Bubbles, Wine and... Woody Allen

Whoops! Sorry I let so much time go by with out blogging. My bad! It has been kind of a crazy 3 weeks. I went home, came back to the dreaded midterms week, and.... well, a period of laziness, I'll admit it. You all know what a great procrastinator I am. I usually blog at night with a glass of wine but I have taken to another nighttime wine time habit:

I have taken up having a glass of wine while soaking in a bubble bath and watching various Woody Allen movies on instant play. It cut into my blog time, and I am sorry for that.... no.. I'm not... I love bubbles, wine, and woody allen!!






As I said earlier, I went home a couple of weekends ago and it was an amazing weekend. I spent time with my much loved/missed friends and family, which is all I need to constitute an "amazing" weekend. On friday, my parents held a sleep over with my niece and nephews. We had pizza and watched movies and played! Of course, I slept in the living room with all of them. Even though they all woke up, what I would usually deem, unnecessarily early, it's hard to be mad when your four year old nephew is laying awake and making up stories to peacefully wake up grandma. "Once upon a time, this morning, there was a boy named Ata. The end." This story put an immediate smile on my face, one that is rarely seen at 5:45 am. On Saturday, I got to hang out with my Stell Coffee & Tea girls at my friends baby shower. I realized that it had been way too long since I had hung out with them and I think it needs to happen again. Soon. Afterwards, it was time to get down at my dads birthday party. Again, a much needed abundance of friends and family and debauchery was had. Sunday was spent at a tiny Redlands car show with the Koçak fam and making the rounds to see people I didn't get to see earlier but wanted to see before I left for another month and a half. I did not get any pictures of the weekend, unfortunately, because my phone was dead for the majority of it. I did, however, get this one picture:

<3 <3














The next week wasn't too eventful but I did have a few exciting moments turn into total disappointments:
1) Monday, I went to check out the French Club. A club where you sit around and converse in French. I was nervous but excited to meet new people. I had planned on going at the beginning of the quarter but had missed the first meeting. They meet every other monday, so I had to wait 2 weeks for the next meeting. Well, after all the anticipation, I chickened out. I left at a decent time for it but had miscalculated how far the meeting would be from my parking spot. I was ten minutes late. Everyone had already chosen their click and if I were to join, I would have had to interrupt the several conversations that were going on and had some of them move around so I could fit another chair into one of the circles. I walked in, looked at them, did a lap around the room and headed back out the door. That was all me. So disappointed in myself. Oh well!
2) I also went to check out another club, Global Awareness. I was so ecstatic to find a club that, if true to the name, suited me so well. I want to join a club where we focus on current atrocities around the world, educate people about them and work on raising funds for the cause. In this club, I also want to discuss various current global events, maybe even have separate groups assigned to a different part of the worls and present what is happening in that area at the next meeting.... is that so hard to ask?? Anyways, I went to this club meeting and it turns out that it was geared towards students going into teaching. The leaders of this club go to a school every week and talk about certain cultures or global issues to kids of various ages. The club members are to come up with the topic and lesson plan for the next school visit. Needless to say, I won't be going back. I think what they are doing is awesome but it was not what I was hoping for.
3) For my third and final disappointing moment (that I can remember), was the arrival of my much awaited chair. The one I ordered on September 21.... yeah, I had been waiting for a month. I came home to a sight that I never get tired of seeing:

Say whaaaattttt?! A huge package for little ol' me? I was thrilled to say the least.













This is what I had been waiting for:

COOKIE MONSTER!! WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU??

My cute, muted teal, vintage chair was actually a velvety cookie monster pelt. I didn't even bother  taking the rest out of the box. I just tried to figure out how to return it. I couldn't for a good week and a half because I had to wait for the invoice to be delivered...why they came separately is beyond me.  I still have it too. I 'm waiting for UPS to come take  it off my hands.


