Month: November 2016

Late Night Movie Review of Breakfast at Tiffany’s

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The iconic character of Holly Golightly, made popular by Audrey Hepburn, will be in theatres once again for Breakfast at Tiffany’s 55th anniversary on November 30th. Audrey Hepburn is one of my favorite actresses and I love watching her play the stylish Holly. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is one of my all-time favorite romantic, rainy day movies and after watching this movie, you too will want to eat pastries outside of Tiffany’s for breakfast while wearing a chic, black gown. I know I did.

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For those unfamiliar with the premise of the movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, directed by Blake Edwards, is about Holly Golighty, an escort who is aspiring to attain a lavish lifestyle. She runs away from her past as country girl and moves to New York to live the city life. While in New York, she tries to find happiness in luxury and searches for a rich man to marry. Throughout Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Holly hides under a façade to accommodate her new lifestyle. She dresses in a stylish manner and throws posh and sometimes wild parties to help her meet a wealthy man of her dreams. However, in the process she ends up prostituting herself to pay for all her expenses.

Holly’s life changes though when she meets Paul Varjak, played by George Peppard, a novelist who moves into her apartment building and leads a lifestyle comparable to Holly’s. To help pay for his novels to get published, he basically prostitutes himself to a rich married women who pays for all his things. Since Holly lives a similar lifestyle, Paul and Holly end up connecting as both are striving for their own version of success and will do anything to get it. As Paul begins to spend more time with Holly, he eventually falls in love with her.

Though Holly ends up loving Paul back, her selfish ambitions interfere with her relationship with Paul. For example, she continues to push Paul away throughout the movie because in almost all her relationships, real love has never entered into the equation as she would only use men to fund her lifestyle and pay for dates. Furthermore, she longs to marry a rich man to provide financial stability and a glamorous lifestyle and with Paul, the only thing he could offer her is his love. As a result, Holly is reluctant to take it because she would have to stop hiding under a façade and face the reality that she could love someone more for just their money.

One of my favorite scenes in Breakfast at Tiffany’s is when Paul wakes up to hear Holly singing Moon River outside Paul’s bedroom window. Audrey Hepburn sings the song with such honesty that she brings truth to the lyrics of the song. The lyrics describe Holly and Paul’s relationship with one another and how they are alike. The song fits the scene perfectly because her singing the song is like a wake up call to Paul telling him that Holly is the one for him.

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One of the most memorable sequences in Breakfast at Tiffany’s is when Holly Golightly and Paul Varjak spend a day in the city together taking turns doing things that they have both never done before. In the first scene, Paul takes Holly to the library because she’s never been there where he signs one of his own novels. In the second scene, Holly takes Paul to Tiffany’s where he has never been where she receives an engraved Cracker Jack that Paul gets her. In the third scene, Holly takes Paul go to a discount store where they steal masks and run away from the store without getting caught. Previous to these scenes, Paul and Holly have a strictly platonic relationship. However, through these scenes, it is evident that their relationship is becoming much more. At the end of these scenes, Paul and Holly share a kiss symbolizing that though they were both hiding under facades, their love for each other is the only thing that’s genuinely real in their lives.

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Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a cute love story that keeps the audience captivated as anyone watching will want to continue in order to find out if Holly and Paul end up together. Overall, I love this film and I feel like Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard do an outstanding job playing the leads, making the characters seem very real and relatable. Both characters are dreamers trying to find happiness with material successes but maybe all they need is just love and each other.

Home Improvements in My New Home

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When I first bought my condo a year ago, my American Dream became a reality as I finally had a place to call my own. Growing up, my family only rented to so I was used to keeping spaces as they were when we first moved in and seeing white walls. After saving up and purchasing my condo, I now had the opportunity to get creative. Over the past year, I have taken on some small tasks to get my place the way I wanted and I wanted to share them because I feel like these minor improvements can actually make the biggest changes in making a place seem more “homey”.

Five ways I improved my new home:

