heartbeats

Baby, you're a firework!

2011-09-06T02:36:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is about fireworks that just intrigues me. No matter where I am, I literally have to to stop, stare and just be amazed at the lights and the colors. I'm 25 years old and I still go, "WOWWWWW!!!" like a little kid whenever I see them.

I also like to pretend that I hold the fireworks in my hand and then try to time it out and "throw" them in the air to make them explode. I'm pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. (*sarcasm)

I should go to Disneyland and audition for the job of the person who gets to play Mickey Mouse during the Fantasmic! show. Throwin' fireworks and shiet. That would be fucking awesome.

WYD 2011 - The Recap

2011-09-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

World Youth Day 2011 in a nutshell. This is a token of our appreciation.

Thank you, Madrid. It's been real.

Making Friends

2011-08-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

This is how we break down language barriers..

More Safari Adventures

2011-08-23T17:08:00.000-07:00

While adventuring through Madrid, Spain for World Youth Day 2011, amateur nature guide, Anthony Staub, documents his encounters with rare imported creatures throughout the city.

Episode 3:

Episode 4:

Ritual Union - Little Dragon

2011-08-23T16:54:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Starbucks for having this as your iTunes "Pick of the Week". I don't drink coffee and usually only go to a Starbucks location if I have to pee.. good thing I drink a lot, or else I never would have found this song!

I'm coming HOME!

2011-08-21T22:03:00.001-07:00

Dear Travel Gods,

Grant me a safe flight back home to Los Angeles. Madrid was wonderful,
and I can't wait to return someday.

Also, there are three HUGE bottles of sangria in my check-in luggage.
Please oh PUH-LEASE don't let them break. I have a lot of white
clothes and that would suck.

Thanks!

xoxo,
Cor

Shh.. we're being stealth!

2011-08-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

We're HERE!

2011-08-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

Finally made it to Spain! Just endured a REEEAAALLLY uncomfortable plane ride. The plane was small and crammed and I had to sit next to a stranger. I've never done that before on an international flight. 10 hours.. I just about died.

On a lighter note, the city is beautiful from what I've seen so far from a bus window. More exploring will be done tonight and throughout the week, of course!

But first thing's first: I NEED FOOD. Where's my tapas and sangria?!?!

Click HERE to see more pictures from our trip!

¡ESPAÑA!

2011-08-13T00:54:00.000-07:00

In 12 hours I'll be at LAX waiting to board my plane to Madrid!

Very excited to see how this World Youth Day will turn out and what lies in store for us when we get there! I'm not sure how internet-efficient our hotel will be, so I don't know how much blogging, tweeting, or updating I'll be able to do while out there. (Arrghh.. no Foursquare!?!? Oh, the TRAGEDY!)

Stay tuned! Adios! ^_^

Summer Road Trip: SANTA CRUZ

2011-08-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome to: Santa Cruz, CA

Santa Cruz is like the ultimate beach town. The houses are small and cute and everything seems super laid back and easy-going. The boardwalk looks like the West Coast version of Coney Island. They even have a similar roller coaster!

The Santa Cruz Boardwalk is filled with fun rides and games and LOTS of carnival food to eat. I wanted to eat everything - saltwater taffy, candies galore, Texas donuts (HUGE donuts, as big as my face!) and the best of them all: DEEP-FRIED DESSERTS!

There was a whole stand dedicated to all this deep-fried goodness. I tried a deep-fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Greg got the deep-fried Twinkie. (I preferred the Twinkie over the PB&J though.)

<--- Last stop: GILROY
Next stop: BIG BASIN --->

Good For Nothing!

2011-08-11T01:51:00.000-07:00

Dear Spock and Kirk..

Why don't you make yourselves useful and pack my suitcase for Spain while I'm out of the house instead of just lounging around inside of it and filling it with your stupid cat hair?

Love, Mommy.

Black Swamba

2011-08-11T01:18:00.001-07:00

Too good. I'm loving this!

Summer Road Trip: GILROY

2011-08-10T01:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome to: Gilroy, CA

Our drive up north led us through the agricultural belt of Central California. This town is known for GARLIC. Vampires beware! Passed a few shops such as the one pictured above that sold almost any and everything made with garlic. Definitely a must-stop place for anyone who likes to cook and wants to pick up some fresh homemade spices and seasonings!

Now, I'm a fan of garlic flavor. I love it in a lot of dishes (especially pastas, fries and with chicken!), but I would never have expected to ever try GARLIC ICE CREAM! Being the adventurous foodie, I wanted to give it a go. It was SO WEIRD!

It was basically vanilla ice cream with a slight hint of garlic flavoring (I'm guessing they used garlic butter?) mixed in. When you first taste it, it just seems like normal vanilla ice cream. Then after a while, your tongue starts getting confused because all of a sudden, you can totally start to taste the garlic! At first I wasn't liking it, but eventually, I didn't want to STOP eating! How strange, huh?!

