I LOVE NY

The last time I was in New York, this past summer with Jo and Mel, while chilling at an Anthropolgie, I read through some of the stories that these actors, artists, and other "famous" people shared about their first experience/adventure in the big apple. Let me tell you, some of these stories were hilarious! Adam Sandberg's story still sticks with me, I literally laughed out loud as other women looked at me strangely and continued to shop around. This book reminds me of my first adventure in NYC, which somehow converted into my love for the city. The rest is history.

The first time I went to New York was when I was about 9 years old, it was the summer before I entered the 4th grade. My aunt, me, and my two cousins went on an east coast road trip from NY to DC, Virginia, West Virginia, Canada, and back to NY. Our trip was great, and like any other vacation it would have been memorable no matter what. The icing on top for this entire trip was when we "lost" our rental car, which had our passports and all our luggage the day before our flight back to LA.

It all went something like this...

We were watching Les Miserables on Broadway, so we parked our car in some sketchy alley looking street, Park Place. My aunt got Park Place and Park Ave. mixed up, so after the show all four of us spent 9 hours walking around NYC, sightseeing/shopping/looking for our car. We eventually got so desperate that we sought the help of New York's finest, NYPD. No luck there. We took one last attempt to try to find the car while in a taxi, and voila FOUND IT! Since it was too late to check into a hotel and our flight was in a the next 8 hours or so, we ended up sleeping in the car. hahah. As the youngest of our group I naturally was the whiniest and crankiest person by the end of the night. 9 hours walking around NYC + summer humidity + no bed = whiny and cranky 9 year old Delia.

After all that, NY has become one of my favorite cities in the world (even if I haven't been to every city in the world). I hope I get to live there sometime, even for a little bit during my life time. I'm trying to even half jokingly/seriously convince my parents that we should relocate our family to the east coast once my brother is done with college and my parents start thinking about retiring. My parents are old school, and my dad always jokes that he and my mom are going to my a super sporty 2 seat convertible and live in the countryside. I think this cabin on the rooftop in NYC will do.

via cabbage rose

Getting there...

I used to love Halloween because it of course meant candy, carnivals, and trick or treating! As I grew older, I fell out of the whole hulubaloo spirit of Halloween; I didn't go trick or treating, and our house finally stopped handing out treats sometime in the middle of when I was in high school. I read of a lot of decor, wedding, and baking blogs, all of which have definitely started posting their Halloween decorating ideas (minus the wedding blogs), but I was definitely stunned by this picture... Kudos to this lady! Happy almost Halloween y'all!

Via Bakerella

Hello hello

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Fall has finally (really) arrived in Southern California! YAYAYAY!!! No more random hot weather, spontaneous rainy days ... no moreeeeeee! It's filled instead with gloom/fog and the Santa Ana winds!

<3

I was wearing my "vintage" UC Irvine sweater while donating clothes to the Salvation Army, I ended up having a small chat with the guy taking my stuff...

Guy: I don't want it.
Me: What? I'm doing this out the kindness of my heart (I know... cheesy! But that was the first thing that came to my head haha -_-)
Guy: You go to UC Irvine?
Me: I went there
Guy: What did you study?
Me: International Studies and Political Science
Guy: Cool. I got my PhD.
Me: Oh really... where?
Guy: Pretty Heavy Drinking hahah....

-___-!

I hadn't heard that one before.

Selfish?

We all have read those amazing 'self-less acts of kindness' stories that creates a dramatic change and gives a fresh breath to society...do you know what I'm talking about? You know, the stories that are written about what one person is doing whether it be raising a ton of money to support a cause, experiencing a totally different lifestyle to help support someone/something, etc. You have to know what I'm talking about now right?

I've read so many of those stories about how this one person can make such a powerful impact to those around them, and at the end of reading these articles I always think "Wow... what can I do to create that impact? How can change start with me?" I also think, "Am I being selfish right now, in order to achieve a 'successful' life?" because I'm not necessarily doing the great things that other people are doing...? I don't know. I definitely know there are times when I take a lot of things I have in my life for granted; I sometimes forget how thankful I should be to be born into my family and to have the support of my parents and aunt for this wonderful life.  I recently read a story about a guy, Ron Zaleski who walks around barefoot and helps veterans from committing suicide. He has an interesting story, it's definitely unique. I'm  not sure if I would use his method to support our veterans, but this is his way of creating change.

I want to be able to inspire others. Some people would say being a teacher would be good because I do want to work with students and allow them to see the potential in themselves, but I don't want to become a teacher. I really want to get to the source of the problem with our education system, how can I help change the policy, the core of our country's education system? I'm not interested in becoming a bureaucrat who pushes papers and just hands out orders left and right, someone who I would consider is not truly invested in really helping students. What can I do?! Think Delia, think!

Update!

