testing and red house

So yesterday was probably one of the most eventul days of my summer, besides my moving day.
I woke up an hour earlier than I was supposed to so I could go to these placement tests for Cal high. I think I did okay on the vocabulary, I knew about 80% of the test - the other 20%, I didn't finish; not enough time (hey, even the 10th and 11th graders sitting across from me didn't finish!). And I think I did pretty good on the reading; I finished like 90?nbsp;Just not the last passage. But man, the essay! I didn't think there was going to be an essay so I didn't even prepare for it. It was so hard, like the topic wasn't hard but writing about the topic was hard: how do labels/titels/stereotypes affect our perceptions and expectations of ourselves and others. It seems easy but then, you had to relate it to this stupid story about a poetry reading. It took me like 75 minutes on that but I'm pretty satisfied with what I wrote; It's not long or anything like the other kids wrote but I think mine makes a statement in all it's simpleness and shortness (1.5 pages).

And then I went to Kilohana Grill that's near my house. Huh, of all the things I didn't they would have out here in San Ramon, they do: A HAWAIIAN BARBECUE! They barely have a real Chinese restaraunt, but they have a Hawaiian barbecue! Even though it's pretty expensive - you can probably get the same thing in Hawaii for half the price - it's still authentic. Like the owner is from Kauai and one of they ladies that I guess co-owns it, is from Hawaii, you can tell. She looks and acts and talks like the local ladies I knew when I was small. Kinda like my old after school teachers.

So yeah, and then me and my mom went to Walnut Creek. Not for shopping. The main purpose was to go check out Red House but since we were in the area, we decided to go shopping also. So when we got to Red House and it wasn't opened yet, so we went to H&M and Macy's and I got myself new bed stuff, like sheets, and my mom got a wok/pan/cooking thing. So while we were there, my mom saw this lady holding a coffee so she wanted a coffee so she dragged me to Ghirardelli (Did you know there was an 'r' between the 'a' and 'd'? I didn't know that!) and even though I was still full from lunch, I had this big ice cream just because everyone else there was having them, too. My mother is making me fat. I probably consumed about 900 calories just from that ice cream. Sheesh!

So then, the big moment of the day, we went back to Red House and it was OPEN! Yay! So yeah we went there and it was like my first time on a guitar and it was SO cool. Even though I only played 2 chords and probably looked really stupid doing, I felt like Steve Vai. No, no I felt like Satch who taught Steve Vai! Yeah! It was awesome. Then, when I came home I watched more Steve Vai videos online. I know.. pretty pathetic, huh? But I guess when you live out here, this is what you do for kicks.

Updates

Hmm. Well, yesterday I went shopping - mostly for house stuff: cabinets, storage bins, a water-hose, groceries for the week and a new Rolling Stones t-shirt! I think it might have been the first time in about 3 weeks I had gone clothes shopping, due to the fact that all money was spent on moving.

Anyways - now this may seem like old news - about Marc Jacobs' Fall 2006 line. It's very 90s, no? I don't want to give off a know-it-all feel, but I've been obsessed with the 90s since about March and before I saw this collection. Maybe - nay, most likely - I'm just flattering myself, but I think I'm very good at predicting what the next trends are going to be. For example...

1. Early Spring 2005: For reason unknown, I got really into the 60s. Like, everything about it. The fashion (obviously), the music, the movies, what kind of makeup people were wearing, etc. I looked at all my grandma's old photo albums and wanted to dress exactly like she did. Okay, maybe not exactly - I wouldn't look good with the helmet-shaped hair with the ends flipped out. I even rented The Mod Squad. Then, I had my weekly visit to Style.com. Lo and behold! Mod is in! Chanel and Christian Dior, both whose new collections I always check the buzz on first, show Twiggy-inspired makeup, long straight mod-style hair, black and white, and clean, geometric shapes. I felt so cool. Haha..

2. Mid Fall 2005: Come autumn, I still held onto that classic, clean mod cut of the 60s but after watching Pearl Harbor just one too many times, I had this sudden fascination with aviator and sailor things. Remember that aviator jacket from Banana Republic not too long ago? I wanted that SO bad, but of course I didn't have that kind of money. Then there was my nautical phase (which I'm still partial to - it's classic yet modern). I wanted everything I laid my eyes on that was striped navy and white, rope detail, gold or bronze details, anything with little anchors or ships. And guess what? For Spring 2006, nautical is a blazing new trend! Alright, it's not new but it's back again.

3. Spring 2006: Watching teen movies like Suzie Q, Clueless, and anything Christina Ricci really makes you miss the 90s - what can I say? I'm a 90s child. Thus, my new obsession of anything that was all the rage from 1990 to 1999/2000. I'm still in this phase right now, so I can't say much about it.. except for maybe: Devon Sawa was a hot 90s babe. Now, I'm hoping that the 1990s will have a big influence on fashion this fall. In a good way of course - dirty, greasy hair is still not acceptable in my book.

My First 10 Days as a Suburbanite

Well, it had to happen sooner or later: I am a city-dweller no more. Say good-bye to all those times when reading Lucky or Allure when they feature a certain boutique or an extravagant spa in San Francisco, thinking I was special because I lived in the city by the bay. Say good-bye to Polly-Ann ice cream. Say good-bye to Union Square. Say goodbye to all the tourists and the fog that hangs over the sky even during the summer. No more Chinatown (even though I never liked it anyways) or rolling up the windows and locking the doors whenever driving by Tenderloin.

Oh, who am I kidding? San Ramon is only 40 minutes away.

My first 10 days living in an unkown city (unless you're from around the bay area, then you'd know exactly where San Ramon is and what it represents), have been what I knew it would be and a little more than expected. While I have already experienced some racial encounters, almost all of the people here are pretty friendly. But what can you expect as a middle-class Asian-American teenager in a predominantly rich white town? Of course, that's not gonna stop me from starting my own fashion, beauty, lifestyle and day-to-day blog all rolled up into one.

So, let me introduce myself. My name is Chelsie. You don't need to know my age (or you'll judge me just on that before even hearing what I have to say). I'm Asian-American (and determined to be successful - and consistent! - in this blogging stuff). I'm definitely not rich (I'd say I'm comfortable), so you won't be hearing what effects the latest product from Clarins or Estee Lauder has from me. If you want that, visit Kristen Kelly over at beauty addict; she is a genius and will definitely keep you up to date in the beauty world.

But anyways.. back to my new suburban lifestyle. Last Sunday as my mother and I were driving over to a Pasta Pomodoro for lunch, a Caucasian gentleman honked at us nonstop, turning violently into our lane, almost resulting in an accident, all the while his at first seemingly nice wife gave us the finger. Talk about a warm welcome. That brings me to my new neighbors, Ian and Monica: a very nice young couple that went out of their way to knock on the door, introduce themselves and welcome us to their neighborhood. That was the first time, in the 5 moves I've had, that someone had done that. They made me forget all about finger woman.

I guess this is where my first post ends. I hope they'll be more interesting in the future... lol