Oh and don't worry, it wasn't actually cookie monster. I was relieved when, during IV's halloween extravaganza, I found myself riding bikes side by side with cookie monster himself. A childhood dream come true. Too bad we were both trying to avoid running over the slutty indians and provocative nerds instead of indulging in an insane consumption of cookies; that was not part of my childhood dream.
Other highlights of that week:

My guitar teacher told us to record ourselves so that we can listen and watch our fingering. Well, on my first recording, I had a visitor. I thought it was a funny moment and wanted to share it with you guys. This brings up another disappointment actually, I finally got rid of my spider problem and then I got invaded by ants! I don't know where they came from but oddly enough they were mostly just on my computer charger... and a smooshed piece of raspberry macaron in my carpet. I took out the evil vacuum and I haven't seen another ant in my apartment since.

Yes, that is a tamale... a moment that only became disappointing after I ate it and there was no more for me to enjoy. There is a hispanic family that walks around IV and sells homemade tamales out of a cooler (yes, all of IV...I know it's crazy, I was at my friends house several blocks away and they came to his door and later that night came to my door... just another reason why I should support their business. and yes I am aware that I should not trust mexican food that is well traveled and served out of a cooler but that's the best kind! Do you really want to deprive me of this joy. Look at my face.) The first time they came to my apartment I had to turn down the little girl, who was sent by her mother to manipulate me, because they only had meat tamales. The next time they came around, they had cheese! Awwwww yeeaaahhh!

Last Saturday, I went out to LA to celebrate the marriage of my aunt and her husband. It was at this cool artsy bar. I couldn't get a a good picture because it was so dark but I did get some pictures:

This is my aunt dancing happily with her husband. It was a very sweet moment. Congrats to you guys once again, by the way!

I tried so hard to capture this moment but every one was dancing so much I couldn't get the picture I wanted. I do love this one though. This was when my uncle pulled my aunt out on the dance floor and a few more people joined in. My aunt looked so happy I had to include it in this blog.

Of course, my favorite part of any family party is when my dad or aunt, let alone both of them, get on that stage and show up any other musician in the venue. They got the whole bar dancing and hooting and hollering. I took a video of it but I was dancing so much that it makes me dizzy to watch. Anyways, they rocked it, like always!

Sadly, I had to hurry home that night to study, but it was a good night.
This last week has been all about exercising, studying, avoiding halloween in IV and setting up accounts on babysitting websites. I have decided that babysitting is the perfect job for me at the moment. It's not too time consuming, it still allows me to be flexible and, with 13 years of experience, I am worth a good amount of money. On top of that, I am getting my first aid and CPR certifications this week, so I will be legit. Plus, everyone who knows me knows that I am a sucker for kids. Why not get paid for something I love and something I seem to be really good at? In fact, I think I may have picked up a future job today and applied for one that will require me to work 3 days a week. I'm really excited about this.
Other than that, nothing has been going on this past week. French is going well, I might be getting a tutor just to come talk to me in french for an hour a week. Spanish is always fun for me. Physics is.... well.... this is how physics is going:

I am definitely getting a tutor twice a week for physics. I can't wait until I am done with this class!!









Okay, I had intentions of going to bed early tonight. I started writing this at 10:30... it is now 12:30. Whomp Whomp. I guess that's why I've been putting this off. I get carried away and then end up staying up late. Which makes no sense because even if I am in bed by 11, I lay around until about 2:30 anyways. Anywho, good night y'all and...

Happy Halloween motha uckas!
(I've had to wear that since Thursday as proof that I live in my apartment.. I'm telling you guys, halloween in IV is crazy. I get to take it off tomorrow...Tuesday.)






Here are some other pictures that I wanted to include but didn't have a place for them that I will leave you with:

I found this mobil eyebrow.

Gotta love my sunset jogs.
















I saved the best for last. I woke up to this picture of my brother in law with a caption that read "bestest bro ever!" :

He's not wrong...

