Seattle/Vancouver

It has come to my attention that several people have found my blog by googling me, and so I took a break from sharing anything personal on here and documented my thoughts in my Shinola notebook. And as much as I love handwritten trinkets, I can never write as fast as I type, Plus, I missed posting photos here. 

A lot has happened since I've last written, and as much as I think it could benefit me to write down all my thoughts, I think I'm going to pass. So, sorry future me, but if you're reading this and don't remember what I'm talking about, maybe that's a good thing.

Anyways, here are some pictures from my trip to Seattle/Vancouver! These are two cities I have been really wanting to go to for a while now, and I didn't think I'd get to go so soon. Katie just graduated, and we don't know when we would get another chance, so after a long drought, our family went on our first trip without Dad.

Just my sister trying to push me off a cliff.

A bunch of weirdos who don't take ant breaks while hiking.

Momma kept all the pretty genes for herself.

VIEWS

I'm so sad that pictures can't capture Mt. Rainier in all its magnificence. 

Another ballpark checked off the list!

It's just Grace.

The amazing Leah Shin!

It's Official!

HELLLOOOOO,

This may be the most important post on my blog yet. So on March 30th, 2017 at 11:57 pm, I got a phone call from the one and only Kim Hunter. I missed the call at first because I was sleeping. When I looked at the number, for some reason I felt like I missed an important phone call, but I can't make out why. I started to google the phone number to see if anything would pop up, but there was nothing. And just as I was about to go back to sleep, Kim Hunter left me a voicemail. I called him back to get the news—I won The LAGRANT Foundation scholarship and I will be flying to GMC in Detroit at the end of May!

This scholarship means that I am now financially stable for the rest of this year, and I can focus completely on school! It is all so surreal right now. I can't believe that just two years ago I was crying in a small closet at Curry House because I thought I couldn't afford college. What a journey it's been.

But wait, there's more. So I've been talking to Kim back and forth the past few days, and he is determined to get me employed for my co-op! Let me say that I don't know a single person in this world who has more connections than Kim, so this is HUGE.

Okay, so here is the biggest news... Kim promised to help me get my dream job, but if it doesn't work out, he is offering me a position at his agency in Los Angeles! SO IT'S OFFICIAL. I'm beginning my move back to California starting this June so that I'll be completely settled and ready to work by September.

Where I will be working is still a mystery, but I'm so excited to see what will unravel in the next few months. This is it. God is good.

Back At It

Here is another airport post! I'm so excited to be flying home for spring break because I wasn't able to last year. I'm so thankful for God for providing me with a ridiculously cheap plane ticket that happens to be the exact number of days that I can get off from work while perfectly matching with my finals schedule. It's going to be a really short amount of time, but it will be a really good mental break for me.

Airports are my favorite place to reflect and realize how incredibly blessed I am. It has been a crazy term, and it's crazy to see how much I have grown in the past two and a half months. This quarter was filled with a lot of failures, but also many accomplishments that I didn't know I was capable of... I finally consider myself a designer! Not having enough artistic skills has been my greatest insecurity the past few years. And although it is something I still struggle with, I finally took my first step into embracing it, and I can't wait to see how much more I'll grow as a designer throughout the years.

18 minutes till boarding....

I'm so proud of myself for coming to the airport early. I'm getting so old freaking out about time now haha.

Anyways...I'm just blabbering. I shouldn't be so vague in these posts because I want to be able to remember how I felt when I looked back at them. Oh well...I'm going to go and relax for now.

Taco Sin here I come.  :D

Resolutions

I don't think I ever made New Years Resolutions. But if I did, I definitely did not even attempt to stick to them. This year is a little different; I am feeling extra ambitious and I want to be able to look back at my goals and see how I did following through. So hello Michelle at the end of 2017, these are the changes I hope you made some effort on! And by that I mean, YOU BETTER HAVE DONE THEM ALL.

Lifestyle Goals:

• Spend at least 30 minutes each day honing on various artistic skills. For 2017, focus on these three crafts: drawing, digital media knowledge, and hand typography. 
• Read and write more! Listen to at least 30 minutes of an audio book or podcast every day.
• Exercise. You are at an all time low with physical laziness. Don't be afraid to start working out because you are so behind, we all have to start somewhere.

Spiritual Goals:

• 2016 was rough spiritually, but I always believe that difficult times make you stronger. That being said, I don't want to be stuck in this spiritual hole forever. You've been lost for a while, fell into way too many temptations, and haven't learned as much as you thought you would. Go out of your comfort zone and never stop praying.