Haven't been posting pictures these past few days -_-...
I've been lazily sitting at home watching a whole lot of reality TV, researching grad schools, playing chauffeur to my brother, running household errands, and reading the hundreds of blogs that I follow. What has my life come to? I'm not living the "glamorous" 20 year old college grad lifestyle that I expected. haha. Hopefully, I will soon be able to live life the way I expected and be able to overcome the life's obstacles with grace. I dream, hope, and then take ACTION! I need affirmations for myself, letting me know that I can do anything I really set my mind to (and anything that is meant to be...).

I took away the MAJOR thing that distracts me so much online and ... deactivated my facebook again; hopefully I'm successful this time around. Facebook is awesome, I know it, you know it, we all know it. It's seriously one of the most convenient methods to contact someone and that was the reason I reactivated it the first time, but it's also my time waster. So for those of you who do read my blog, holler at everyone and tell them the only ways to contact me are via email, cell, blog, and twitter! :) Kudos to me.

Ciao darling.

SFV T-Storms

Today had one of the most intense thunder storms I have ever experienced in the Valley, and I think this is the most scared experience for my dog; he's not liking Mother Nature too much right now. My dog seriously flipped out so much from all the lightening and thunder that he jumped over his fence into the backyard. We only found out that he was running around in the main part of the backyard because while my mom was in the kitchen he jumped at in front of the window and scared my mom badly. He has been barking non-stop because he is so scared of the storm. Oh poor puppy...When I get my own place I want a dog who will be able to live INSIDE the house. I feel so guilty telling him to go inside his own dog house. Oy vey...

Stank Eye 0_o...

I haven't been able to update my daily pictures for the past few days because I took a mini-road trip with some friends to SAN FRANCISCO! The trip was planned super last minute, but I think my main objective was to spend some good quality time with friends I don't necessarily get to see now every week. I loved going back to San Francisco, the last time I was there was 2 years ago with the same people Eric, John, and Andy, but this trip also included some more fabulous friends, Jo, Jeff, Derek, Mitchell, and Karen :)

 After arriving in SF at 3:30am and sleeping till 10am, it was a nice surprise for Jeff and Andy to cook us all breakfast. Thanks!

 YAY MUNI!

 

 Group shot! Bright Ferry Building in the back.

 

 SOPA!

 The 12 kitties

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Stank Eye - inspired after Jo not knowing who J. Chou is...

 

 

 

 

 

 Drunkards. hahaha

 I love this picture, it makes me laugh so much!

 

 

 We survived the back seat friday night!

 My eyes are no longer chinky when I'm drunk O_O

 Boss with the zebra snuggie :)

Twinies! Yay to J.Crew shirts and jeans. White t-shirts and jeans is the best outfit in the world. :)

Good trip y'all! <3

TGIO

Today has probably been one of THE most stressful days I've had in the last 4 months. From beginning to end nothing really fell into place. By the end of the day, I could tell my entire family was relieved that the day had finally come to an end. All of our faces and bodies looked tired and drained, today got the best of us physically and mentally. Ugh. Thank goodness it's overahhh! The Hong family will prevail tomorrow.

I bid you aideu with this final picture. I thought I wasn't going to take a picture today because I was feeling super defeated the entire day by every little thing that happened, but as I was driving over to my brother's back to school night, I got to see the final moments of today's sunset from my street. The sky was so brilliantly pink, and it was nice because I haven't seen the sky lit pink in a while. Nice way to finally end the day. Today came and went, and I'm SO glad its done. TGIO!


P.S. Have you ever been to a back to school night? I don't recall attending any of my back to school nights in middle or high school. My brother's back to school night today was the first time I did anything of the sort. I actually surprisingly really enjoyed the concept of back to night, and it was nice to get to meet my brother's teachers on behalf of my parents. I finally am understanding a minute part of my brother's magnet program system, and I sort of wish I attended his high school rather than mine... I was surprised with the topics that his humanities magnet program discussed focusing on different overall themes and subjects for each grade level. As a senior, my brother gets to cover philosophy and language and how we are basically perceived with certain societal notions; his teachers explained everything more eloquently. After not sitting in a classroom or having any real academic setting for 4 months, it was a surreal feeling to be siting at a desk in front of a teacher. I feel super nostalgic, I want to be a student again...

P.P.S. When I'm a student again, I will be able to receive health insurance from my momma again -_-. hahaha

FIN!

4 years and 33 shirts later

I'm on a mission right now to have my room spotless by Friday. Here is part of the "discovered" result... during college, my on campus involvements all provided free t-shirts; I probably accumulated give or take at least 6 shirts a year. I was going to make a quilt with all these shirts, hopefully I'll get around to doing that soon.

Experimenting

 Experiment fail. My mom bought some Trader Joe's doggie treats for Lucky, but her attempt at being a good dog owner failed. I kept watch of my dog as he was testing out his new treat, as he was about 40% done and getting closer to the inside of the treat, I noticed blood! :( I was super not happy about this and tried to quickly take away the treat. Have you ever tried to steal a treat back from a 50 lbs. dog?!

