It's Summer Alright

I woke up and stuck two pieces of honey-nut, whole grain bread into a toaster. As I periodically kept pushing the leaver on the toaster up to make sure that its crappy six year old technology didn't burn my toast, I pulled up a seat, grabbed my nicely browned bread, and ate breakfast (By the way, has anyone ever tried toast with peanut butter mixed with honey and cinnamon? It's quite delicious -- But that's beside the point.) I looked at the clock; it was seven in the morning.

It was my second official day of summer; why was I up so early? I should have at least slept in till ten or eleven, but I suppose that’s the beauty of summer; the laid back mornings of waking up regardless of the time, and feeling reassured because the next morning you can wake up with ease without the irritating forehead wrinkling screech of an alarm.

Anyways, I feel there was a reason for my unusual early waking. The night before I only had three hours of sleep plus the thirty to forty minute nap I took during a viewing of Alice in Wonderland in my friend's living room. Due to lack of sleep, I ended up crashing and burning on my couch while watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel at around five in the afternoon. All I remember is curling into a ball, facing the back of my sticky leather couch and blanking out. Sometime later, when the sun was down, I woke up lying down on the guest room bed with a black fitted sheet on top of me. I was wide awake, and I had a strange curiosity of how I ended up there. Nonetheless, I got up to go to the bathroom and proceeded to the kitchen where I tried to get ice from the fridge without unnecessarily waking anyone. I looked at the clock; it was one in the morning.

Great, eight more hours till the rest of the family wakes up, and I can't fall asleep, I thought. Despite the fact, I returned to the guest room, laid down next to a pile of folded laundry and fell asleep for six more hours, which brought me to where I was this morning -- eating toast. Turns out I received a grand total of sixteen hours of sleep-- double the amount I normally would get.
That's how my morning was, and now I'm sitting on a futon listening to an irritating song by Franz Ferdinand waiting for my laundry to dry. In fact, I actually have to finish packing for a week long trip which will commence tomorrow. If there's anything I dislike to the highest degree, it’s packing. Honestly, if I could, I’d just bring a copious amount of underwear in a Wal-Mart shopping bag with me and all would be well in the world. In any case, my mother would definitely not allow that, and honestly, I'm a hypocrite for pretending that would not also disgust me in some way.

My destination will remain unrevealed until I return. Nevertheless, I'll be taking a lot of pictures and notes for a blog post when I return
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:Julia

The Buried Life

For those who do not know, the Buried Life is a reality show on MTV. Unlike most of the current vulgarity on that channel, the Buried life is probably one of the safer shows. The show basically follows four friends (Duncan, Ben, Dave, and Jonnie) as they travel all of the U.S. completing a list of one-hundred things they want to do before they die. However, there's a twist. For every item they cross of their list, they have to help a stranger achieve one of their own goals/dreams. Throughout the show they encourage other people to achieve their dreams, and create their own list. In addition, everywhere they go they ask people they meet one specific question -- "What do you want to do before you die?"

The Buried Life.

It's pretty similar to the movie The Bucket List, and truth be told, I don't watch the show to often. However, that doesn't mean it still didn't inspire me to create my own list, because it did. What do I want to do before I die? Honestly, I've never really thought about it too much, and I haven't ever thought it to be such an important thing to do considering how temporary life actually is. Nonetheless, I thought it'd be a fun addition to my blog, and perhaps I will actually try to cross some of the things off. Here is my list, and you may think it to be quite lame, but I am a lame person.

The Buried Life

 

Eat at the toilet themed restaurant in Taiwan the Modern Toilet.
I thought that this was one of those odd contradictions. Eating from toilet bowls? Doesn't that defeat a major purpose? Perhaps. Anyways, I found this very interesting, and some day I'd like to eat here. After all, I believe all the items on the menu are edible (That'd be a major health hazard other wise), so why not?

Visit the Great Pyramid and Sphinx of Giza Egypt.

Why not visit one of the Seven Wonders of the World? Egypt is just one of the priceless places to visit.

Ride an actual gondola in Venice, Italy.