Relationship Goals:

• Avoid using the phrases, I'm too tired, I don't have time, I don't have money. This one is going to be hard, but you really need to start filtering these excuses out of your mind.
• Appreciate everyone in your life. Send thank you letters and happy birthdays IMMEDIATELY! Don't push it off for later because every time you do that you end up forgetting.

My resolutions are pretty general, so I am hoping to create daily and weekly goals to push me to improve myself on these resolutions. (My passion planner has been helping me A LOT with this actually)

So here we go...another 365 days. That's 365 days to do some amazing things...

Kiss the Year Goodbye

YO HO YO HO
HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE.

Before I post my New Years resolutions I wanted to reflect on this past year. Throughout 2016 I constantly found myself thinking, this is too hard... I don't want to do this anymore. Life would throw one obstacle after another and it always felt like the earth was pulling pranks on me. Like why does it need to start pouring rain when it's already been a horrible day? So dramatic.

But about a month back I had a realization that 2016 has actually been my best year yet. Life on Earth is always going to be difficult, and the moment I began to understand that it will always get harder, I learned to cherish every single moment, the highs and the lows.

Soooo as an appreciation post for 2016, here is a list of many awesome things I accomplished/experienced/learned this year!

• I opened my first etsy shop and got quickly bored of it.
• I celebrated my first birthday away from home. 
• I had a $200 sushi meal with Alison sponsored by my amazing cousin.
• One of my best friends got on a plane for her very first time, left California (also for her very first time), and visited me for Spring Break. 
• We took a 2-day trip to New York where we went to a set location of a TV show Jasmine really likes.
• I booked my first Air BnB place and it was the worst experience ever. (Dumb things I do to save money)
• I won my first merit-based scholarship. I didn't realize this until I went to the scholarship reception, where it was evident that not all the recipients there had financial needs. 
• They flew me out to Atlanta, Georgia and paid for my hotel and meals.
• Coca Cola sponsored the event and gave me a personal Coca Cola bottle with my name printed on it.
• I cried on a plane. Not because I was 3 months old and screaming from God-knows-what. But because I learned the value of home and how much people really mean to me.
• I took a road trip to San Francisco with some friends.
• I got to stay overnight at my friend's house that Google was paying for.
• I visited Google's headquarters.
• I flew to Arizona and spent 3 days at the home of the CEO and founder of my favorite non-profit organization.
• I visited the headquarters of my favorite non-profit organization.
• I became the Pennsylvania Youth Ambassador of my favorite non-profit organization.
• I learned to ride a horse.
• I went to Italy with 3 of the most incredible people in my life, where we learned to love and hate each other in so many ways.
• I went to a Ludovico Einaudi at Renzo Pianos' Auditorium Parco della Musica where I was nearly convinced that I was dreaming.
• I got bombarded by men claiming they were Colombian as they danced towards me and my friend to seductive music.
• I saw in person masterpieces by Michelangelo, Giotto, Parmigianino, Brunlleschi, Ghiberti, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, okay pretty much every Ninja Turtle and Italian Renaissance artist.
• I had gelato almost every day.
• I was homeless for two nights.
• I learned to discover a new country's language and culture without phone data (I highly recommend trying this actually).
• I went to the Motherland for the 2nd time, but first time without my family. 
• I lived with my mom's aunt for some time, where I was able to learn more about the world my mom comes from. I went to one of the most sentimental place of my mom's childhood and there was something beautifully haunting about it.
• I learned that my grandma is an amazing sewer and we had so much fun crafting together!
• I got on my longest flight yet (16 hours) where my chair did not recline. 
• I slept at an airport... on the ground...twice.
• I got literally the most convenient job I could have at this time.
• I had my first real company dinner where they paid for our three course meal, twice.
• My managers cooked us a Thanksgiving meal.
• I paid my own rent for the first time.
• I moved into my first apartment.
• I got my first credit card and just applied for my second one.
• I got robbed $1000 from Zipcar but learned why I should always invest in better insurance.
• My sister, Grace, and Amber visited me in Philly.
• Grace came again and so I wasn't lonely on Thanksgiving.
• I cooked a horrible Friendsgiving dinner cause I suck at cooking.
• I won a total of 5 private scholarships, for a sum of $9,500.
• I went to a Sia concert!
• I had my first critique where people said my work was their favorite.
• I bought Creative Cloud!
• I lost count of my all-nighters.
• I went to nrb and Love Letter every time I went home.