Spiders, Dinosaurs, and Donny Osmond

I'm not sure why I always choose to start blogging really late at night...actually, that's a lie. I know EXACTLY why. I get all my energy around 8. I stay up till 2 doing whatever it is that I do and then wonder why I'm so tired the next day after waking up around 7:30 or 8. I do looovvee blogging late at night though, because it's when my creative juices flow; it's when I set up a comfy spot in my bed to sit back and pour out my soul while sipping on some wine and wearing whatever it is that I wear when I live alone. I have a lot of alone time but this is what I truly deem my "me time".
I am blogging a little later in the week because I was waiting for the day I cook something new. However, I had an eventful weekend that left me with so many left overs, I haven't had the need to cook for the last four days (unless you consider a half a sandwich or heating up some premade tomato soup cooking).
Last week was a nice week. I got to check out that swap meet I spoke of in my last blog. I'm not sure if it was because I went later in the evening when it, technically, starts at 7 am, but it was extremely small. There were only about 8 or 9 booths up, so I was in and out of there in a matter of minutes. I spent some time looking at records but didn't find anything good. But, hey, if any of you are interested in collecting Donny Osmond records, let me know, there's plenty of those. I did buy some jewelry and got to speak a little spanish in the meantime. I, also, had my first guitar lesson last Tuesday and loved it. I am so excited to finally be playing again. I am sad that I'm not learning from my dad but it is probably good for me to play with a room of complete strangers, so that I get over this whole "fear of playing in front of anyone who is not my dad" thing. It does help that my teacher reminds me an awful lot like my dad though. He even had a long pony tail and wears skater shoes like my dad! Although, my dad's cooler with his checkered vans instead of this guys bulky skater shoes. After my guitar lessons, I made it to the farmers market like I hoped I would. I didn't have much cash on me, so I only bought new flowers to replace my old and wilting ones and then headed home. A quick trip is better than no trip.
We have continued to have amazingly beautiful days:

I really hope they stay for a while. I understand we need rain and that there are these things called "seasons", but I will give up complaining about winter if I can just hang on to this weather for a few more weeks..or a little longer.
Please?





It was so nice outside I drove downtown to do some...um... light shopping. HA! That's what I thought! I went to check out our new H&M. Turns out, on that corner alone, there is an H&M, Forever 21 and a Marshalls. This is also the half way point between Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. I am in some serious trouble. Time to find a job.

All last week, I worked hard on my apartment. I put things together that I have been putting off for a while, set up my desk and emptied out several boxes. As much as I would love to say I did this due to my strong will and discipline, I didn't. I did it because my sister and the rest of the Koçak fam came to visit me over the weekend. I knew I would get scolded if I left it the way it was before she arrived. (Scolded with love ;) love you sista) Plus, I really wanted it to be nice for them. I had a few tasks to
get done before they came. One of these tasks was to ask my upstairs neighbors to cool it on the music and partying over the weekend so that the babies could sleep. This was the first time I've interacted with my neighbors, mind you. I must seem really cool at this point. Whatev, they were super quiet which was awesome. The Koçaks arrived late Friday night. My nephews were both excited to see me, probably not as much as I was to see them. My sister, brother-in-law and I caught up, while the kids watched one of my favorite movies, Ratatouille (yeah, I said it...FAVORITE). I got to sleep with my nephew, Ata, both nights. That makes me happy every time. On Saturday, after a big, homemade, breakfast, we headed to the zoo. I'll let the pictures illustrate our trip:

I don't know if he's praying or celebrating a victory, but I love it.

Not a great pic, but I love crocodiles.

Ata's best elephant face.

Luk loves the camera.

 Ata's best zoo face...very similar to his elephant face. It's a cute face, nonetheless.

 He's not sure about the situation he's in.

 So proud of him! He slid down standing up without any encouragement to do so and he made it  all the way down.

Then, when I told Missy about it, she asked him to do it again and he said, "No, you do it." He stood behind her and cheered her on the whole time.

 Meanwhile, this is what Luk was doing. His dad was making him giggle.

 At the moment, Ata's favorite animals are giraffes. They had a bonding moment.

 So, like the cool aunt I am, I took him to feed the giraffes.

So what if I also nerded out a little!

Ata vs Gorilla

This is Duncan. Hands down, BEST dinosaur costume I have ever seen. Ata was so excited about it, he talked about "Dunky" all weekend.











After the zoo, we eventually met up with one of my closest friends, Tatianni. She lives in Washington right now but she was on a road trip back down to Redlands and she stopped by SB for a visit. It was awesome to see her. It made me really miss her. I instructed her and her boyfriend to get some macarons at a french cafe that's a little ways down from the restaurant we were at. I talked the macarons up so much at lunch that Missy and Orsan wanted some for dessert (I love introducing people to macarons, if there is anybody out there that wants me to bring some back for them this weekend let me know). We ended up walking there, which turned out to be a 2 mile walk... a little longer than a few blocks like I had told them is was. Luckily, they are fans of the fitness. Saturday was pretty much perfect. After the long walks and devouring 13 macarons, we just sat around in my apartment and talked the rest of the night.
Sunday, we woke up and walked to the beach. It was a gorgeous day to run around on the sand amongst dozens of surfers and skip rocks:

The Koçaks.

