hey all!

how was your long weekend? mine was super awesome and restful – and i am so glad i’m going back to school already – i know i said i am a little tired of the routine, but i actually miss it after only a few days! and i’m so glad i’m back to school!

you guys all know i am a foodie…

and if you follow my instagram you definitely know that i love food.

since i’m an angeleno, (for those of you who don’t know that’s a resident of los angeles) and i’m broadly angeleno because i live close enough to the city itself – if y’all know where pasadena is, you know what i’m talking about! i have decided to start an LA travel guide – you should check out my link in my upper menu to see some posts coming soon.

anyway… why not get started! in no specific order!

if you’d die for homemade pasta with fresh bolognese made by a man who is literally from bologna then go to…

rossoblu

 

i HIGHLY suggest the bolognese – its ah-ma-zing and literally their fresh pasta is TRULY bomb af! the atmosphere is super cool – but if you have a birthday or event – or if you wanna go you MUST make a reservation in advance!

if cheap – and amazing street tacos with some of the best horchata ever then go to 

guisados

my favorite tacos are the calabacitas with is the most amazing veggie taco, the frijoles con queso taco and the green chili tamale! also – order the horchata with cold brew – you won’t regret it!

for delicious – and beautiful baked goods, make a trip down to

mr. holmes bakehouse

my favorite item is the matcha croissant – which is a regular croissant which is covered in a little matcha green tea chocolate glaze! which is so good and not too *cloying* which is great!

 if you would love to try some amazing asian fusion food, with the coolest atmosphere who are very diet accommodating then try out 

little sister

i love the spring rolls – they were so amazing – tasty and have NO GLUTEN! i also loved the spicy lemongrass fried chicke which was also gluten free! basically little sister was a HUGE win for me!

if you are in the mood for amazing pastrami and perfect new york style bagels then go to 

wexler’s deli

i love their everything bagels with cream cheese, they totally remind me of my favorite new york bagels from ess-a-bagel!

if you are looking for some pretty good food with an amazing atmosphere, and beautiful photo taking opportunities then try out 

bottega louie

my favorite items are the burrata pizza with prosciutto and i also love the beignets with the AMAZING raspberry preserves and just the restaurant is SO pretty!

if you love dumplings – have never tried them ever and are looking for a great place, go to 

din tai fung

my favorite things from din tai are the pork xiao long bao, the noodles with spicy sauce and their sauteed green beans (which are truly magical)!

if you find yourself in the pasadena area and want to try a really cute and tasty cafe try out 

lincoln

i love the daily quiches that they make. my favorite has been the ham and jalepeno quiche! they also have AMAZING pretzel rolls – i can’t leave lincoln without buying one for myself.

if you are a burger fan (and i know this may be an unpopular choice) then try out 

shake shack

(sorry to all of you in-n-out fans, but i just like shake shack better!) i order an order of fries and the ‘smokeshack’ burger which has bacon and cheese on it!

if you end up farther out of the road in malibu, check out 

malibu farm 

malibu farm is so aesthetically pleasing! you seriously can’t go wrong with their fresh juices and the sweet corn pancakes in the morning.

if you find yourself in the mood for ramen noodles then try out

ramen tatsunoya

i LOVE ramen and always always opt for the spicy tonkotsu ramen with the pork broth! its so tasty – especially if you love spicy like i do!

this isn’t even including coffee shops or ice cream – which i will be posting about later!

i hope you guys enjoy my recommendations and tell me if you try any of them out – and if you have any suggestions for me to try, check them out!

xoxo

(aka kate wins!)

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hey all!

happy september!

i am so so so excited for what is to come this month – and i am so ready for october to come – not like i want this month to pass by so fast because that means i would be in deep doo-doo but like hey i am excited for my october!

so before i get too far ahead of myself, here’s the list of things i am looking forward to in september!

lets go!

