Masking Tape Makeover

Ello Govena'! 

Once again I have to thank Pinterest for inspiring this project of mine. I never thought of using Masking Tape as form of decoration until I found this pin: 23 Ideas For Apartment Decorating. Scroll down and you'll see the kitchen decorated with black tribal looking designs. I thought this was an amazing idea. It's cheap and not permanent. You can easily remove it when you move out of your apartment.

My roommate and I are always looking for ways to bring life to our very bland, neutral, blah colored apartment. I thought, using colorful masking tape would be a great way to bring a splash of color to our kitchen area. I used 5 different colors of Scotch Expressions Masking Tape, and regular blue painters masking tape. I had to go to a few different stores (Staples, Micheals, Office Max, Home Depot) to find different colors. It seems to becoming more popular and Scotch has now made many different colors and patterns of Washi Tape. (I recently ordered a pack of Washi Tape on Cutetape for a future project to do in my room. =D Stay Tuned)!


This was my Summer project that I finally finished today! It was a slow process because I kept running out of pattern ideas! I had to look at magazines and on Pinterest for inspiration.

 I decided to get fancy with one of the cabinets and created a beach picture. It was very time consuming. I spent many hours sitting on the couch watching Netflix cutting masking tape into these designs. I thought they turned out really well!

So far everyone who has seen my kitchen in person loves it! I'm so happy it's finally finished! Hope this has inspired you and your next project.

Be seeing you,

Life is a bold adventure

I celebrated my "2 year in LA" on June 21, 2013. It's been the fastest 2 years of my entire life! A lot has happened since I moved here. I feel like I have been accomplishing a great deal recently which reminded me of the Bucket List I made for myself.

On November 10th, 2011 I wrote a blog titled, "Things to do." I recently went back to that list to see what I wrote almost 2 years ago. I was very surprised on all the goals I had actually accomplished since then!

UPDATED LIST:

1. LEARN TO SURF! I finally DID learn to surf!!!! My best friend, Kathryn Begle, and I accomplished that in Santa Monica on August 6, 2013. It was an awesome experience. Both Kathryn and I did much better than we expected. We both stood up 4-5 times. =) Finally fulfilled my dream I've had since 8th grade!

2. Go to the Sequoia National Park. I crossed this goal off the list TWO days ago! I finally saw the largest trees in the world!!!!! It was incredible. We saw General Sherman, the largest tree in the world, hiked in the Giant Forest, and hiked to the top of Moro Rock. SPECTACULAR VIEW! I hope to go back again and see more sights!

3. Visit every beach in SoCal from Malibu to San Diego at least ONCE. I'm getting closer to accomplishing this one! Went from only 4 beaches to 9. (Zuma, Malibu, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, Will Rogers State Beach, Venice, Playa Del Rey, Manhattan Beach, Torrance)

4. Visit San Francisco. UGHHH I still want to go so badly! I did adventure up the Pacific Coast Highway with my IU friend Scott Brown. We stopped in Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey area. So we were very close to San Fran, but yet so far.

5. Go to Mood. Well I'm obsessed with Project Runway, so I wanted to go to the Mood in LA. It's pretty anti-climatic and tiny. It is nothing compared to the NYC Mood. At least I can say it's a huge accomplishment and honor to be working on Project Runway Allstars as an Assistant Editor!

6. Learn to long board.  I totally own a long board now and enjoy going boarding with Kathryn whenever I can. It's a really fun new hobby. I just need to make effort to go more often so I can actually improve.

7. Go to Whimsic Alley. I have yet to go to this Harry Potter themed store because I know I'll buy everything. This isn't me being lazy, it's responsible...for the good of my bank account.

8. Be in the audience of an Ellen show. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Totally accomplished this fantastic goal. Last year I was FRONT ROW at The Ellen Show for my 24th birthday. It was definitely one of the best days of my life. Ellen touched my hand and Britney Spears said, "Hi" back to me. I also got to see Sophia Grace and Rosie!!!

On set of War of the Worlds

9. Go camping. I still have never been camping! Does going to a cabin on Kern River count? Maybe a little? No. I'll work on this goal.

11. Go on studio tours to pretty much every studio in L.A. Luckily, I had VIP treatment from the help of Matt Jensen. He drove me around on a golf cart through the entire Universal Studios Back Lot. I freak out every time. It will never get old and not fascinate me.

12. Buy a bike and cycle down The Strand. So crazy that this was a goal of mine because I do this as often as I can. I bought a Giant brand bike, and I LOVE riding it along the beach.

13. And of course, to become Taylor Swift and Emma Stone's BFF. Still working on this, but it'll happen.

I dedicate this blog to all the dreamers and believers out there. You can do whatever you set your mind to. Make a list and watch how you check off the things you have always wanted to do. Ask Questions. Be weird. Experiment. Have goals. Believe you can.