Ikea galore

As you can see, I've desperately been need to organize my room ever since I moved back home from college. My mom and I finally took a trip to Ikea, seeing that it was the quickest and best way to buy a decent dresser for both me and my brother. My mom seriously probably hasn't been to Ikea is 20 or so years; all the furniture we have from Ikea is at least 20 years old! Today, we actually made 2 trips to Ikea! Oh Ikea...

101010! Good luck?

Hung out with some old high school pals Nafisa, Jade and company at Griddle Cafe in West Hollywood. I was definitely excited to see Nafisa, who I haven't literally seen in 4 years. Meeting up with high school pals and going back to the Griddle made me reminisce about the first time I actually went to the Griddle with Jesse Y. and Tony C. at 8am during one of those standardized testing days when seniors got to come to school late. Dang.. I haven't talked/seen those guys in a while either...I seriously am very horrible with keeping in touch with high school friends.

We talked about the East vs. West Coast namely NY vs. LA. As most of you should know, I really want to move to NY, and what better time than now when I'm young, healthy, and able to handle "real" weather. My friends still do have a valid point, no matter what, the SFV will always be considered home to me. An Angelino for life.

Thank goodness

My brother finally took the SATs again, hopefully he does super well! Kudos and good luck brotha. :) In celebration of finishing a nasty 5 hour standardized test, we (me and my momma) decided to treat him to a good/decent meal at Cheesecake Factory.

My mom has finally decided to take a much needed vacation. Thank goodness! This just means a week full of mommy and me dates/ her sort of breathing down my neck about being productive hah! I found this cardigan in the sale section at Nordstorm Rack; it's totally tacky and cheesy, but the tacky and cheesiness is what  made it notice it and smile.  Plus, it provided a perfect backdrop for my mom needing a vacation.

I also recently watched a random Korean show about a Korean mother who was adopted by an American couple in Oregon when she was a baby. My mom told me to watch it by saying look it's about NY... wrong. Anyways, this woman, Colleen O'Neil had a son, but I'm not sure who the father is because the son is full Korean. But the whole story is based around the son's quest to find his mother's biological family. It was endearing to see that the son, Richard was so determined in trying to learn Korean and his passion for playing the viola; he is quite the accomplished violist. Colleen now lives with her boyfriend, Bill in Astoria, Oregon. Her lifestyle is so simple, she is proud of who she is, what she represents, and loves Bill; there is nothing more to it. The show portrayed her to not need anything else in life, which got me thinking how my life could be that simple if I didn't over think every detail in my life. This story made me further appreciate all the important people who have helped shape my life.

Randoms

 My dog is not allowed in the house and only under extreme special weather circumstances is he let into the garage. Well, as I was trying to take a picture of my dog, the sneaky little thing just bolts into the garage. Let me tell you, my dog has recently surprised me with his good behavior by sitting at the door and waiting for me to step out of the garage. Today's little stunt was totally unexpected, but I caught him in the act, red "pawed"...

I have no idea what this fruit is but the literal Korean translation is cherry what is it? My brother pointed this sign out and at first I didn't believe him because this makes no grammatical sense.

Fresh starting

WHOOSH.

This week my mind has been going 1340982340 mph thinking about the (so far denying/dreading) future.

 My brother and I noticed this car, it has to be one of the ugliest cars we've ever seen. From afar, the truck looks like a normal suv, but when you get closer I think something about the curves in the car and the horizontal lines on the back make the car totally unattractive.

Quapa?

 Day 3 of rain! :)

The bad 'taking pictures while driving' habit still continues... -_-.

Serious family addiction ever since my mom brought home pastries/cake for my birthday -_-.

I love the varying colors of these three girls. I know, I know, this picture is totallyyy creeper-esque.

After dropping off my brother at tutoring, I've drove past my old Granada Hills neighborhood and elementary school. My neighborhood looks the same, the current owners to my old house in my opinion have made the house uglier, but I guess the old huge trees planted in the sidewalks make up for the small designed 1950s homes. When passing my elementary school, everything from the playground, the buildings, the stairs I used to get picked up at looked the same until I saw the front of the school... they had painted a huge mural with a super ugly horse and knight. I was shocked, then "sped" off quickly before someone noticed a small asian girl driving suspiciously around an elementary school. 

Later in the evening, I got to attend a "special" SUV event with my lovely ol' pals Paul, Jo, Ash, and David (plus some of P's friends Iko like Eco and Jen). YAY! Thanks for hosting Paul!

The day Paul finally knew how to make French bread! hahahah

I haven't had Beard Papas in 2 years! Thanks Jo & Davidddd.

They're so cute.

Dance off! Such a good duo, great job y'all. hahah 

Don't ya just love dancing to Lady Gaga?!

Here's the story with tonight's blog title...
So we got on the topic of Jon/Kate and their 8 kids..
David: Oh those cute 8 hapa children..
Me: What are they again 1/8 Korean?
Ash: No, they're 1/4.
D: Oh so they aren't hapas...
Me: What do you call children that are 1/4?
Ash: QUAPA!

Special thanks to ASH for the title of tonight's blog. ;)