  1. New Paint- Before even moving in, the first thing I did was give my home a face lift with a new paint job. When I bought my home, the walls were a sand color. Though there was nothing wrong with the previous color, I felt it would be nice to change the color to a pretty grey-blue color to soften the color palette. Initially, one of my friends and I got together and tried to make a project out of it. We actually spent a good day painting with minor breaks to eat Costco sandwiches before realizing that to be more cost and time efficient, I should call a professional. Unless you have a big group of people who would all be free to help, I highly suggest getting a professional painter. My friend and I took almost a whole day to paint and we only got the living room completed. When the professional came in, he painted my whole condo within a day time frame. The following picture is a before (left photo) and after (right photo) that shows the difference that the new paint made in my kitchen. beforeandafter
  2. New Lighting- When I first moved in, I had florescent lighting fixtures that looked like they haven’t been switched out since the place was first built. The color from the florescent light casted a dirty yellow color everywhere. In order to change out the lighting, I went to Lowe’s and got updated fixtures that not only fit better with my new household but also provided more natural lighting.
  3. Small Additions- One addition that made a huge difference was adding ceiling fan light fixtures to each bedroom. I made this change to add brighter, natural lighting to each room as well as to help with the air flow. Another addition I made was switching out the mirrors in each bathroom. When I first moved in, I noticed the main mirrors in each bathroom that my condo came with were older and were slightly rusting on the edges. Since I would be looking in these mirrors on a daily basis, I switched them out for a newer mirror that had a pretty mosaic edging. The new mirrors were beautiful and helped to brighten up each bathroom. I wish I had a picture of the old bathroom mirror of the rust to show a before and after but all I have is a photo of the new mirror which you can see below. newmirror
  4. Getting organized- When I first moved in, I wanted to have nice, clean spaces, and not a hoarder’s dream home, so I made sure that all my things had a place. Cute mementos that I wanted to be on display as well as movies and books I would need access to on a daily basis would be on my living room bookshelf as you can see in the following picture.livingroom This was basically how I assessed all my things in every room. Anything out in each of my rooms were things that I used frequently and everything else would be tucked away in a closet or in a bookshelf bin.  Right now, I am still working on getting rid of a lot of things and I’ll probably donate to Goodwill and sell some stuff at Buffalo Exchange.
  5. Decorating- The last thing I did after moving in and setting up was decorating. This was probably my favorite part. When decorating, I made sure to stick with a color scheme and theme. For my color scheme, I stuck to teals, blues, beiges, and golds to compliment the light brown cabinets in the condo. In addition, since I love to travel, I got pieces that were inspired by different places of the world I have been. For example, my bedroom pictured below, uses a lot of cool colors to help create a “beachy” Hawaiian feel. room Lastly, I hung up art pieces that I created or that friends had given me based on how well they flowed with each other and matched the theme of each room. I even created an art wall which you can see in the pic below in my room with some art pieces I made over the years.artwall

These small improvements definitely helped to make my place feel like home and they are definitely things that anyone can do too. Some of these enhancements such as a new paint job and new fixtures do cost a little bit of money but it is money worth spending to help create a space that you would enjoy coming home to. Furthermore, having self-made art pieces or even just art that you love up in your house will add small personal touches that will help to create a place that’s a visual representation of you.

Happy Veterans Day from a Former Military Brat!

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I know I am posting this late but Happy Veterans Day everyone! Growing up, the military played an integral part in my family and as weird as it sounds, I literally wouldn’t even be here without the U.S. Navy. My dad met my mother in the Philippines when he was a sailor in late 1970s. Without the military, my dad wouldn’t have met my mom. As a result, they would have never gotten married and my sister and I wouldn’t have been born.

Here’s a photo of my parents from 1981 in the Philippines. Don’t they look so stylish and cool? I know the photo is from the 80s but it totally reminds me of “That 70s Show”.

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The military also was a big part of my life because I grew up in Gateway Housing, a military housing in Point Loma. When I was in elementary school, I went to Dewey Elementary School, which was a school that was located right next to the housing so everyone I knew from school were also my neighbors. What was great about growing up on military housing was that the neighborhood was safe and everyone was really close to each other. As a result, many of my neighbors who I grew up with became family because we shared similar experiences and backgrounds and to this very day I still keep in touch with many of them.

The following is a photo of my family in front of our old place in Gateway Housing. It’s not there anymore as these buildings were torn down and newer buildings were built in their place. Also, streets were renamed so Gearing Drive, the street I grew up on, is no more. This was probably one of my favorite places I ever lived at and I still miss it.

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What I loved about my childhood was that the military in a strange way brought stability for my family. Most military families end up moving around to other places but for some reason, my dad was always stationed in San Diego so I never had to move. For part of my childhood, my dad worked out of NTC, the old Naval Training Center which is now Liberty Station, and my mom worked there too so my sister and I were fortunate enough to always have them around. Of course there were exceptions like when my dad went on deployment where we missed him on birthdays, holidays, and school recognition ceremonies but for the most part he was always there for us when we needed him.

Being a high school teacher, I am happy to share my experiences of growing up as a military brat with my students who are interested in joining the military and want to know how the military would not only affect them but also their future families. Many of these kids want to join the military but do not have firsthand experience with the military. Though I can answer some of their questions I always encourage them to reach out to a veteran, like my father, or an active military member so they can get an accurate depiction of what their life will be like when they are actually in the military.

One of the coolest things that I got to witness this year was at a Career Day event at my work when my dad got to come in and talk about his time in the Navy. I loved seeing him talk and interact with the students. He had a captive audience as he spoke of his experiences during the Persian Gulf War as well as his travels around the world. The kids loved asking him questions and I could tell that my dad enjoyed sharing his firsthand accounts with them as he candidly answered questions. Some of the stories that he shared were even new to me so it was great listening in while he was speaking with the kids. What I felt was significant about this interview was not only that they learned more about military life in general but that afterwards the students were able to develop a greater appreciation for the men and women who made many sacrifices to help protect our country.

The following is a great photo of my dad rockin’ some sweet aviators on one of the ships he was on. This year I actually painted this photo on a canvas and gave it to him for his birthday.

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This Veterans Day weekend, I want to encourage everyone to pay their respects to those individuals who fought and served in the military. These individuals risked their lives to keep us safe and it’s significant to recognize, remember, and thank them for their service.