1. HAMILTON : yes this month i am fortunate enough to see hamilton in LA! pictures and write up to come!
2. getting to see off one of my best friends going to new york : my friend is leaving to dance for the joffrey ballet – and even though i am gonna miss her so much, i am so so proud of her!
3. continuing my golf season : golf has come out to be interesting thus far and i am sure it will be more interesting for the rest of the season too.
4. my senior art show : its CRAZY that i am a senior and i pulled out all of my artwork from four years and just looked at it, and let me tell you it was so interesting! i am so excited to share pictures with you guys later.
5. starting college apps : yes i am sorta excited. i can’t even truly explain my excitement / nervousness.
6. seeing / feeling cooler weather : i don’t know if any of you know, but its been like 100 degrees every day in california this week, so i am really excited for california to cool down because i am really not all about this heat!

i hope y’all enjoy! what are you looking forward to in september, comment down below so i can hear!

xoxo

(aka kate wins!)

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hey all!

how was your august? mine was great – and felt REALLY LONG! i was looking through the photos on my phone and i absolutely couldn’t believe how long it actually was – like i did SO much! and today is the last day! i mean it was summer – and today is my 4th day of senior year – and even though it was long – the days are moving too fast and even though i am back into the routine i am kinda done with it. i mean like wakeup – school – golf – (errands and stuff i need) – cooking dinner – homework – sleep. is it bad that i am already bored? ugh well i might as well get to this month!

since august still had summer i did some pasadena exploring!

i did a little photoshoot at city hall with my sister and i visited the art center wall in pasadena to take some pictures and prepare for my surprise in october!

i started to go back to school

i did an entire back to school series – i did a special senior year “whats in my backpack post” as well as a picture and my first thoughts of my senior year!

summer is for ice cream okay?

i tried both wanderlust ice cream and magpies softserve for the first time and opted for some amazing dairy free flavors at both (“i love LA” at wanderlust and root beer at magpies)! lactose intolerant for the win! i also visited jeni’s again and mcconnells to eat my bodyweight in churros con leche and intelligentsia black cat espresso!

i started up with golf again.

it felt really good to get back into game play which i hadn’t done in a VERY long time – but i absolutely love my team and my fellow senior and all of the new teammates!

that was my august!

how was yours?

thanks for reading! xoxo!

(aka kate wins!)

 

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GUYS

i’m a senior 

i honestly can’t even believe it myself! it’s such an awesome feeling but i know that this year will kick my butt over and over again but i truly can’t believe it! 

my first day was okay but i burnt my hands on the wheel of my car yesterday afternoon so that was a great thing – and it’s like 100 degrees in california so i don’t even want to deal with the heat! 

but anyway! 

i hope you enjoy and tell me how your first day went! 

xoxo

kate wins 

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hey all!

i hope you enjoyed my to-do list that i was able to share with you this last thursday. in between then and now i have been able to get things done which is great and i would like to say i am officially ready to be a senior tomorrow – school supply! since i got all of my school supplies ready this weekend – and checked off my to – do list i am ready to share with you guys whats in my backpack!

first of all, my backpack!

this year i opted for a jansport superbreak pack in mist pink! i usually opt for a l.l.bean monogram backpack, but this year i really wanted to switch it up! because i still wanted my monogram on my backpack i picked up the adorable pink circle monogram iron-on patch on my backpack from the etsy shop louise and lloyd.

next, what’s in my pack.

i of course, have to include my bullet journal. i have a leuchtturm1917 medium size dotted notebook in azure   and i put my macarons and must haves ampersand sticker on the front!

for my notebooks i typically opt for the five star notebooks like my one above for calculus. i also love binders and typically opt for these ones from target and decorate the outside with a gold metallic sharpie paint pen.

i am a pen obsessed person – as i have mentioned time and time again i just love my pens. this year i picked up a new pencil case, i have this adorable packed party pencil case with glitter inside it. this pencil case makes me feel very happy and excited! some of my favorite pens to keep in my pencil case are my muji pens,   mildliner highligthers and stabilo pens.

other things i keep in my backpack:

i keep a small wallet with a little bit of change in case i need it.

i keep a “minimergency kit” with deodorant, nail polish remover, pain reliever, dental floss and many more other items!

i keep a pair of headphones – there are a ton of uses for these at school especially considering my two free blocks.

i keep my computer and its charger because in almost every class we use technology!

i keep my phone charger because sometimes its best just to be safe!

i hope you enjoy! tell me whats in your backpack!

xoxo

(aka kate wins!)