Single and Trying Not to Look

People always say, "You will find love when you aren't looking for it, and then it will find you." Among many other versions of that sentence. I definitely believe that is true which brings us to:

Part One: My Shudder-Inducing and Cliched, What Seemed to be a Totally Worthless Online Venture Turned into a Hysterically Eye-Opening Observation. 

After 2 weeks of swimming the guy infested waters of online dating I want to share with you my experience and observations. I can't say I got much out of it, because honestly at the end of the day I don't think I wanted anything out of it. Online dating isn't for me. It's scary, over whelming, and just plain weird. I stopped myself and was like, "What am I doing? I'm like online shopping for dudes." First I signed up for Plenty of Fish and after a week I got about 120 messages from random guys. I made an OkCupid account and quickly noticed how many guys had both a POF and OkCupid account! It was bizaare. I don't know how they can keep up. I deleted my POF account and decided to focus only on OkCupid for 3 days.

- plain, easy to use, simple. Large photos when browsing. Home of every douche-bag known to man.

 - Colorful, aesthetically pleasing. Question/Match % based. Information heavy, small photo thumbnails.

One of the first guys that ever messaged me on one of these Online Dating sites was the guy I was most attracted to out of all of them. Yes, I am only going off about 3-5 pictures, but still. He was too good to be true when it came to connections between us, etc. He messaged ME, but never made the effort to talk again. He kept saying, "We'll be in touch."
It's like a scene from the film, He's Just Not That Into You where Gigi meets this dude in a bar and he gives her his card and says, "We'll be in touch." She then awkwardly calls him out on who will indeed be the one to contact the other first. Let's just say she never heard from that guy again.
Justin Long's character, "Alex" gave the best piece of advice that is SO INCREDIBLY TRUE:  

"If a guy doesn't call you, he doesn't want to call you. If a guy wants to talk to you, he will talk to you. If he wants to see you, he will find a way to see you." 

Guys are simple (usually). If he isn't thinking about you, you will not be hearing from him. Sadly, the 2 main guys whom I had a decent conversation with, and possibly could see myself being friends with in the future, were not thinking about me. 

Part Two: The Hilarious yet Completely Alarming First Message From Lonely Creepers and Oddly Creative Bachelors.
(Keep in mind, this is the FIRST message I received from these guys. The 1st message is suppose to be different and interesting enough for you to want to reply to them. Think of it as a guy approaching you in a bar.  And no I did not respond to any of the following).

1. Do you think vampires are sexy? (WTF?!)

2. First off I want to say I find you very attractive. Given the chance, I would invite you over for a romantic dinner. As soon as you got here I would pull you in close and say, "Baby I have a TV dinner in the freezer with your name on it." Then I'll proceed to plug in your favorite scent of glade plug it in, just for you, then pour you the finest glass of welch's grade juice. For dessert I will feed you some gold fish with a spork.

Sincerely, Your Knight in shining armor. (Oddly Creative isn't it?)

3. Hey. dtf (gross)

4. Wow you are gorgeous. I need a Midwestern girl like you to melt my country heart.

5. What are you looking for in a guy? How do you feel about video games? I like your smile.  :-) (A.D.D.?)

6. How was yoir dau (Spell check?)

7. hiiii princess ;) may I step into ur lil world 4 a lil while?

8. I know this will sound weird...Are you special?

9. i heart you

10. Hi there! Just a quick question; How about coffee,wine&beach, tea, lunch, dinner or just get married !? :)) as simple as it is :) (Well, that escalated quickly)

11. Happy 24th bday! (it wasn't my birthday)

12. lol gotta remove that madrid bathroom pic! Haha (I have NO idea)

13. I have a net. (Get it? Plenty of Fish)

14. Cute, I'd spank you.

15. You must be going insane...
I mean, all these brain dead emails in your inbox? How could you not be?
At any rate, I'm ambitious, creative, have never been known to settle for the mundane.... and you surprised me the way you seem a little more three-dimensional than the average user.
But before we waste 10 years on toxic marraige where we throw the family china at each other across the living room and end up fighting over who gets Fluffy in divorce court, let's cut straight to the chase...
What would your friends say are your strangest quirks? Don't worry...I've got mine too and I promise not to judge (much). 

16. Meep.

17. i would love to make you my girl

18. Hey sexy do you model? (HAHAHAHAHA. No.)

19. Rawr

20. French toast, waffles or pancakes? What do you dislike most about the dating process?

Well to answer guy number 20...the entire thing! I won't bash it because Online Dating has created many success stories, I just know that it isn't for me. So here I am...deleting my accounts and trying my best to not look for love so it can accidentally bump into me one day.

Part Three: Most Popular Names among online dating bachelors:
1. Tom
2. Matthew/Matt
3. Michael/Mike
4. Andrew

Cheers to all the Toms, Matts, Mikes and Andrews. May the force be with you.