Okay, I am going to stop there haha. I can seriously go forever. I am so grateful for the people who made this year so special for me. I don't have a lot of friends, but the few who stick by me are more than enough. Comparing this year's reflection to last year clearly shows how much I've grown in just one year. 2017 is going to be an interesting one....and I am so. damn. excited.

Titanium

On October 21st, 2016  I had the amazing opportunity to watch Sia perform in same spot I witnessed Kobe Bryant play one year ago.

For those who do not know, Kobe Bryant is my "work ethic role model," while Sia is the embodiment of the artist I strive to be. So, to be able to watch both of them live (and in the same place, too!) has been a dream.

I am not a big music person, and it is actually Sia's position as an artist that empowers me. Her work is incredible, and her concert could be described as an immense interactive art installation.

Anyways, Thank you Sia for inspiring me an artist.

Arrivederci Italia

I'm currently at the Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Roma, waiting for my plane to Seoul. It's my first time sleeping at an airport and it is my shift to guard our stuff as my friends sleep. (We took some clothes out of our luggage and made ourselves comfortable on the floor. Hehe, sorry Mom!)

I've been so busy seeing Italy that I didn't get to blog as much as I planned, but at least I kept myself busy throughout!

Reflecting back on my trip, I realized how much I love language and culture. Knowing a little bit of Spanish made picking up Italian much easier, and seeing the Natives giggle at my attempt to communicate with them always brightened up my mood.

Anyways, here's a long post of a short summary of an amazing two weeks in Italy.

Shortly after making it to Florence, we took a day trip back to Rome to go to a Ludovico Einaudi piano concert.  Under the moonlight, classy musical lovers gathered in an outdoor auditorium to hear the live music of this great musician. During one of his pieces, rain began to gently drizzle over the audience. I closed my eyes as I felt the raindrops dance to the sound of each key tapping on the strings of the grand piano. Even thought I'm usually not a fan of this genre of music, the magical ambience convinced me to fall in love.

The concert ended around 11 p.m. and our bus back to Florence wasn't until 6 a.m. so we waited outside the bus terminal and it was cold and miserable. Hehe.

I've mentioned earlier that the food in Italy is nothing to rave about, but there was one place that stood out to me. We found an expensive, organic/vegan bar and restaurant that we went into just to get wifi for directions. The smoothies we ordered made me feel very at home because it was definitely a treat for California tastebuds. And by that I mean it tasted way too healthy. But I loved it. My friends not so much haha.

I've also made it a goal to eat McDonalds every time I visit a new country and order something from the menu that they only offer there. They give beer with their meals here! 

The road signs in Florence all have cute designs like this. So creative. =]

One of my favorite Renaissance paintings: Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. It's really all the Renaissance art that made me most excited to visit Italy. That being said, while I was at the Uffizi Gallery, a young boy walked up to Giotto's Madonna Enthroned and ran his fingers across the 700 year old painting. A piece of my heart broke that day. 

At Mercato Centrale with my fellow small eyes.

The only graffiti art I enjoyed in Italy. This artist put a whole bunch of famous paintings like the Mona Lisa and the Girl with a Pearl Earring, portrayed them under the sea, and hid them all over Florence. 

The amazing Duomo designed by the even more amazing Brunelleschi, seen from Giotto's Campanile. The 414 steps to climb this tower was hell after the 463 steps we climbed in the duomo. And although that sounds bearable, with the uneven stone steps and tourists crammed like sardines, it was quite horrifying. (But still worth it!)

VESPA VESPA VESPA. I love the colorful scooters that fill the adorable streets. I can never take the smart cars seriously, so I'm glad they have the Vespas to make up for the embarrassment. 

More than just a leaning tower; it's a hat!

Boboli Garden. Absolutely beautiful.

The small, beautiful town of San Gimignano, about an hour and a half away from Florence. This photo REALLY does not do this place justice. But that's kind of my fault for bringing a prime lens to this day trip. This city has one of the best views of endless green fields and the homes that decorate the hills are adorable. San Gimignano is kind of the picture perfect place you imagine when you think of Europe. That being said, I don't have any picture perfect photos. LOL

Ravioli and Italian white wine by the beach. <3

Of course the best is saved for last. My visit to Cinque Terre was the most anticipated trip. Costal views will win my heart any day, and the colorful houses on the cliff make you instantly fall in love. We were able to visit all five towns (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso) in one day, and even squeezed in Pisa right before. 