We always drive through here whenever we make the trip from Los Angeles to the Bay Area and back. There are lots of great food and fruit stands in this area as well. I always want to stop and pick up some fresh strawberries! Maybe one day I'll be able to make it out there for the Annual Garlic Festival.. Interesting to see what that's all about!

Remind me to bring a few packs of gum though!

<--- Last stop: SOLVANG

Next stop: SANTA CRUZ --->

It's sad because it's true..

2011-08-10T01:18:00.001-07:00

I especially agree with the part about my legs being their bed. I hate when I'm sleeping in the middle of the night and then can't move my lower body because I have both cats pinning me down! They're HEAVY!

Summer Road Trip: SOLVANG

2011-08-09T13:46:00.001-07:00

Welcome to: Solvang, CA

This is a cute little town founded in the early 1900s by Danish settlers just past Santa Barbara. It looks like Disneyland! There are cute little shops, windmills everywhere, a museum dedicated to Hans Christian Andersen (author of The Little Mermaid and several other fairy tales), restaurants and bakeries to DIE FOR.

We didn't stay long, because we needed to get back on the road, but Greg picked up a delicious freshly-baked cheese danish before we left and it was sooo good! I wish we hadn't eaten breakfast before leaving so that we could've stayed and sampled more of the food they had to offer in town.. NEXT TIME FOR SURE!

In front of the Little Mermaid fountain, located in the middle of town, across from the Hans Christian Andersen Museum. I just had to stop here. The Little Mermaid is one of my favorite Disney cartoons, so I wanted to stop and see the statue of the story it was originally based upon!

Next stop: GILROY --->

California Dreams

2011-08-09T02:17:00.001-07:00

Katy Perry's California Dreams Tour comes home to The Nokia Theater in Los Angeles!

I liked how everyone kept chanting T-G-I-S!

It was a Sunday night and Katy Perry rocked it like the weekend was just getting started! I don't think I've ever had that much fun at a concert! It felt like I was at a slumber party with my best girl friends - actually, I DID go with my BFF Mayumi - and we were all singing, dancing, celebrating and having the time of our lives! The entire theater smelled of cotton candy and the stage was decorated like Candyland. One word to sum it all up: CUTE!

My favorite parts were when she would talk to her fans out in the crowd. She kept referring to LA as her hometown. This made the show seem exceptionally special because she was performing for her friends and family and all of us fans were included in that bunch. I felt like we were included in her inside jokes and I felt close to her, as if I'd known her my whole life. That is one of the albeit humble qualities of an entertainer/celebrity that I appreciate: their ability to be relatable and human.

Click the thumbnails to view video from the concert:
"Firework"

From Katy Perry's California Dreams Tour

"Teenage Dream"

From Katy Perry's California Dreams Tour

Play - Jennifer Lopez

2011-08-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

Remember the J-Lo days? Now who else wants to go out dancing with me?

I could wait all night and day,
To go to a party, sit down and wait
Give my request to the DJ,
'Cause my song he's gotta play
And when I hear that beat,
I get my body up out my seat,
Grab a guy and move my feet
He's playin' my song

Play
Come on play that song
Play it all night long
Just turn it up and turn it on
Play,
Come on DJ play that song
You know that it turns me on
Just turn it up and turn it on

DJ just play that song
'Cause I wanna be dancing all night long
Just play my
Play my
Play my
Play my favorite song

I don't care if everybody's gone
Turn it up, 'cause it turns me on
Keep dancin' all night long
It feels so right that it can't be wrong
I get chills up and down my spine
Whenever I hear that song of mine
When it stops better press rewind
Let me hear it one more time

I just wanna dance
Is that a crime?
Alright then

Now Mr. DJ
I've asked you three times
Play my mother fucking song!

Play
Come on play that song
Play it all night long
Just turn it up and turn it on
Play,
Come on DJ play that song
You know that it turns me on
DJ just play that song
Just turn it up and turn it on

Heroes in a Halfshell..

2011-08-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

Splinter taught them to be fighting teens
Leonardo leads, Donatello does machines
Raphael is cool but rude
Michaelangelo is a party dude!

I used to watch this cartoon faithfully as a kid. (I wonder if April O'Neal is lowkey the inspiration behind me going to college as a broadcast journalism major??? *Shrug* Bitch was cool and got to kick it with the Green Team. That's all I know.) I love the Ninja Turtles! I can quote the live action movie verbatim. It's annoying, but kinda cool if you're down with the nostalgia as well.

Leave your favorite TMNT movie quote as a comment below!

Enjoy this video of the original cartoon TV series' theme song.. never mind the fact that they say "Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles" though.. I think it's a copyright thing. Anyways, SOOO glad I grew up in the 80s-90s!

TURTLE POWER!

Thanks to Sir Mitchell for posting this on his Tumblr page and stirring up the memories! :-)

OH. EM. EFF. GEE.

