it's bubb.

...and one more to go!

I am officially halfway done with my first year of graduate school and I ended it with a bang! I applied for scholarships, ended with straight A's, and am DONE with papers (for now)! Through the literal sweat, blood, and tears that I worked through this past year, I am so ecstatic to be truly relaxing and enjoying the summer seeing family and friends. I am free again, guys! (Well, for another three months at least.) I was sure I had Post Traumatic Stress the day after my last class because I woke up with anxiety thinking that I had to do something: write a paper, study, go to internship, etc. It took a few days to finally sink in...I am DONE and do not have to go back to school or internship for the next three months! I am already seeing the change in attitude. I am so much more happy and carefree. I have even started going to the barre class I like on the regular; I go pretty much on a daily basis! I have many more friends to catch up with and I am taking full advantage of the next few months. Bring it summer!

First up, a celebratory LA trip with Trenton to celebrate my straight A's! We love to take the train and get lost, adventuring around LA, so that is exactly what we did! Was so fun walking around the city - it was a perfect day today for it. As always, we always stumble across new places to see and new things to do. I love the city of angels.

Obligatory Uno game. (I take it everywhere)

Union Station

Olvera Street

Los Angeles City Hall
Trent surprised me by taking me to the top of Los Angeles' City Hall building and the views were amazing. The building's interior was pretty legit too. I felt important just being in there. haha

"I am an important person saying important things!" haha

I found a hidden door...

...that lead to nowhere.

Grand Central Market | I finally got the bag I've been wanting!

As the day was getting cooler, we picked up food from Grand Central Market to eat on our train-ride home. We didn't play Uno on our way back because we were so tired from our adventures. I woke up with drool on Trenton's shirt and boba on my mind. What a great way to start the summer. Love you Bub.

So, uhhh...hello! I know it has been forever since posting, sorry. I have been way too busy with graduate school, internship, and work. Most of my posts will probably be travel posts and the occasional, random update. Really, I am only doing this for my own personal documentation and for those of you who have asked about me keeping up with my blog. I have been so bad at it, I know. I will try to be better about it though, promise! Here's are some pictures about our trip to Oregon. Enjoy!

Oregon was such a nice break from school. Trenton and I, and some of our mutual friends that came later, decided to take a trip to Portland and it was a lot of fun. I have been so stressed from school and writing paper after paper and was looking forward to this trip. Trent and I arrived a day before our friends but not as early as we planned because our flight was delayed (Thanks Spirit Airlines). It was still nice to see the city in the evening and explore the area around our hotel. We stayed at The Society Hotel, a small, boutique hotel that was just enough for us. It used to be a building filled with navy barracks that housed the men in bunks. You can tell by how small the rooms are. But it was just enough for us!

The Society Hotel-Downtown Portland

The next morning, right before our friends arrived, Trent and I decided to do some hiking. We wanted to make sure we got some outdoor, physical activities in on this trip because we knew we'd be stuffing our faces. I mean, what else do you do on vacation? Prior to the trip he found some cool spots we could go to and we decided on Forrest Park. It was just a 20-minute bus ride out of the city and a little gem right outside Portland! I would definitely recommend running the trails there for anyone who loves green everywhere and tall trees! At the end of one of the trails, we stumbled upon this cute little neighborhood that seemed to be placed there randomly. It was really cool to see these small, beautiful homes that overlooked part of the Beaverton area.

Forrest Park

Don't know why but this "everything" bagel was everything. SO good!

Scary.

We had been looking at things to do prior to leaving but knew we just wanted to do a lot of exploring of the city and visiting the different breweries out there that Portland is known for. Most of us had never been to Portland before so really, it was a good chance to just explore and stumble upon things, something I like to do in every city I visit. We made sure to get some coffee at Stumptown, some doughnuts at Voodoo, and some lunches at the local food carts. YUMMY! We visited Powell's Bookstore (I'm in love) and Ground Kontrol, the barcade in the city. I only went to a few breweries because I left a day early before everyone but the rest of the crew went to Backpedal, Rogue, Deschutes, Fatheads, Cascade, Widmer, Brew Labs, Base Camp breweries. (I don't have pictures of them, sorry.) Oh, and of course I had to visit Target too. haha

Portland

Stumptown Coffee at ACE Hotel

The Alberta Cart Pod

Portland Saturday Market

Breweries

We were randomly asked by Brewcycle to help take their cart back to Backpedal. We did it because they gave us free beer and it actually turned out to be kinda fun. Kinda. haha

Trenton wanted so badly to be the conductor while we biked for brew. He got to feel 10 seconds of it. haha

We did some tourist-y things, can't deny it. It was actually a very fun and beautiful way to see Oregon. We planned a pedal bike tour that took us up to different waterfalls until we reached Multnomah Falls. It was the prettiest bike ride I have ever ridden, even if I hadn't ridden a bike in over 15 years and almost didn't know what I was doing at the start. It's true though, you never forget how to actually ride one. We were taken to many great picture spots and falls and it was so lovely. In total, we rode 8.1 miles to Multnomah and my thighs were on fire! The day before we hiked a few miles too! Talk about exercise. This part of the trip was probably one of my favorites. I loved the clean, cold air on my face at every downhill. It was almost like a high for me - riding on the road, looking at some of the best sights and feeling the rush as I worked hard for every uphill. The end result was amazing, of course, and Multnomah Falls was beautiful.

Outdoor Bike Ride - Bridal Veil, Chanticleer Point, Multnomah Falls