{Now, From the Beginning}

Summer began as soon as I put down my pen at the end of my last final.

It was finally time for summer, oh glorious summertime.

Us girls in B528 decided earlier that week to have one last girls night out that Thursday. It was more of a girls evening out, as we had to be back in Westwood later for prior engagements...

Allison took us to Lemonade, one of her favorite restaurants on Abbot Kinney in Venice. {I love, love, love Abbot Kinney- the shops, the atmosphere and the vibe.... I would like to live there one day if I was to stay in L.A.}

Going through all my photos, one will notice that I have some sort of weird obsession with taking photos while driving somewhere.... and with alleys. 

I don't know where these two obsessions sprout from, 

but one day I will have to do some posts about them so the world can try and understand... 

and maybe it will help me understand why I just have to take photos of 

cars and art in alleys. 

Mural in the parking alley behind Abbot Kinney

Lemonade is all about picnic foods- yum. 

{the kale salad and the  truffle mac and cheese were delicious!!!}

and of course, different types of lemonade... 

like blood orange lemonade and ginger pear lemonade. 

Coconut Cake and Lemon Meringue Tart

When we got back from Lemonade, we all quickly dispersed to our other activities.... but later that night Allison and I {Anjali was still out at this point} decided to start taking down our decorations together- we wanted to make it a fun, rather than a sad, experience. 

I loved our room so much- I loved my roommates and I love the atmosphere we created in our tiny dorm room. 

{Tea time, anyone?}

I remember when I first walked into B528- 

I was the last to arrive and both Allison and Anjali had already unpacked and set up shop- I saw Allison's tea set and turned to my mom and said 

"there's tea, I'll be okay! This will be a good year." 

Below are a few pictures taken of our room throughout the year... 

I collect way too many things... but I love every single one of them and I couldn't
imagine my life without my semi-organized clutter!

The tea set. 

Allison taking down her poster.

Allison and I decided to leave up the lights until the morning, it would have been too sad to take them down. 

So, we kept them on and lo and behold- our friends started coming over 

to celebrate the end of the year with us. 

At one point every surface was occupied-

 everyone was so merry, eating, drinking, laughing. 

It was a very magical way 

{sounds so cheesy, I know...} 

to end our time on Birch 5.  

Photo's a bit blurry... but we all were in a state of blurriness... haha.

The lights stayed on and the impromptu party didn't break up until sunrise. 

Then it was Friday and time for us all to leave. 

The year was over. 

The closets were cleaned out. 

The walls back to bare white.

And the room was left empty. 

The last school year went by so fast, I could hardly believe it!

I had such a good time spending time with friends from Freshman year and

getting to know more friends throughout last year. 

Thanks to everyone who made last year amazing and I wish you a great upcoming year

and I will see you all again the following year! 

{College Night at the Getty}

Back in November I recieved, not one, but two emails 

 about doing an internship for the Getty Center in LA. 

So I thought it must be pretty cool and I put it on my to-do-list for things to check out. 

As it turned out the email was an application to be on one of the student committees to help plan their annual College Night at the Getty. I knew it must be an interesting if I recieved information about it from two different sources. To be honest I came this close {fingers showing just how close} to not even bothering applying.... why? you may ask.... because I didn't want to write the 150 words 

{yes, only 150 words, child's play for a college kid} 

on why I wanted to be on the Content Planning Committee. 

However, the night before the deadline, I sucked it up and wrote the 150.... and lo and behold it turned out to be one of my most cherished college experiences to date. And I was so sad when we had to say goodbye at the end of the fabulous night. 

The theme was LA STYLE featureing the photography of Herb Ritts: LA Style and Portraits of the Reknown. 

Over the course of the internship, we got to have meetings at the Getty and 

were able to see some of the 

inner workings of the Getty. 

I met amazing people, students and staff. 

Clare and Peter were our committee leaders. 

This is our group with Clare, we didn't end up getting a photo with Peter though...

 And of course Liz and Carmella! 

{This is my favorite photo of all of us.... Liz's eyes just make my day}

All the Interns

And of course I had loads of fun hanging out at the Getty for College Night. 

Setting up that afternoon

The Fashion Photoshoot Demonstration: 

{with the albino Elk...}

The Sunset

Milo Greene played and they were great, really set the atmosphere for the evening. 

Friends from B5
{photo cred: Dylan}

Dylan and Ryan
{photo cred: Dylan}

♡

Easter in Santa Monica

Happy Easter everyone!

Easter is basically my favorite holiday because

it celebrates springtime. 

and I love spring. period.

Even though I was a bit sad that I wasn't spending it with my family and not

taking part in our annual traditions: decorating eggs, making our Easter Tree...

{thanks André for the photos!}

I still had a glorious day spending time with my roomies. 

Allison, Anjali and I decided to spend our Easter Sunday at the 

Santa Monica Farmer's Market.

It's one of my favorite places here in the LA area, 

so why not spend time there on my favorite holiday?

I love the market so much- {really} good food,

awesome people watching {everyone is just so happy!} and they always have a petting zoo.

I mean, com'on, who doesn't love a petting zoo?

The A Girls sporting our springtime"Sunday Best"

Who needs to dye Easter eggs when the Market is filled with foods in amazing colors?

 Anjali taste-testing the delicious strawberries....

After we ate our tamales,

{it's what Allison and I usually get when we go, they are just too darn good!}

we walked down Main Street and ran into this adorable little flower truck. 

yes, a flower truck. 

brilliant.

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter! 

{Party at the Getty? Yes, please.}

For the last few months I have had the amazing opportunity to help plan 

this year's College Night at the Getty, 

an annual event
 {it's free! and  there will be a band, photobooth...etc}
that is taking place April 16th. 

If you are a college student in the LA area:

COME! IT. IS. GONNA. BE. AWE.SOME.
okaythanks.

I am on the Content Planning Committee,
{along with Liz and Carmella}
and over the last few months I have been invited, as well as other students from local colleges who make up the other committees, to go to the Getty and have meetings in "restricted areas" and "authorized personnel only" conference rooms to give our input for the event. très swanky. 

Back in January my committee was given a mini-backstage-tour of the Getty restoration area. My favorite part was seeing the old lamp-post banners from past exhibits that line the main hallway {which may I add, had been painted a bea-u-ti-ful shade of eggplant...basically the underground areas are just an extension of the museum itself}

The exhibits, Herb Ritts: LA Style and Portraits of the Renown, {which are the exhibits featured during College Night and the theme of the event} opened last Monday, April 2nd and all the committee students were invited to attend the opening reception. 

It was a stellar event and I was so grateful for the opportunity to have a wonderfully swanky and fun night at the Getty. 

What a great start to the new quarter! 

And of course, dressing up was a must... 

I never, ever miss an occasion to dress up....

As we arrived at the Getty, Katie aptly shared one of her favorite quotes: 

When we first arrived, we immediately found Tony and China, two of the Getty people who we work with during our College Night meetings. They are so incredibly nice and warm and funny. Tony was making us giggle when he was telling us of his keen positioning of the spotlight on the cupcake table.  

Everyone who works at the Getty has such a nice attitude 

and have been so enthusiastic about everything, 

it makes me want to work there when I grow up. 

 Photos from the wonderful night!

Carmella, me and Katie 

Carmella, Aly, Katie and me just as we were entering the Herb Ritts show

so. much. energy. for. one. room. 

I absolutely loved the night and loved the opportunity to attend 

such an amazing {and grown-up} party!

Thanks Getty!

Can't wait for College Night!!!