2011-08-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

I wish Lola would have read this book to me when I was a baby..

I die. I die so hard.. ^_^

Seriously..

2011-08-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

It'll grow back. It always does.

2011-07-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

The inspiration:
Dianna Agron, who plays "Quinn Fabray" on GLEE recently got a short trendy cut. When I saw this, I became slightly obsessed with her hairstyle.

I've always wondered if I could pull off short hair. I have not had hair shorter than shoulder-length since I was in 2nd grade and always feared cutting my long hair. But for some reason, the more I thought about Dianna's hair, the more I wanted to have the same style.

On somewhat of a whim, I suggested we stop by a friend's salon in San Jose and have her cut my hair, since we were thinking about doing a Bay Area road trip/camping vacation this summer anyway.

My stylist is Thanh Tran and she is AMAZING! I probably would have gone up to see her anyway, even if we weren't planning on camping. I don't mind coming up to the Bay to pay her a visit. It's totally worth it! Her salon is called 5 Color Cowboy in Downtown San Jose (www.5colorcowboy.com). Thanh did an awesome job! (She always does.) I am very happy with my new 'do! ^_^

My hair was sitting on Thanh's workstation while she styled my new short 'do.. I was so amazed! I kept staring at it while she was cutting thinking, "OMG, I can't believe all that used to be attached to my head! Now it's just GONE!"

Greg and me showing off our fresh cuts! (He got his hair cut by Thanh as well, prior to her doing mine.)

Also going to try to donate the hair that was cut off to Locks of Love. Hopefully it meets the length requirement!

O Hai! Iz Plankin'!

2011-07-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

Even my cat, Spock, is down with planking.

Say You Don't Want It - One Night Only

2011-07-24T20:37:00.001-07:00

So adorable.

Plowking..

2011-07-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

Owling + Planking.. LIKE A BAWSE.

Educate yourself:
Planking - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planking_(fad)
Owling - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owling_(internet_meme)

WYD'11 - 25 Days to Go

2011-07-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

Countdown to World Youth Day 2011: 25 Days to Go!

Our group has been preparing for this trip for 2.5 years now and I can't believe we're almost there! For those of you who don't know what World Youth Day is, it is a tri-annual event organized by the Vatican for Catholic youth and young adults (and the young at heart) to travel and gather at a designated city somewhere in the world to share in their culture and faith. This year's event will be in Madrid, Spain, where I, along with 13 other young adults from my hometown church, will be going to experience this awesome movement of young pilgrims and attend Mass presided by the Pope.

This is not my first time going. In 2008, I went with a smaller group of 9 to WYD in Sydney, Australia. It was so much fun. I had never been before, so it was amazing just to be able to have the chance to travel and see the world.

When the second opportunity came up to travel to Spain for the next WYD, of course I had to go! Our group has been fundraising for about 2.5 years - basically since we got back from Sydney - in order to have enough funds to send a slightly bigger group this year. We went all out trying to find out more effective and efficient ways to raise enough money sooner. I even entered a contest with our Diocese of San Bernardino to design the t-shirt logo that would represent for the entire diocese to wear when in Spain. The winning logo would get their trip expenses covered! On a whim, (I really didn't think my design was good enough) I entered the contest and ended up winning! That was such a big help for our overall goal.

Funny enough, I didn't think it would garner this much attention! Shortly after they told me I won, I got a call saying that the local paper, The Daily Press, in my hometown wanted to interview me!

I also received an award as a "Thank You" from the Diocese, which I was very honored to receive. Having my design on a shirt is many thanks enough! Most recently, I received a phone call from a reporter from La Razón, a Spanish newspaper, and they were asking to profile my group and me in an article about World Youth Day! HUGE! (I need to brush up on my español.. Not 100% sure what it says exactly. Ha!)

What an honor and a blessing to receive such recognition for an event that I am very excited and passionate about attending! When we first decided to start raising funds for Madrid, I prayed that this trip would live up to WYD 2008 in Sydney. So far, this has surpassed my expectations for the trip and the experience of the journey to Spain, and we haven't even left America yet! When we get to Spain, I expect to meet so many people, as I did at the previous World Youth Day. Our group will also be leading "catechesis sessions", which are daily workshops on faith and the theme of the event, during the week leading up to the final Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

I am thankful every day for life experiences like this. They truly are gifts that bring me to appreciate life and relationships.

Art in the Streets - MOCA

2011-07-21T18:39:00.001-07:00

www.moca.org

Still Parade - Moss of Aura

2011-07-21T17:31:00.001-07:00

Happened to find this little gem on a friend's Facebook page. I love discovering new music. I especially love that this is all instrumental.. perfect music for a drive or to zone out to on my upcoming plane ride to Spain.

http://friendsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/still-parade

Retro fans: I also dig that you can purchase this album in cassette form! (Oh, nostalgia.. you get me every time.)