Sorry, Las Vegas, I need an authentic gondola. I've always wanted to visit Europe and Italy even more so. Riding a real gondola would be a very cool thing for me to do.

Reach the peak Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Challenges are nice -- especially physical ones. I'm not that much of a risk taker to climb the world's highest mountain (Everest). However, why not Africa's? It's the next best thing.

  

Successfully read all the novels written by Jane Austen.

Goodness gracious, she may be dead, but Jane Austen is and will always be a beautiful writer. I got this book from Barnes & Noble the other day that contained seven novels written by her. Hopefully I'll finish it by the end of this summer.

Visit the cannibalism themed restaurant, Nyotaimori, in Tokyo, Japan.

I don't know. This is very odd, but I suppose it's just one of those places I'd like to say I've visited just for the heck of it. I would not, however, like to eat any of the food items though. Honestly, it doesn't appeal to me. The "bodies" aren't actually real; they're supposedly dough with tomato sauce on the inside, but it's the psychological aspect of thinking I'm eating something shaped like a human body that bothers me.

Go surfing in New Zealand.

I hear the waves are good in New Zealand, but that's not enough for me. I've got to try it out for myself.

Learn photography.

It's such a beautiful art. I'd like to learn how to capture objects from an unknown point of view, and I feel photography is one of the best ways to do so.

Attempt/learn how to free run.

Honestly, if you don't know what free running is, you must YouTube it this instant. These guys that are physically capable of performing these tricks, they're pretty beastly. Modern day ninjas, I tell you.

Adopt a shelter dog.

If there's anything I want to do before I die, it would be adopting a dog. I've grown up with dogs all my life, and there hasn't been a single second where one did not live with me. Even though I am happy I have my current dogs, they came from breeders. There are a lot of homeless dogs out there, and saving even just one would be a great accomplishment and joy for myself.

This may seem like a short list, and that's because it is. I will be creating an individual page for the rest of my list later on, so make sure to check back. Lastly, while I'm at it, I was wondering, what's on your list? What do you want to do before you die? Think about it, write it down, and add it to the comment box below. I'd love to hear what you have to say! Lastly, before I leave, I'd like to mention that I added something to the "Art" page. Please check it out and give me your thoughts. I'll make sure to keep on adding more pieces to that category.

Click to follow my blog, ohmyjulia!

Thank you ever so much for reading,

:Julia

Julia uses horse shampoo?!

After spending four hours in a Vietnamese hair salon, I became inspired to write a blog post about hair, or rather, hair shampoo and conditioner.

Recently, I've discovered this hair shampoo and conditioner called Mane 'N Tail. I've actually heard about it before, and I've seen ads for it in magazines (Seventeen advertises it a lot), but I've never given it a second thought. However, about a month ago I was searching through tips on Yahoo Answers to see if anyone had tips on growing hair longer. I was surprised at the large amount of people that suggested using Mane 'N Tail hair products. Sure enough, I made a visit to http://www.straightarrowinc.com/ (The Mane 'N Tail company website) and not only did I learn how Mane 'N Tail makes hair longer by strengthening it and increasing it's health, I also discovered it was originally a hair product made for horses! Yes, that's right -- horses. In fact, the majority of Straight Arrow Inc. products are intended for animal use.

As I continued to read on and further research, I learned why countless numbers of people still used Mane 'N Tail despite its original purpose for horse manes. Apparently after many horse owners used Mane 'N Tail on their horses, they realized the significant improvement and decided to try it out themselves. After all, if it's safe for horses why not humans?

I decided to try it out for myself, so I went to CVS and purchased a bottle of shampoo, and a bottle of conditioner. The total cost for this product which received rave reviews was pretty impressive. For a regular sized bottle the online it was priced at only three dollars, and for a bottle that is somewhat Costco sized, it's priced at seven dollars. Unfortunately, CVS only had the largest size, but I bought it anyways, and I must say I am highly pleased that I did.