My Election Day Voting Dilemma

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jbvoting

Today’s the day everyone. Election Day is here and now everyone is left thinking, do I really have to go out there and vote for a candidate I don’t even fully support? I mean, couldn’t everyone just write in Bernie and neither Trump nor Hilary would win. If only it was that easy but of course it’s not.

Being sick with a sinus infection, I faced a real dilemma today. Should I stay home in bed watching election coverage on TV or should I actually go out to the polls to vote? Though I really wanted to nap for a few hours and be a super sloth, I knew it was my duty as an American citizen to go out there and vote my little heart out.

To be honest, I almost didn’t vote but realized the election wasn’t only about who was going to be President. There are also important local propositions on that ballot that directly affect my life. If I didn’t vote, I was throwing out my say on matters that would influence not only me but also my family, friends, and neighborhood.

In addition, I also thought about how many people from the past put their lives on the line for a chance to vote. Women and people of color fought so hard for suffrage, some even facing violent acts and jail time. For me, not voting meant I was letting all those people down.

Furthermore, I knew that going to the polls really didn’t take that much time out of my day. In the past, I voted and it literally only took me at most maybe 10 minutes to complete my ballot. Plus, I got bragging rights when I did vote because I got to rock the “I voted” sticker all day like a real champ.

For anyone still on the fence about voting, I would read up on local propositions and head to the polls as soon as possible. Even though you might not like the Presidential candidates, at least you can vote on local issues. Don’t let your loved ones who will be affected by this election as well as those individuals of the past who risked their lives for suffrage down. In addition, if you already know what you want to vote for, voting doesn’t take that long. It’s quick and easy, and if someone like me who is under the weather can drag her booty out of bed to vote, you can too.

Don’t forget, after you vote, head to your local Krispy Kreme for a free donut. If that’s not incentive enough I don’t know what is.

Mousin’ it up at Disneyland for Halloween

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To celebrate the Halloween season this year, I decided to take one of my best girlfriends to Disneyland to not only celebrate her birthday but also to check out Mickey’s Halloween Party. I had never been to Disneyland before for this Halloween event but I had always wanted to go so it was the perfect opportunity.

Though the tickets were kind of pricey, especially because I bought them last minute online because the tickets were sold out at the park, I definitely feel like it was worth the the hour and a half drive from San Diego to Anaheim. What I loved about the whole experience was that the whole park was decked out in Halloween decor and everyone was able to dress up. My friend and I threw on some last minute self-made costumes and she was a black cat and I was Minnie Mouse. I also enjoyed the fact that adults and children alike were able to partake in the Halloween festivities and go trick-or-treating. When trick-or-treating, I highly suggest bringing your own bag because the small bag that Disneyland provides you with will get filled quite quickly. For this trip, I actually ended up purchasing a cute Minnie Mouse tote bag at one of the stores and it was practically filled by the end of the night with tons of yummy goodies.I definitely had enough candy to not only bring to my students at work the next day on Halloween but also to pass out to trick-or-treaters later on that night.

Most of the candy given out were of the chocolate variety such as Twix, Reeses, Snickers, and M&Ms as you can see below. However, they did offer healthier options such as apples, carrots, Cliff bars as well as more savory snacks such as pretzels and Pirate’s Booty.

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Besides the trick-or-treating and the Halloween decor that make coming to the park for the event a perk, another thing that I enjoyed was the fact that there were literally no lines for any of the rides. My friend and I were able to hop on rides such as Indiana Jones, Rodger Rabbit, and Pirates of the Caribbean in less than five minutes.

Other highlights of the experience included the Jack Skellington’s Nightmare Before Christmas take over of the Haunted Mansion, meet-and-greets with tons of Disney characters, the Halloween themed parade and fireworks show, and mainly just the Halloween themed goodies you can get on Main Street.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my all-time favorite movies so I always love it when I go to the park during the holidays because I love the the Jack Skellington take over of the Haunted Mansion.

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The Halloween-themed fireworks show was spectacular and you could basically see them light up the sky from anywhere in the park. My friend and I were closer to New Orleans Square during the fireworks show and we  were still able to catch most of the show. However, I highly recommend watching them from Main Street. as the music and visual effects that are synced with the show can be heard and seen better from that side of the park.

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One of my favorite things to get whenever I get the chance to go to Disneyland are caramel apples. I never leave the park without one and this time I was able to get a Dia de Los Muertos Mickey apple.

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If I could do this trip again, I would highly suggest purchasing tickets in advance. Tickets for this event usually range from 70-90 dollars but I ended paying almost for 150 dollars for each ticket because I purchased them last minute. In addition, even though the tickets say that then event starts at 6 pm or 7 pm, Disneyland usually lets individuals who purchased tickets for this event to enter the park around 3 pm or 4 pm so try to arrive around two to three hours earlier than what your tickets state.

I look forward to attending this event again hopefully next year and I highly recommend this event to anyone who loves Disneyland and would like to avoid the long lines that are usually associated with a typical Disneyland trip. Until next year!

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For more information about Mickey’s Halloween Party check out: Mickey’s Halloween Party