Luk...always naked.

Ata, taking on the whole ocean.

 Brothers, hermanos, frères, brüders, broers, irmãos...

Interested?
















Once we got home, Missy made a huge amount of beans and rice for some burritos and some delicious broccoli and brussel sprouts with dried cranberry, pistachios and lemon...so good! Hence, the leftovers I spoke of earlier. I've had my share or burritos this week. After burritos, we left for the gelato place I had been talking about for a week. Of course, the time I take people to this place, they don't deliver. The gelato was icey, as if it had been there for a long time. I still have faith though. I'll have to go back again just to make sure it's still good. Alas, the weekend had to come to an end. The fam packed up and left me to watch tv... I mean do homework... all alone. I would have been extremely sad if it weren't for my going home this weekend. I was still sad.
This week has been uneventful but a good one nevertheless. I had another spider attack. Actually, I had a few. Last Thursday, the day before my sister came out, I opened my door after coming home from a long study sesh, only to walk into a spider web. As soon as I turned on the light, I looked up and saw the infestation that had taken over my ceiling. These tiny spiders were taking over! I immediately got the vacuum out and sucked up every single spider I saw. I took out the stepping stool and, no joke, vacuumed my apartment carpet to ceiling. I didn't notice them after that but Missy said she kept seeing them, especially on Sunday. Well, come Sunday a new batch of tiny spiders were making their way around my ceiling again. It's time to tell the manager. Naturally, I didn't tell the manager on monday because I had vacuumed them up and they were no longer a problem at the moment. Well, nothing like hundreds of newly hatched spiders crawling up your wall like a colony of ants to stop you from procrastinating. Here's what I discovered behind my long, vertical floor lamp... like they were purposefully trying to get up to my ceiling without being seen:

I know it's gross. I swear my apartment is not dirty. I vacuumed all of these spiders up and every spider that I saw after that. I emailed my manager directly after I dealt with them and went to her the next day as soon as I got out of my first class. She warned me that this might happen right before I moved in and she said they would take care of it then and is determined to take care of it now. She is sending someone over to spray my apartment this week. I haven't had a problem since, but I don't know what surprise I have coming for me if I don't spray my apartment. (people who planned on visiting me in the future, don't let this change your mind. This will all be over soon and I have a queen size air mattress waiting for you.)
On a less disgusting note, I had another guitar lesson last night and I am in the process of learning my scales and a couple of Tracy Chapman songs. I'll tell you how it goes. I didn't make it to the swap meet or the farmers market because I had to study for a test I have coming up but I did go for a long, much-needed run after my lesson. This was the first time I went on this run since I've been back. I run along the bluffs that over look the beach. It is a beautiful run:

My school, the lagoon, and the moon.

I could run forever when I've got a view like this to enjoy! I get lost in my surroundings and sometimes forget how long I've been running. It makes me happy.
Today, has been a good day. I have been in an optimistic mood all day. I am truly excited and grateful for my life at the moment. I am going through some uncomfortable and difficult times but they are also times I know will provide new experiences and put me in new situations that will promote growth and self awareness. I have some plans for my near future... new clubs, activism, a job. All sorts of goodies.
It's 2:30 am and I am going to force myself to go to bed now. I know I didn't say everything I wanted to, but so much comes to mind as I write, it becomes hard to stay on track. I need to start a journal to remind myself what I should blog for y'all later. I bet you guys are excited at the idea of longer blogs... right? At least the picture are becoming more abundant, ehh?
I will leave you with pictures of me and my adorable nephew Ata, who always wants to take pictures with me on my computer so that we can laugh together about what he looks like. These are just few of several pictures:

None, however, make me as happy as this one:

<3 <3 <3

Monday 1 day, Tuesday 2 day, Wednesday when? huh? What day?...

