summer skin 10'

The summer months do bring us outdoor concerts, Vegas trips and a day out on the beach. The summer season in L.A. wasn't as hot as expected. It never felt like summer because there were nights around the 60 degree Fahrenheit. Anywhoo, It doesn't stop me from enjoying summer. Here are my top summer moments in 2010 and in no particular order.

I spent 4Th of July in Paradise Cove, Malibu with my family. My parents enjoyed the seafood extravaganza and my sisters enjoyed taking in the sun and the sea breeze. I managed to enjoy another day in Paradise Cove and walked along the beach admiring the ocean front view homes.

My annual trip to Las Vegas for my Anni. Surprisingly, Vegas was not too crowded and steaming hot. We stopped by at Peggy Sue diner because I have always wanted to go. Every time I pass around Barstow I see large statues of dinosaurs and was always curious to see the park. The food was typical burgers and shakes, but it's a unique little place. I gambled in Vegas but didn't win as always. Will you ever win in any slot machine? But I did find the most fun slot machine ever, the Sex and the City slot machine. Only a penny and you get to enjoy excerpts of some episodes and match shoes to which Sex and the City gal. So fun! It's always popular since every gal is playing it. Also with 20 bucks, you can play a good amount of time until you loose it all.

I got to participate the 2ND annual Fashion Night Out. I knew about this since last year. I went to Fred Segal to celebrate Fashion Nigh Out last year and who knew the event would blossomed to an all night extravaganza. My sister and I headed out to Rodeo Drive since we were attracted to the free Chanel manicures, a ginormous Ferris wheel and Sprinkles cupcakes. To our surprise, we stumbled to a good friend of mine Trung and his BF Luke. Ooh how fun it was as we chin chin to free champagne in all the lux stores and scored on some free nail polish.

My favorite summer moment to date was when my sis Darah and I received our certification as bonified Open Water Divers on 08/08/10. As always, we didn't know what we were getting into. It's a lot of dedication, time and perseverance. There are lots of times where we were thinking, can we possibly do this? We stuck to it, especially my sis since her nickname is "Girlie" and she is never the sporty type of gal and found enjoyment in breathing underwater. People who never dive do not know the process in diving underwater. There are lots of equipment, troubleshooting, and safety checks before jumping into the water because if these safety checks are not done, you will compromise your life. Even though it's such a high risk sport, it is an amazing adventure breathing underwater among sea life.

Summer always bring out great music and we managed to enjoy La Roux at the Nokia Club, which is a great venue I might add. The place is intimate and the sound is impressive. We also saw Kings of Leon at the Hollywood Bowl and were they badass! We saw our favorite songbird, Mieko in Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach. I luv this venue because it reminds me of the coffee houses you see in the movies. The seats are couches, and there are tables all around where you can enjoy a drink while they perform. Great acoustics too.

We spent the last day of summer in Vegas to see Phoenix at Pearl in the Palms Casino. My sis Darah and I will make an excuse to make a road trip to see a DJ, band or art exhibition. For example, we made a weekend to see Paul Oakenfold in SF and to catch the Frida Kahlo exhibit in SFMOMA a couple years back. The last day of summer, we made a trip to Las Vegas to see Phoenix. Las Vegas in the weekdays is amazing! No long lines for anything, we got upgraded to a better room with no extra cost and after the concert, out of no where we see Thomas Mars in Ghostbar. What a crazy night. The venue is pretty intimate too and our seats were not bad at all.

meiko @ borders

My sister actually introduced me to her music, which is adorable I might add. I found out that she would be at the Hollywood Borders to perform and sign her new album. So I called up a friend, enjoyed some overpriced (but delicious) tapas @ his hood, and then we were off to see Meiko. It was only Meiko, her amazing voice and skills on guitar. The show was nice and intimate. I was able to get her to signed my cd with a tribute to my sister who couldn't join along and enjoy some good music.

beirut @ the avalon

One of the cheapest shows I have been to.  Oh so good.  Performance art to start the night, and some weird cello artist, and Beirut were awesome.

picnic and pink martini

A darling little picnic in front of the heritage museum, cha cha cha music, and fireworks were good times to be had at the Hollywood Bowl with Pink Martini and the Coconut Grove. I should do these kinda things more often and make the time. I can't wait for school to be over already. Ciao!

pit tickets number two & hammer fun

Monday:

Woo hoo... Snow Patrol was awesome!  But then again, we had pit tickets.  It's an exhilarating experience when the performer is a feet away singing the songs and getting all sweaty.  I had such a great time and I should be more picky about seat selections from now on.  Well, pit tickets are rare, and it's pure luck to have the opportunity to purchase them.  It has been a good year :)  Hot Hot Heat were great live as well.  I never knew the lead singer looked so much like that curly head cheeseball from American Idol 1, Justin Gaurini.  Strange.


Uncanny resemblance!


Yah, so much skinnier in person!


Emotional singer, yes.