Mane 'N Tail shampoo and conditioner

Up until yesterday I haven't had a haircut in about four months, so I had several slight split ends. Nonetheless, I still thought my hair was pretty healthy in comparison to those of girls who've fried their hair by straightening it five times a day (Of course I'm exaggerating). However, after I used Mane 'N Tail I realized my split ends were nearly gone, and my hair was softer and thicker than ever. Honestly, best hair product ever, and I'll probably never use any other. I became completely obsessed with stroking my hair after washing it. Seriously, it's that great. The shampoo thickens, adds volume, and cleanses hair, while the conditioner seals, protects hair from heat damage, and leaves it super shiny, silky, and manageable.

Other Mane 'N Tail Products

Anyways, I highly suggest that anyone give it a try, and at least start out with a small bottle if you wish (Unlike what I did), and if you're looking for a deal, I hear (I'm not positive) some Sally's Beauty Supply locations offer a buy one get one free deal. Only three bucks for amazing hair? Not bad at all. Also, if you don't take my word for it, just ask my friend Greta. She's one of my blog followers, and a fellow Mane 'N Tail user. Also, feel free to check out her blog (http://www.manicbabble.blogspot.com/), I'm sure she'd appreciate the visit. (:

Follow my blog, ohmyjulia!
:Julia

Explosions In The Sky

My goodness. I love this band. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not at all a fan of instrumental music, but's that's not what Explosions in the Sky is. Regular instrumentals are all very alike. Basically what they are is classic music taken by musicians stripped of their lyrics, and left with just a slightly catchy tune that doesn't keep the listener wanting more. As Simon Cowell says it, "It's like eating ice. You're eating something, but it never leaves you completely satisfied," but like I've said, that's not at all what this band is like. They're not just instrumentals. It's hard to explain but there's something about their sound that's just pure, and wonderful.

I accidentally came across them, and I'd like to tell people they need to listen to this band, but honestly, they don't -- they have to. Explosions in the sky coordinates the sound of their music (instead of lyrics) with the titles of their songs, and it helps tell a deeper story. They're absoulutely wonderful. They don't need lyrics to explain their emotions, or to impact music fans. It's kind of like a secret language, and it's almost enough to make you cry. 

They have plain, wholesome instrumentals, and personally, I feel that is a big portion of what's missing in today's so called "music" industry. What ever happened to the beautiful sounds of Ludwig van Beethoven, or other classics? Oh, that's right. They got replaced by Justin Beiber, because apparently, "And I was like, 'baby, baby, baby ohhh. Like baby, baby, baby noo. Like baby, baby, baby ohh'," are the best lyrics ever set in the minds of humans. Honestly, folks, I must say my generation is doomed to a fiery pit of terrible music.

More over, I took the liberty of making some of their songs the backround music for my blog, so go ahead and scroll near the bottom right of this page where my play list tool is and check them out. I made my favorite song by them, So Long Lonesome, the first on the list so make sure to listen to that also. 

In a world where the majority of music is no longer based on thought or feeling, but whether you have a boyish cute smile that will sell millions of songs or not, it's great to come by a few good people that are still doing it right. Go listen to Explosions in the Sky. Even if you discover their not your taste, alls well that well.

Anyways, I don't want to sound like a teenage girl who's overly obsessing on the topic of music, so I will end this.

Follow my blog, ohmyjulia!

Goodbye for now,

:Julia

Vintage Bicycles! It's beautiful.

Recently I've had a break through -- I want a bike. Just about thirty years ago a bike was what every kid wanted for their birthday, Christmas, maybe even Hanukkah. Unfortunately, nowadays, gifting doesn't get much more original other than the classic gift card. Anyways, I guess you could say that it was a spontaneous idea. My birthday party was a few days ago, and if your mind works like the average overly excited child (like mine) you've probably thought about what you want for you're next birthday, right after the day of your most recent one. 

It's not like I've never had a bike before. I've had many bikes when I was younger living in my house in Oregon. However, as the years progressed they became older and dustier in my garage, and then eventually nonexistent when my parents had to give them away. After a few years of being bike-less, I guess I'm not really sure why I would like to have a bike again other than the fact that they can be a plain ol' good time.