I am officially done with my first week back to school and on to my second. Like always I mean to blog sooner, so I don't leave out too much detail about my days in between blogs.... but it never works out that way. I'm glad I take pictures of everything now because it has helped to jog my memory a bit. Therefore, there will be several pictures in this blog; they're good though, so it's okay. 

I have apparently designated my sunday mornings (more like early afternoons) to a properly prepared breakfast in bed while watching something amusing like SNL with musical guest Radiohead or The Daily Show; of course, putting off cleaning up or any task deemed "productive" until I am ready. It is a strange way to start my "get things done" day. Evidently, that is EVERYONE else's "get things done" day as well. Thanks to yesterdays chaotic adventures through Kmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, Trader Joes, Vons, Home Depot, Ross etc... Sunday is no longer that day. I would rather do it Friday/Saturday than fight all of Goleta, Isla Vista, and Santa Barbara. 5 out of 6 of the places I listed, I left, ditching my cart and items in the middle of a random isle. I do feel sorry for the employees that had to put my stuff back but I don't regret it! Plus, I did try to put them in the most convenient isles. Anyways, this is how I spend my Sunday mornings and, from now on, how I plan on spending my Sundays as a whole:

Why, yes, those are my bookshelves that took me hours to put together because I'm a moron who built them both wrong and had to dissemble them and start from the beginning...thanks for noticing! No, they do not have books in them yet because I have to wait until my tv is mounted above them. I am going to have to move them out of the way so no use in putting the books away now only to remove them later and then put them back. I have a better photo of my set up:

This is only temporary. After my tv is mounted, I have to find a new home for my posters. I do love this for now though.

I realize last Sunday was supposed to be the first of my Sundays to try a new recipe followed by a blog but something weird happened last Sunday come dinner time. I was not hungry. That is a very rare occurrence for me. However, I did muster up the appetite to have a little....

GELATO!!! I went to this little and legit italian place that Tholia suggested. Well, this experience made me love her all the more. It was ridiculously delicious.... and I might just get some next weekend with my nephews Ata and Luk, if my healthy sister says yes, of course. ;) So, yeah, instead of a healthy, all natural meal, I had gelato for dinner, no biggie. Oh....and yes....2 scoops: mint chocolate chip and chocolate hazelnut. BOOYAAA! No regrets.

We have had some seriously beautiful days this week. The kind of days when you have a consistent smile imprinted on your face. The kind of beautiful day when you feel you are exactly where you are supposed to be in life, you are pleased with all your decisions, you have nothing but confidence in yourself. The kind of days that make you want to do good deeds and smile at strangers. The kind of days where you think "why would anyone ever want to live anywhere other than Santa Barbara?" To celebrate the first brilliantly sunny day, I walked to the Isla Vista book store to buy my text books instead of driving or riding my bike, in order to sincerely absorb the glory. It was on this walk where I found this gem:

Good question.

On Tuesday, I FINALLY made it to the farmers market that takes place every tuesday in down town Santa Barbara. ( I say finally in all caps because there were several times last year when my roommate and I would try to make it... but never succeeded) I fell in love to say the least. I bought so many fruits and veggies that I had to go back to my car at one point just to lighten the load so I could continue exploring without having to adjust my bags every other second. There were bands on the side of the streets that I stopped and watched for long periods of time. I did not watch any band for as long as watched these girls:

 These are the Rainbow Girls. They are amazing!! They play all sorts of random instruments and have beautiful voices. One girl in particular has such a strong, powerful voice that, I will admit, brought me to tears. Don't worry, I swallowed my emotions and punched the person next to me to cover any doubt that may have started stewing throughout crowd around me. 

Here's a little sample of what they sound like. The video does not do them justice. I would listen to this as loud as possible.

At one point this little girl jumped in between the band and the crowd and danced. After every song, she begged her mother to let her dance for just one more song. She was the cutest:

There was this old man who was performing, as well. I didn't stay long to listen to him. I just thought he was adorable.











The flowers that I have on my bookshelves in the previous pictures, I bought at the farmers market. I want to go every Tuesday!! 