Today:

Summer school is over, hoot hoot!  I finally had a chance to meet up with Christi and we went to the Hammer Museum so she can get inspired in how to decorate her new place.  The statue should work fine in the living room and why yes the middle sculpture is going to be great chandelier for the dining room.  Ate some garlic fries from this cute Greek restaurant in Westwood, yum!  Of course it was such fun laughing out loud with all the "news".

hump day

Yes, Wednesday was a great day.  After taking the most nerve racking test since starting summer school, I just found out I was approved for a BOG fee waiver.  This means my education is free for a year.  I am happy since school is getting pretty expensive.  I just purchased my school uniforms for clinicals and it was almost $200.00!  I also have books to worry about.  On my list, I have at least 5 books to purchase (eeek)!  Am I really going to be needing these books?  Getting financial help is of help for me.  I sometimes get angry that other countries don't have to worry about paying for their education.  It just sucks to live in America, the land of debt! 

On a lighter note, I saw the Fray on Wednesday night and they were pretty good.  Some of the songs on the album can get sleepy, but they did a very good job adding new sounds and increasing the tempo.  They are pretty good live.  They have grown as a band and you can tell all the touring across North America has matured their sound.  Ended the night at Fred 62, which has changed a lot!  Not as many hipsters (good thing), food gone ethnic (good), annoying L.A. types (bad), and they ran out of fries (hello)!


This reminds me of Grey's...


They sang their very own country song.


How to Save a Life


Girl groupies from the audience; bitches with pit tickets!

fall out boy

The concert was alright.  There were lots of youngin's; 11 year olds with rents' and curfews galore.  The concert ended at 11pm sharp, in contrast to other shows.  My sis and I ended the night in Pasadena for the needed cocktails; mango margaritas are too sweet btw. 

Omigosh, I just finished reading the 6th book of the Harry Potter series and was shocked with the death.  My sis thinks he might come back in the last book since he is such a powerful wizard.  I disagree because D's weakness is trusting in someone even if they are well known to be with the dark side.  It was also a foreshadow since the person who killed him was the one in question of being trustworthy.  The books are amazing and have become those Harry Potter fiends who are eager to read the last book and have fallen in love with the books.  It is unfortunate that I may not be able to read the last book until next year since I will be so busy with school.  The 2nd part of this year will be challenging, but I am ready for the challenge.  I have made many sacrifices, what's a year?

i have this thing down...i think?

Last night I read the email regarding Kroq's presale for Snow Patrol on Thursday (today).  The opportunity wasn't enough for me, so I googled for the password for the fan club presale and to my surprise and luck, someone actually blogged about it and I was able to get the password.  Today, I was waiting for the Kroq screen to come up in Ticketmaster, but it never did, so I actually typed in the fan club presale and got pit tickets!  I never thought of ever having the opportunity of getting pit tickets, but if it comes your way, why not.  The Greek is a small venue, and every seat you get is pretty good anyways.  Anyways, Yay pit tickets!

I finally uploaded my pics from my trip to Italy, and damn, I took tons of pics.  To check it out, click here!

I finished Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix last week.  Since I had a long flight home, I was able to breeze through it.  Now I'm reading the 6th book and enjoying it so far.  It's intersting how much Harry has evolved in each book and how much confidence he has gained.  I can't believe I read these books in such a short time.  I was able to read so much at work because my job can be slow at times.  Most days it's slow, but other days are an adventure to get through.  Can't wait for the last book and the movie that is coming out since I just read it. :)

the killers

Nosebleed seats again at The Killers concert and a necessity to sneak into decent seats; task accomplished (hence, the center angled pics).  The concert was good since The Killers is one of my favorite bands, but the sound was on and off lousy.  It was a downer when the first song played, Sam's Town was a bit muffled.  It is a shock to have sound problems @ The Staples Center since the venue is new.  Throughout the concert they weren't able to fully fix the problem, and they also butchered When You Were Young.  They did redeem themselves by performing When You Were Young again during the encore.  Overall, it was a good concert, I mean Brandon sang well, everybody played their instrument well too.  I hope they come back and perform again in the westside.

I am half way with the 5th book of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and everything just gets complicated and more interesting.  I am enjoying this book as much as the others.  Since HBO has been free this past week, I manage to catch the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.  I was disappointed because it was inaccurate.  For example, Dobby was the one who gave Harry the gillyweed, not Longbottom and Crouch is not the head of the Ministry, it is Fudge.  The house elves were not even represented in the movie!  It is lame to change important details and write off other characters.  Nevertheless, I did like the movie because the graphics were good and the setting was just perfect of what I imagined Hogwarts to be, even a better depiction.  The actors were brilliant as well!

mat kearney & then block party

I'm currently on jury duty this week and luckily I haven't been called in.  I manage to catch 2 concerts this week (woo hoo).  Monday, I saw Mat Kearney at the HOB and was impressed with the venue.  The sound is good and I always luv intimate shows than stadium size extravaganzas.  Mat Kearney was okay; he was a bit boring on some of his songs.  I don't understand why he raps his songs.  I guess it his style, but "Nothing Left To Loose" is very different from the others.  Kearney seems to be experimenting and trying find his style.  Overall, I like the show, especially the cute guitarist/back-up vocalist Tyler.  He's a hottie!