 

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hey all!

how have you been? i know that a lot of people and even some of my friends have already headed back to school, whether that is college or high school it has seemed to spring up on them and in order to keep up with my back to school schedule i have kept detailed to – do lists with all of the stuff that i have left to do before i get to school so that i am not blindsided by how fast it goes!

so here we go!

1.  finish putting together your school supplies : this means labelling every notebook and binder for my classes and putting together binder tabs as well as typing out and using the label maker.
2. finish your summer homework : yeah i said it, no explaination here.
3. put together your uniform : i am pretty sure you all know, but i wear an uniform for my high school so i need to get that together. i have socks i need in a certain length, shoes in a certain color, and i need to get together my skirt, blazer and blouse.
4. pack your backpack : i have always been that girl with the little first aid kit in my backpack because there is never a time where i could possibly not need a band-aid (y’all i am clumsy as heck – and i love to craft and i find myself getting more paper cuts then humanly possible). i like to put this minimergency kit in my bag, as well as my keys and a small wallet just in case (and i am IN LOVE with this “hair emergency kit”) !
5. plan out my new month in my BUJO : because i start school on august 28th, august is basically over so that means that it is about time to start another month. i like to also do like theme pages, so like back to school like my schedule – etc other stuff which i will show y’all on my instagram feed.
6. put together my 2017-2018 playlist : for every school year i have created a spotify playlist so i have to put together my playlist for my senior year! i also have to put together my golf playlist which is gonna be so much fun listening to while golfing and driving to golf!

thats pretty much it for right now! thanks all!

(aka kate wins!)

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hey all!

its kate – and i am back with another “kate’s korner” which if you didn’t know (or read my previous article on body positivity) is my new kinda “getting personal” series – and today i really wanted to share a little about going back to school.

i have always loved going back to school. i mean, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE SUMMER – and for awhile it was my second favorite season (behind spring because my birthday is in spring) and i never quite want summer to end. but there is something special about going back to school, and more than new pens and notebooks (although that too is a reason for my love of the back to school season – side note, i used to look through the weekly ads checking the prices of all of the school supplies – i basically have always been a school supply and stationery JUNKIE since i was eight!).

back to school is always something i have held onto. you know, for me at least summer is kinda boring unless you are out of the house everyday doing something different and in school everyday (monday – friday that is) you get out and there are new things to talk and think about.

something changed when i went to high school, something has been different since then. but now for sure, nothing makes me more excited than walking in to campus. like there truly is something about a coming into a school that i love and picked.

also just a side note, i am totally freaked about senior year!! any other seniors out there feeling the same?

thanks for reading!

xoxo

 

 

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hey all!

its so odd because i am a fashion blogger but here a truth : i wear uniforms at school, and i actually LOVE wearing them. you would think you don’t have very much freedom, however we actually kinda do! we are allowed to pick shoes and other accessories. i don’t know about you but i have just been loving sneakers recently – so i just had to put together a list of my favorite school shoes!

again, just as a note to all my readers – ‘favorites’ does not mean i own any of the above (unless noted) all that i will write about is stuff i hear from friends and other users of the product as well as the visual aspects of the product which i will mention in the comment below!