The other day I was browsing around on the internet -- doing a little web shopping, and I went to the Urban Outfitters website where I then discovered the Urban Outfitters Bike Shop (UO Bike Shop).  I died at how beautiful their bikes were. Urban Outfitters teamed up with Republic Bike, so now several bikes from Republic Bike are being sold on http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/. In fact, if you go to the site right now, I believe you'll be able to find a link to the bicycles on the bottom left corner of the homepage. Also, if you didn't already know, the bikes from Republic Bike are custom made (Even better right?). This means potential buyers are able to select colors on certain bike details, add skirts, or chain cases. In addition, the bicycles only go for a little bit under four hundred dollars (not including shipping). To some people this may seem like a large amount of money for a bike -- and it is. However, if you think about it, that's a pretty sweet deal for a customized bike that's absolutely adorable. Unfortunately, the one detail that isn't very customizable are the frame sizes. Since there isn't a very wide range of bike sizes/heights if you're generally smaller than the average American (like me) some bikes may not be very comfortable to ride. 

There are three types of bikes Republic Bike can customize for customers, which include: an aristotle, aristotle CRMO (It's a bit more expensive at $459), or plato. Aristotle bikes are multi-purpose and single speed, while Aristotle CRMOs are generally the same as regular aristotles besides their unique handle bars, and platos are for upright riding, and a simple stroll. Personally, I'd like to get my hands on a plato. I'm really into the vintage flair they give off, and the comfort aspects of riding one. I'm really not into the leaning over the handle bars type of ride, and because of that, an aristotle bike isn't an option for me.

Aristotle Bike.

Plato bicycle.

I'd really like to get my hands on a Republic Bike bicycle sometime. However, as much as I'd like to say I can afford a four hundred dollar bicycle, at the moment I cannot. Maybe in the future though, but for now I'll be adoring them from a distance. :)

:Julia

Let's Go Get Some Sushi!

BTW: this post originally included photos, but my sucky SD card wouldn't work. Sorry, guys. :(

For those of you that don't know, I'm a large advocate of eating sushi. "What, raw fish, you really eat that?" Yes, yes I do. I absolutely love, love, love, love, love, sushi, and if it was the only food available to me for the rest of my life, I'd be quite alright with that.  A lot of people often comment along those lines, and in a sense, I can understand their reasons. Food is a very cultural aspect, and for those who haven't had much but processed food from a box all their life, sushi may not exactly sound like the most appetizing food of choice. I believe it was my sister's fiance who said that a humans' taste pallet develops by the time they reach age nine, and whether that may be true or not, I do not know. However, it does sound about right, and I will assume it is since google doesn't provide any information on the topic.

More over, I can understand how this may be true. My dad loves to cook, and when I say this, it doesn't mean he enjoys sticking Easy Mac in the microwave-oven, or warming up a can of string beans. Unlike the average American, my dad actually takes the time to buy the ingredients from the supermarket, and then prepare them. Since we are also Asian/Pacific Islander, a lot of the food we eat either is, or involves sea food. Because of this, for as long as I can remember my dad has prepared various dishes such as raw oysters with Tabasco, plain anchovies with lemon, and fresh squid with soy sauce. I can only assume my past history with food has led up to my current sushi addiction. Now, before I bore you even further with countless back round information, let me get to the important details.

This Monday I went out to eat sushi at my favorite place. In fact, it's the only sushi restaurant I've been to in the Las Vegas-Henderson area. The restaurant is called I Love Sushi, and it's located at 11041 South Eastern Ave #117 in Henderson, Nevada. This place serves various Japanese cuisine, but I believe they specialize in sushi. I was first taken there by my sister and her fiance, and I was immediately impressed as soon as I stepped into the building. At first sight, the outside isn't as impressive. In fact, it's quite plain. However, like I said, the inside is pleasing to the eyes. I appears to be a very traditional place; the men at the sushi bar speak Japanese and where traditional dress, including the women wearing thier kimonos. Everyone is very friendly, the service is nice, and it's a very neat and clean place, which is very important for a sushi bar.

My dad and my mom started out with oyster shots that night, and unfortunately I didn't get to try one, but basically it just looked like raw oyster in a shot glass soaked in Tabasco, served with a lemon wedge. I assumed it was a delicious, and according to my dad it was. As for my mom, I'd like to say the experience was equal to my dad's, but she doesn't enjoy spicy food as much as he does (neither do I).