We ended up leaving so late, the train back was only running once an hour. When we finally got to the next train station around 11:30 p.m, there weren't any more trains running back to Florence until 4:43 a.m. We waited sort of miserably in the cold, dirty streets in the middle of nowhere, and when we finally got on the train back, we got caught for not having a ticket. (From our experiences, we never had our tickets checked before. Since it was our last day in Italy and we were pretty much broke, we decided to just hop on.) It sucked to pay a fine but that's okay we kind of deserved it haha.

We finally made it back to our home in Florence around 8 a.m.
Had to leave our home by 11 a.m.
Then wait for our bus back to Rome which was delayed from 2 to 2:30 p.m.
Made it to the airport around 7:30 p.m.
It is now 6:40 a.m. and I am waiting for my 4 hour flight which leaves at 12:40 p.m. and arrives in Moscow.
AND FINALLY:  a 9 hour flight to Seoul.

So I'm pretty exhausted right now, but the thrill of traveling makes it all worth it.

That's it for now! My time in Italy is coming to a close and as much as I loved it here, my heart is ready to move on to the next country!

Gratzie, Italia. Arrivederci!

Hmmm....

This set of photos is very misleading. They're photos from my last Bible study with GCC this year, and possibly, forever. We're just a couple of Jesus freaks drinking orange juice from solo cups, dead tired from school, and singing praise.

Something became very clear to me on Monday, and my life has never felt more clear. On Tuesday, everything became a blur, and my life has never felt so lost.

It's been a while since I posted anything. Sorry to come back on such a depressing note.

Old Friends, New City

So I'm waiting for my flight at PHL and I still can't believe that I go to school in the east coast. It's crazy how going to cities like Boston and New York have become casual weekend trips. Funny actually...DJ and I were talking about how we never met up in LA after he moved an hour away. And now that he lives 7 hours away, we decide to hang out. I just feel so far from everyone back at home, I'll jump at any excuse to meet up with my California friends. Plus, I'm not going to say no to a trip to Boston.

Early morning view. Stunning.

Fell in love with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. To be honest I wasn't expecting too much...but the pieces in here were BEAUTIFUL. I wish I had more time to look around.

Wonder what he's thinking about...

I had to do all the touristy things since this was me first "real" trip to Boston. So yes, I ate lobster. Worth the money? Probably not. But it was still really good. :D

Shoutout to Matt for treating me out to Tatte Bakery and Cafe. :D
We had cashew butter and jelly sandwich, tiramisu, and some sort of croissant.

Took a break from life to enjoy the Charles River. Well, more like Matt took a break. I was already in vacation mode. Sorry to rub it in all of your faces <3

Dear Basketball...

On November 29th, 2015, Kobe Bryant officially announced his retirement through a poem on the players tribune. Thank God I bought my Sixers/Lakers tickets a while back. I paid $25 for my ticket, and after the announcement, they went over $100. Laker tickets back at home are always too expensive so even though it wasn't on home court, this was actually my first "Laker" game. 

I played basketball for 7 years as a little girl, and in those 7 years I really learned what it meant to work hard and push myself to my limits. Dang, I forgot how much I love basketball. 

As funny as this sounds, I got really emotional when I read Kobe's poem. When I was in 4th grade, I was assigned to do a project on any famous American. I showed up to school dressed as Kobe and passed out gatorade for all the students and parents who came to see my Kobe exhibit. Yup, I was that kind of kid. 

I remember sitting in my parents' room in front of our little box TV as my brother would scream "TWO POINT GAME. IT'S A TWO POINT GAME." 

I remember eating casserole at my friend's house as we watched the Lakers fall short of another championship against Boston. 

I remember Kobe standing behind the free throw line as the crowd chanted "MVP."

I remember my brother being on the phone while watching a Laker game when he realized that "Kobe has small ears." Now even to this day, all I notice on Kobe's smooth bald head is his small ears. (I know, weird). 

The past couple of years I kind of forgot about basketball. Time Warner Cable bought out the Lakers broadcasting station or something, and I eventually stopped watching. Phil Jackson retired and everyone started to get traded out. 

But even before Kobe's announcement, everyone knew this would be the year. And so just in case, I decided to go to the Sixer game. I've been watching the Lakers for almost 10 years--I had to see Kobe play live at least once. Honestly, my timing in Philadelphia could not have been better. 