Tuesday, I saw Bloc Party @ the Wiltern and was just amazed of how good they are.  They have great presence and got the crowd moving; everyone sang along to the songs and just had a good time.  The year is starting out well with Bloc Party and I can't freakin wait for The Killers @ the Staples Center next month.  The 2nd album Sam's Town  has some good sounds and quiet different from their 1st album Hot Fuss.  I like Hot Fuss better though.  Excited!

I finished book 3 of Harry Potter, in good time since I have been busy finishing up my applications for Moorepark College and LAVC.  The Harry Potter books are addicting; I mean I couldn't put book 3 down.  I remember back in Spain people were reading  the spanish version of  Harry Potter The Order of the Phoenix in the metro.  It was the same craziness as the Da Vinci Code, where  I saw someone reading the book at my sister's graduation.  I hope to finish the 4th Harry Potter book by early April, so I can read the 5th book on my long flight to Italy.

james blunt

I haven't been creative for some time now and I'm experiencing withdrawals.  Blogging is a good outlet to just mess with photoshop and see what I can do with pictures and such.  My social life has been on the back burner and I haven't really done anything to blog about except last night.  I went to see James Blunt concert with my sis and cousins.  James Blunt is good live and I was a bit surprised because he had been touring for most of the year and ended his tour in L.A.  No signs of his voice giving out, so he must sing with his lungs.  No doubt he is soft rock, but he can play a mean guitar (really).  Blunt sang some of his new material which were pretty good.  The only song that I thought was lame was Annie; too many rockers make songs about fugly girls and how they broke their hearts.

emotional

Saw Dashboard Confessional last night.  I thought I was fan until my experience at the concert.  There are tons of devoted fans who know every single lyric to every single song and sang along with Chris.  The energy from the crowd was memorable and so was Dashboard.  Chris sang very well and he played off the fans enthusiasm by letting them sing with him.  I would see them again.

Extraordinary Machine

I luv summer concerts, especially outside venues.  So I saw Fiona Apple sing her heart out again and her seizure like dance moves.  Also enjoyed a make shift picnic since the Greek Theatre did not allow food to be brought in the venue.  They suck!  Gelson's have the best of everything, that is why they are so darn expensive. Try the chicken curry with some french bread and camembert cheese and your golden.  I heart picnics.

a madonna confession...(forwarned pics)!

I could not miss the Confessions Tour of Madonna.  The last time I saw her was her Drowned World Tour and it was  the best concert I have gone to.  She is highly creative and innovative with her sets.  My sister and I had nosebleed seats, but due to the traffic flow of the people in the aisles, we stumbled into really good seats!  Purely accidental!  

Here are the pics...

Madonna is actually inside this disco ball!

In the beginning of the concert, she had this S&M thing going on... she

even rode a saddle during Like A Virgin and it would go around like a

Merry-go-round!

She goes back to her Catholic roots...

It is like a kaleidoscope... it is actually her face and other body parts...

The dancers would do gymnastics moves in this apparatus... and run back

and forth... it was pretty cool to watch!

Mitosis is art!  Throughout the song it was splitting and multiplying...

She does Yoga...

...and still remains sexy.

A dancer in head to toe purdah dances inside the cage... it was beautiful.

Video excerpts from Hung Up only.

I Love New York... Madonna was jammin and playing a mean guitar.

Roller skating around the stage... it was so cool because they went pretty

fast, I was sure someone would fall, but nah, the dancers were limber.

At this time, she sang her oldies.. but goody, La Isla Bonita (a fave)

Lap dances I see...

She closes with Hung Up...

Radios are sexy!

first impressions on earth

After 3 years, I finally saw them again last night.  The last concert Effy and I went was at the Palladium and we saw Drew Barrymore galavanting around the club all giddy that her boy Fabrizio rockin in drums.  We were also standing next to Paul Oakenfold, so we felt like rockstars. This time around, no Drew sighting.  There were the typical skinny boy with skinny pants and converse combo (only at The Strokes concert).  The concert last night was less intimate, but still had a really good time.  They played all the songs from the new album and most of the first one.  A few technical difficulties, but Julian managed to sing his heart out.  There a few hilarious and annoying moments at the concert.  We kept hearing this annoying girl at the back yelling Fuck Yah!! to every song.  What a weirdo!  And this chick in front of us kept smothering her boyfriend.  We felt sorry for him and his body language was "Bitch, can you just get off of me for at least a minute!"  This girl had no clue and kept smothering him the whole time.  She was also dancing like she was on speed, rythmless asian!  Anywhoo, I had a great time.  We also caught Fabrizio on the screen smoking while drumming. Such Rockstars!