness, this place was spectacular. From the service to the food, everything was top notch. My pork was so tender that I didn't even need a knife-- not even a butter knife! My DB's chicken was moist with a strong roasted flavor. It was like I ate 4 sticks of butter for dinner, which is pretty much heaven for me. The fudge in the sundae is to die for. I ate 3/4 of it when Gabe turned his head. I guess that's what happens when you leave me with dessert.

As if that wasn't enough, my DB took me to the California Theatre afterwards to watch "Don't be Afraid of the Dark." Cutest movie theater, ever. Oh, and my guilty pleasure is scary movies, so that's why he chose movie that instead of some chick flick.

After the movie, we met up with some of my DB's classmates at Triple Rock Brewery to finish our night. One of them announced to the entire bar that it was my birthday and everyone there sang "happy birthday" to me! Totally mortifying, but exceptionally loving.

When I came home, I had some presents to open from my DB's mom and grandma.





A stunning tennis Swarovski bracelet from my DB's mom...



.. and a necklace from his grandma!

I also got a gift card from my mom & dad. Seriously, I'm so thankful for everyone. I can't believe how lucky I am to have all these people in my life. Thank you for making my 24th birthday a memorable one!!

Missing Southern California's Heat

After a couple of weeks living in Berkeley, I've come to the realization that I don't have the right wardrobe to accomodate this weather. I thought I was prepared with my blazers and cardigans, but that is definitely not the case. The mornings are already overcast and breezy here, which means that I'll need a down jacket by September. I guess that's what I get for underestimating the weather.

Until I get it right, my clothes will continue to go on Ebay. Feel free to bid for my Southern California clothes. :(

Wearing: Abercrombie tank, Current Elliott boyfriend trousers, & Kelsi Dagger studded pumps.

Disney Pixar Stamps

I've always loved anything to do with snail mail, whether it be stationary, pens, stickers, or stamps. You see, I have a tendency to overbuy stamps...



I don't really see it as a problem since I use each and every one of them. I send out so much mail that I single handedly keep the US post office in business. I visit the post office three times a week and request pick ups at least once a week. Back home, I used to know the workers by name. Seriously.

When I caught wind that Pixar was going to be releasing their own set of stamps, I was ecstatic. Two of my favorite things combining forces? Count me in!





I bought 5 sheets, but I have a feeling I'll be coming back for more. They're FOREVER stamps, so why not? I would even use these for mailing wedding invitations (not that I'm getting married anytime soon). Pixar characters, especially Carl Fredricksen and Buzz, beat rings or roses any day and everyday.

Purp and Yellow

Let's continue the apartment tour... welcome to my bedroom!







My DB let me choose the colors (actually, I don't think he really had a say in anything or really cared) and I chose to do purple and yellow. It may be a bit feminine, but it's the same colors as his favorite basketball team so he couldn't complain.

And look! Didn't our nightstands just fit in perfectly?! Any bigger in size and we'd have to think of a different layout to make them fit.

The lamps are deep purple, even though they look black in the photos. I promise they're not! I linked to them at the bottom.

I'm still working on finding a headboard because we desperately need one. Do you know how hard it is to sit up in bed when your back is in a window? No luck in that department though, since everything's out of my budget at the moment. Here are the two I'm currently lusting over:

Tall Grid Tufted Headboard from West Elm: $499

Diamond Tufted Headboard from West Elm: $549

I adore anything tufted. That first one would go PERFECT with my room. If only I had 600 bucks to shell out.

1. Comforter, pillow shams, and bed skirt are from Target ($79.99)
2. 650 thread count white bed sheets are Calvin Klein from TJMaxx ($39.99)
3. Decorative pillows are from TJMaxx (sale $16.99 each)
4. King size gray pillowcases are from Ross (sale $2.99 for both)
5. Yellow throw from Target (sale 6.99)
6. Bedside lamps from Target (they were listed as $19.99 each, but I got both for $19.99)
7. Globe from Homegoods (sale $9.99)
8. Ihome from Amazon ($39.99)