Shades of Blue in Monterey County

Today's post is set at Monterey County, a very beautiful place near Salinas which will officially start my San Francisco travel diary. We went on a three day trip to San Francisco and met up with my Ninong and Dad's best friend and his family. The weather here was so much colder compared to LA and I can't help but reminisce about it as we're facing Manila's intense heat right now! My Ninong took us around their beautiful beaches with very photogenic birds and squirrel! I never expected to be all covered up at 2 in the afternoon while under the sun.  It was a lovely day when we toured Monterey, breezy and sunny at the same time. I mean, look the sky in these photos! These had no editing whatsoever, it was simply just that beautiful!

Ever New polo | Love Papaya Clothing leggings | Toms shoes

Our first stop was Lover's Point! A lot of weddings was held under this very tree.

Birds posing for the camera with the perfect shades of blue as their backdrop.

Still in awe, really! This place is just beautiful beyond words!

During our entire San Francisco trip, I think half of the photos we had was all birds. Haha my dad just had the time of his life with these birds. They were really photogenic! 

Thank you Ninong Dan for taking us around!

We also saw a lot of Golden Retrievers in Monterey! They all looked so fluffy!

The pretty trees at 17-Mile Drive!

Notice my uneven buttoned polo? I did it hastily by the time I got out of the car since I was excited for the view but it was unexpectedly really cold!s

The signature pose is never forgotten, of course!

Look at that fur!!!!

This beach, seriously!!! I never knew I'd appreciate beaches as much as I do now!

There are times when it suddenly hits how grateful you are for everything, this was one of those moments.

Love, Paola 

The Day I Met Chuck E Cheese

The day I met Chuck E Cheese, I was sporting my good girl look with my white buttoned down, a midi skirt plus my uniform good girl hairstyle (I do this hairstyle whenever I want to look nice and innocent. Works everytime! Haha). To battle the cold, I then finished the look with my trusty gray cardigan which gave my look an unintentional conservatism and made it very Sunday appropriate (although this was a Monday). It's a very chill outfit, I was even wearing my sunnies till sundown since I didn't bother to fix my face at all. Perfect for the vibes of that afternoon! We were still tired from our Vegas trip so we all just met for dinner and for some arcade fun! 

Ever New top | Promod skirt | Zara cardigan | Mango loafers | Forever 21 sunnies | Cotton On silver chocker

If you don't know Chuck E Cheese, I suggest you watch The Pacifier - its the arcade and restaurant where the baby lost his diaper! Haha. This place took me back to my Timezone days! I was a Timezone baby and I have so much memories of me and my dad playing the different arcade games at Timezone that's why for a 20-year old who's entering Chuck E Cheese for the first time, I was pretty excited. Plus I was with my cousins who have double of my energy and excitement! 

The guys' table.

 The girls' table.

 The adults' table.

 Making sure that there is equality before we start using our coins. Haha

And there's Chuck E Cheese who actually volunteered himself to be in this photo! Haha, we were taking one as he passed by and then he just ended up posing with us. I love this photo since this was the first photo that we were complete!

Love, Paola

A Recap on Graduation Day

I hope people are still not sick of me and my graduation posts! I've had countless graduation posts and updates since last wednesday so please excuse this one as it is another one of those. I've worked for this for the past sixteen years so I'm still on a graduation high. This post is a recap on how the entire day was for me!

The day started pretty early since our assembly time at PICC was 7:30 am. I had my hair and make up done at Great Cuts Salon at Intercon Hotel which was recommended by my mom's friend. 

Shoutout to Angelo of Great Cuts for taking care of me and my mom! He was friendly and professional and my look did last the whole day. Thank you! 

We went straight to PICC with our empty stomachs since I was afraid to be late and not get to walk the aisle!

Graduation was surprisingly fast and okay. With 850 plus graduates from different courses my friends and I were expecting a long, boring, dragging program but we were even finished before noon!

Of course, this day was not just about me but also for my parents who supported my education financially, emotionally (during hard times and failures and for always encouraging me), physically (by being present in all programs and events despite their schedule) and all other kinds of support they've given me for the past 16 years that I couldn't possibly put into words!

Really, really, really haggard this time since it was super hot that day and I spent about an hour roaming PICC to look for my parents since my phone gave up on me.

For lunch, I wanted to get away from the PICC area since I know that's where most people would be dining.

We had lunch at Passion Restaurant at Resorts World, my favorite cantonese buffet!!! I was starving that time since I didn't have breakfast so good thing it was a buffet, but then again 4inches of high heels is not buffet friendly so this place was perfect since it was a sit down buffet.

Right after lunch, we went straight to Chili's at Tomas Morato for my afternoon party with the family and closest friends!

Aside from my graduation, we celebrated my lola's belated birthday!

In every party, people are asked to give speeches whether they liked it or not. I, being no exception. Haha

So to all these people, whether you liked it or not, thank you!!! Haha

Yaaay! Congratulations to me!

But of course, my getting a degree is not out of my sole efforts. So many people have made this happen, my parents of course and my family, especially my mom who patiently tutored me for accounting even if I get grumpy whenever my financial statements don't balance, my dad, who from grade school up until college has done every artwork and drawing that I needed since I lacked the skills and my tita who tutored me when I was in grade school and insisted I memorized all of my notes. My teachers from grade school and high school for all their efforts and their well wishes for me until now. My professors who taught me every thing I needed and things our books does not contain. And to all my friends who went through this ride with me. We all kept each other sane in such a crazy environment. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I feel so loved and motivated to do my best on my endeavour!

Love, Paola