I Love Sushi has a wide array of menu options, and that night I chose to eat dish on the baked roll menu. I must say the name of their rolls are quite colorful and unique. They very from "Who's your daddy?" to the more extreme, "I love my a**," but just so happened that night I would be delighting my taste buds with "Stacey's mom." I can only imagine what picture your mind may be creating as I mention the name of the sushi roll I ate. To put your mind at ease, "Stacey's mom" is basically salmon and avocado wrapped in sea weed paper, with eel and special sauce on top, all baked to wonderful juicy and tender roll.

The taste was overall pleasant and quite similar to the other baked rolls I've tried before such as, "Volcano." Sushi is normally served with ginger and wasabi (also known as "Japanese horseradish" for its taste), however, most people never get around to eating their wasabi. Unlike most people, I will actually eat all the wasabi I am given during a meal. I don't know what it is, but I enjoy that quick, burning, nasal passage opening experience  wasabi gives. It's a good time.

In addition to eating "Stacey's Mom", I also got a taste of my parent's rolls of what names they have, I cannot remember. However, they were both equally as tasty as the roll I had. My dad also ordered sea urchin, which they call uni, and I had the opportunity to taste it -- so I did. It had a dark boiled egg color, and a tofu type texture. It tasted surprisingly a lot like salmon roe, which I greatly enjoy.

It was another successful eating experience at I Love Sushi, and at the end of the meal I ate a bowl of green-tea mochi. For those of you who do not know what mochi is, it's a traditional Japanese food that's basically a sweet to tasteless, sticky rice doe, which usually is twisted around either bean-paste, ice cream, or pounded into shapes (I had ice cream), dusted with corn-starch or powder. Obviously, I like it a lot, and if you enjoy regular sticky rice that you can typically obtain at any Asian food market, you'd likely also favor mochi.

All in all, you get the point. I Love Sushi, and there's no wonder why the owners of the restaurant chose that particular name. Anyways, thank you for choosing to read my blog! Go out and eat some sushi. :)

Happy Asian American month!

:Julia

Iron Man 2: Caution, this may contain spoilers.

Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment  have recently brought the much anticipated sequel of Iron Man, Iron Man 2, to theaters on Friday, May 7th, 2010. Directed by Jon Favreau, Iron Man 2 has managed to rack in over one-hundred million dollars on opening weekend; quickly speeding its way up to the top of the box office.

The highly famous and wealthy inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is back. As the armored super hero, Tony Stark is most well-known for negotiating countless peace treaties with the major super powers of the world. Fearful of his high-tech Iron Man armor slipping into the wrong hands, Stark now has much more added weight to his shoulders since the government is now pressuring him to hand over his "weapon" to the military. With the addition of new enemies, and other countless conflicts, Iron Man 2 presents an overall action packed movie.


I recently watched this film with my family, and I must say I highly approve of it. Normally I'm not very fond of overly-hyped action movies, or sequels, for a matter of fact. However, this movie has created a new found joy for me. Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man? It’s beautiful. Downey's acting was very convincing, and I highly appreciated how he managed to portray the proud, cocky, yet heroic character of Tony Stark. The graphics were great, and I was impressed with the various scenes of Stark in his high-tech basement with technology that hasn't even been imagined yet.


If there's anything I slightly disapprove of, perhaps its the lack of actual human action. Sure, there was a lot flying bullets and iron to iron battles, but in all honesty, the person who did the most action throughout the entire movie was Scarlet Johanson. Playing her character Natasha Romanoff, with an alter-ego as Natalie Rushman, Scarlet Johanson also gave an outstanding performance throughout the entire film. That scene towards the end of the movie where she's wiping out a ton of specially trained men -- impressive. I was also impressed how director of the film did not choose to make her character too scantily-clad. Normally when directors have a highly anticipated action movie, what do they do? They plaque half-naked women across the screen on an occasion of several scenes (Sort of remind you of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen?).