Like I said earlier, I am trying to take advantage of these gorgeous days while they are still here. This means... multiple trips to the beach!! I have been going after my classes. I try to go a little later in the afternoon so I am just missing the mid afternoon crowd. It has been quite lovely:

There's not much to say about my experiences at the beach this week except for:

:)


yeah, I think that about sums it up.







Those are the highlights of my week. I had down falls this week too, but I don't remember them as well as I do the better experiences.
Now, I can talk about the new recipe I tried this week. Once again, I did not make it on Sunday. Not because I wasn't hungry, but because I left Trader Joes running and screaming instead of buying the ingredients. I went and bought the rest of them today and was able to make the Miso-curry Delicata Squash dish. I thought it would be difficult and time consuming to make but it really wasn't, which is always a plus for me. I may want to be able to cook but I have little patience when it comes to food. It was easy and fun to prepare. It involved simple chopping, whisking, and placing in the oven.... that's it. In addition to being easy, it was delicious. Delicata squash, red skin potatoes, tofu, kale, cilantro, and a thai curry paste, olive oil, miso, and lemon coating. I didn't add any salt or any other seasoning and it turned out well. It was light and flavorful. Best of all, I have left overs. I have become a master at left overs. I discovered that left overs can be turned in to a different dish. My stirfry? I sautéed cooked Soba noodles and edamame in soy sauce and then threw in my left over stirfry. My soup that I made last time that I thought was bland? I put kale and a secret touch to it and it turned out fantastic! Okay, my "secret touch" was Sriracha, but it did the trick. Anyways, here's what my squash dish was supposed to look like:

And here's what mine turned out to look like:

A bit more green than the picture but that's not a bad thing. One thing I was impressed with was that the kale wasn't cooked. The lemon base coating counter acted with the bitterness of the kale and just made it plain yummy.







I do have to mention the disasters that happened... or better yet...that are inevitable when it is anything that has to do with me. Most of the disasters are my fault but then there are random, freak mishaps that only have to do with my bad luck. The one disaster that was my fault was when the smoke detector went off. As soon as I took the veggies out of the oven, the deafening beep that is my smoke detector, alarmed my whole apartment complex that I was cooking. I'm sure they'll get used to it. Luckily, I am not new to this issue. This used to happen at my apartment in Mentone. My roommates and I wouldn't skip a beat. Two of us would be opening windows and doors while the other would be fanning the area around the detector with a giant pillow. So, I didn't panic when it happened tonight. I opened my door and guided the smoke out with my pillow and it ended with in seconds of starting.
The other disaster is very disturbing. ** Kimberly, if you are reading this, don't read until you see the asterix's again.
Well, when I turned the knob to begin preheating my oven, something extremely unexpected occurred. Maybe due to the sudden increase in heat, about 20 tiny spiders came repelling down from the crack in between the oven and the knobs, some on to my hand (that's how immediate their reaction was). This was the first time I used my oven, so, they had been hiding out there tis whole time. I have vacuumed and ambitiously cleaned all corners of my apartment for this reason. I live right next to a field, so, while I wasn't here over the summer to kick them out, some unwanted guests had made themselves comfortable. This was the one place I didn't even think to clean out. Why would I? Well, now I know why. I did the unvegan deed and killed them all. Sorry. I tried not to freak out but I think I have, unfortunately, acquired a fear of spiders. I say this because just last night I woke up in a panic because of a nightmare I was having about spiders. In my dream, I woke up from sleeping in my parents room only to discover that I was surrounded by thousands of spiders and spider webs. It took me a while to get back to sleep because of that notorious feeling of several phantom spiders crawling all over me (a feeling I am reliving right now).
** OKAY KIMBERLY, READ FROM HERE.
Okay, it is now 1:30 in the morning. I wasn't supposed to stay up late because I just found out that there is a swap meet on Tuesdays and, due to my busy schedule tomorrow, I won't be able to make it unless I go before my 10:00 am class. With my classes, dentist appointment, guitar lesson (the first class, so stoked), and the farmers market, I don't know if I'll make it.
I will leave you all with the reason I love living alone:

I can be as goofy as I want to be, wear what I want, drink wine without the fear of anyone thinking I'm a wino, and stay up till 2 in the morning listening to my music full blast and writing my blog. One more picture... it's of my new work place... I put my dest together and got a chair today:

I am content.