 

At the end of the game, all the 76ers fan celebrated their first season victory. You know the Lakers have hit rock bottom when they lose to Philadelphia. But what really melted my heart was when the entire stadium stood up and chanted "Kobe."

In an interview with Robin Roberts, Roberts asked Kobe to say the first thing that comes to mind when he hears certain words. When Roberts said Los Angeles, Kobe said "home." When she said Philadelphia, Kobe said home again. I feel so honored to call those same two places home.

Anyways, thanks for the memories, Kobe.

Love you always,
Michelle

Free the North

My Graphic Design homework for the week was to take a trip to Northern Liberties, eat food, and take pictures. I'm still not very familiar with Philadelphia so I looked up this place before I went and according to Wikipedia "in recent years, Northern Liberties has become a major enclave of young professionals, students, artists, and design professionals. Large improvement and revitalization projects have also been undertaken recently, causing a large jump in property values." Let me just say I was quite DISAPPOINTED. First of all, the streets were completely empty...and dirty. There were a couple cute shops...but I mean, jump in property values? lul. Nonetheless I had a fun time and had really good food. :-)

I guess this picture makes the streets look nice.

We had brunch at Honey's and it was actually really good! But kind of expensive. :-(

I forgot the name but I got a french toast stuffed with honey ham and topped with 2 sunny eggs. I'm getting hungry talking about this. :-( I wouldn't mind going back to Northern Liberties to try some of the other restaurants.

And here are my fellow Graphic Designers!

Life Update

I feel like I should change the name of my blog to "Dear Sheena." My life is a mess. I should really fix the photos on my wall LOL. It's funny that half of these photos are at UCLA. Also, I'm wearing your UCLA Engineering shirt right now...

Anyways...I'm just really missing LA right. It's not even winter yet and I miss LA so that's a problem haha. Me and Heidi can't wait to go back. I'm making a list of things I need to do when I get home. For starters, I'M CRAVING POKE SO BAD. I'm craving good food in general. People really like pho here. I mean pho is good but I need some KBBQ / Curry House / PAN (omg I want the pan so bad) / Yamadaya.

I liked your list of goals. I should make one....

OH.  I HAVE A PRAYER REQUEST: I really need to find a job ASAP. I feel like I applied to every single place here but I just get rejection letters....If I start now I'll be able to pay for 3rd quarter cause I decided not to take any parent loans. Or scholarships but Idk I'm having trouble finding legit ones.

Okie I'll stop rambling. I hope you and Jenny and Grace and Amber and Bryan are staying strong and studying hard! See you soon, Chingoo.

Popecation

Papal weekend is coming to a close. =-(  As much as I love a busy city, I'm really going to miss the quiet streets....and the 4 day weekend.

So.....what went down this weekend?



 I finished my very first design project! Took over 12 hours to finish.... aannddd I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I know this is only the first of many many many stressful assignments, but nonetheless, I'm super excited!



Blocked roads call for a photoshoot. This is right after Shirley and I rented bikes and rode through UPenn's beautiful campus.

LASTLY.....HUGE shoutout to Susanna and Christina for the home-cooked meal! Such a blessing to have amazing friends taking care of us freshies.


I miss you SheenBeans.

One Week Down

Crazzzyyyyy how I've been in Philadelphia for over a week now! Well, not that crazy because honestly a week isn't even that long. hehe. I want to record my journey during the next four years so that one day I can look back at everything and see how I have changed and grown.

So, here it goes...

Just Photos

     Here's just some random photos. I'm ditching the whole Sunday thing because I always end up waiting to post and then I just forget. A lot has happened since I last blogged so I might post things here and there that are totally out of timeline. Really, I just need something to look back on. :-)

불고기 피자 from I have no idea where I was. Somewhere in New Jersey. Fort Lee I think? It was from New York Wing Factory and I felt very uncomfortable ordering this whole pizza with chicken wings all by myself but oh well. It's not like anyone in New Jersey knows who I am. Plus, it was freaking delicious.

Passion fruit lemonade? Passion tea? Something like that. THIS STUFF WAS GOOD. Better than whatever they have at Starbucks.

Some sort of really awesome fries with a really awesome taco. I forgot what this place was called but it was a hole-in-the-wall in some ghetto-ish part of Brooklyn. I love to travel alone once in a while, but it's kind of dangerous....the place had good yelp reviews but when I got there I felt a bit vulnerable. Plus I felt like a loner because once again...I was eating by myself.

The rest of the photos are from Aaron's birthday. Idk, got a couple cute shots so why not.