More over, if there was anything else I could have gone without watching throughout the entire movie, it would have to be the scene towards the end of the movie where Stark saves his girl, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), in his oh-so mystifying Iron Man suit seconds from her obliteration into a million pieces. Yes, he saved the girl, but what happened after that? Oh, a whole lot of oozing cheese. Maybe it's just me, though. Nowadays, I suppose it’s necessary to have at least one corny, predictable scene.


Over all, I would recommend anyone to go watch this movie. However, it isn’t necessary to watch. Will watching be worth it? If you enjoy mechanical action with a sturdy plot, then yes.


Lastly, a lot of people have been wondering whether there may be a sequel to Iron Man 2. I personally doubt there will be one, but hey, if there can be a Shrek 4, there can be  third Iron Man. What are your opinions on the movie? Do you believe in a sequel of Iron Man 2? Post your comments in the box below.


Thank you for reading,


:Julia

TOMS: One for one

Hey everyone.

As you may all know, four days ago was the fifth of May, also known as Cinco de Mayo. However, not only did this day mark the date when the Mexicans army over threw the French in The Battle of Puebla, on May 5th, in 1862, it also marks the date of a popular organization's fourth birthday.

Starting four years ago, Blake Mycoskie founded the organization TOMS. In 2002, Mycoskie and his sister teamed up to compete on a CBS show, The Amazing Race, and although the pair didn't win, the travels they experienced during the show later on led Mycoskie back to one of the show's destinations (Argentina) in 2006. While there, Mycoskie had a first-hand experience of the hard-many children face every day in rural, developing countries. Many children had no shoes. Because of this, those children suffered brutal injuries to their feet, which later led to infections, and in some cases amputations. Mycoskie decided that a sustainable way to help these children would be to start a business. Thus, TOMS was created in Santa Monica, California. TOMS is short for a, "better tomorrow," which is exactly Mycoskie is giving children all around the world through TOMS.


Blake Mycoskie

The concept is quite simple. TOMS sells shoes, but they do not retain all the profits. Customers buy a pair of shoes from them, and TOMS then uses the extra profit to give away a pair of shoes to a child in need. Based on the alpargata style of shoes worn in Argentina, TOMS now sells shoes for all ages. They even carry lace up shoes (cardones), and wrap boots, but there most popularly sold style are their classic slip-ons.


A few styles from the TOMS women's selection.

All in all, it's for a good cause and, personally, I feel the prices are reasonable. TOMS prices range from about $50 - $60 on average, and hey, that also covers the cost for another pair of shoes that costumers will be donating from their purchase. It's about the same price of a pair of Vans, or Converse, so why not buy a pair of TOMS instead and put money towards a good cause? Many people on the site give reviews stating that shoes they have purchased from the organization are the most comfortable pair they have ever worn. I myself am a sucker for comfy shoes. In addition, they're oh so stylish. The media itself has been a large contributor to spreading the word about TOMS. Many magazines such as Teen Vogue have often featured TOMS in an issue, and have had many contests involving the shoes. TOMS are very customizable and many people often buy plain white slip-on TOMS, and decorate the shoes by themselves by using fabric paints, markers, and such.

I myself have been considering purchasing a pair of TOMS, and I believe I will next time I need a new pair of shoes, and have a sufficiant amount of cash. I was browsing through their selection of shoes the other day and I found these classic slip-ons hand painted by Tyler Ramsey. For those who do not know, Tyler Ramsey is an artist primarily known for painting portraits, and objects only with his hands, or straight from the tube of paint. It's been said he's never touched a paint brush, and over all, I found the shoes he painted quite artistic.



Classic slip-ons hand painted by Tyler Ramsey. I must say they are pretty attractive. :)

In addition, other artists have designed shoes in the TOMS' long line of shoe collections. If you'd like to learn more about TOMS, or even purchase a pair of shoes from them, please visit their website at: http://www.toms.com/. Please feel free to spread TOMS "one for one" cause.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog,


:Julia.

Please Wipe Your Feet Before You Enter

Hello everyone, welcome to my new blog! Consider this my official first post. In any case, please keep checking back for more new posts! I have plenty of ideas in store. c: Thank you for reading, and please do stay in tune!