1. jack purcell converse : i had a pair of baby blue jack purcell converse for a long time – and actually just got rid of them because they were old and ripped but i had a few great years of use – and i loved them so much! although i loved my baby blue purcells, i put on my list the white ones because i love them too!
2. classic black converse : okay i mean these are classics. they are just the perfect base level shoe. i wore converse for like 3-4 years in like middle school – and i loved them so much, however, have kinda stopped wearing them because i am a little burned out after 3 years!
3. classic black and white nike cortez : okay, so if you follow my instagram, you know that these are my new faves. i have the red ‘swoosh’ cortez and i am ABSOLUTELY in love. they are sooo classic and have a perfect look and feeling. the black and white truly goes with more than the red ones!
4. nike lunarepic flyknit : these are my new more athletic nikes that i am trying out. i have walked around in them and do truly like them alot. they also just look really cool – i mean have i mentioned how much i like sneakers!
5. nike free RN running shoe : i just really love how classic and athletic these look and i have heard from so many people that these shoes are really amazing!
6. nike lunarepic rose gold and cream : these were on the nordstrom anniversary sale – so i just had to pick them up! i mean who can REALLy resist rose gold and cream! even the aglets on the tips of shoelaces are rose gold!!
7. gold metallic nike cortez : the only thing better than nike cortez, is metallic gold nike cortez! enough said.
8. classic navy blue stan smith adidas : i like stan smiths because i have REALLY narrow feet – and adidas are pretty wide, but the stan smiths are perfectly narrow for me!
9. nike roshe two sneaker in grey : i have black roshe ones from two years ago because i have not changed shoe sizes in 7 years – i think my feet are done growing at this point – but i love my roshe shoes – they really are amazing.

i hope you like my shoe picks!

xoxo

(aka kate wins!)

 

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hey all!

meal preps are amazing to do in weekends. you make bulk and keep during the week y family likes to grill chicken in the weekend so we can have it in chicken tacos

for snacks!

#1: meal prep deli boxes via miss molly vintage 

these can really either be snacks or lunch, but these are a great idea because they are easily personalizable! personally i would bring mary’s gluten free crackers with a laughing cow chese with pepperoni, some baby carrots and dried apricot with a lacroix water!

#2: no bake trail mix energy bites via fake ginger

these look so good – and they are actually a bit indulgent with the m&ms and the chocolate chips. they are just like trail mix except they have peanut butter so you can basically use the template and add as you please!

#3: homemade granola bars via minimalist baker

i don’t know about you guys, but i am not very hungry at 7 when i leave my house. however, i am very hungry around 9 – its super odd but all of my teachers let me eat in their classes. i love granola bars like these ones above when i eat my late breakfast in class!

#4: healthy grab and go snack jars via the butter half

i love this idea, you can pick and chose whoich snacks to go together! i love the idea of peanut butter, pretszels and carrots! its so ood but i actually love peanut butter with carrots and think it would be a superb snack!

#5: chocolate sea salt almonds via sally’s baking addiction

okay, so these might not be the healthiest thing on here – but sometimes you do need a little bit of chocolate in your life! these look AMAZING – and are probably much cheaper than the ones you would buy at the store!

#6: energy boosting trail mix via kristine’s kitchen

okay, so who here loves trader joes trail mix. *slightly raising hand behind keyboard at the moment* but that stuff is actually pretty expensive, and the raw ingredients themselves are not really too expensive! its also better for you – and no additives!

for lunch!

#1: meal prep one pan teriyaki chicken via life made sweeter

this is an awesome meal, filled with protein and seems pretty straightforward and well rounded. easy to make via one pan in the oven and can be paired and easily microwaved once you are at school or work.

#2: gluten free pasta salad with grilled veggies via barilla

i love grilled veggies and i have to admit, barilla makes some pretty amazing gkuten free pasta! of course you guys can make this pasta with or without gluten – whether or not you perfer to eat it!

#3: kung pao chicken with zoodles via life made sweeter

this looks SO BOMB! as a gluten sensitive person, zoodles are a total go-to, i mean they are so much better for you than the flour! whenever i go to chinese food, kung pao is my go to order, so this will be PERFECT for whenever i feel those takeout cravings so i can have something a little healthier!

#4: taco pop tarts via babble

these kinda sound disgusting – but they actually look amazing! i mean its just like a taco inside a ie dough shell! its not supposed to be sweet at all – and as long if you don’t pull a rachel from friends and put meat in your trifle you will be good!

#5: meal prep beef with broccoli via life made sweeter

this looks so good – and is another meal prep recipe! i am a total fan of chinese food takeout – so i absolutely love the idea of these chinese food recipes from life made sweeter!

#6: meal prep carnitas burrito bowls via fit foodie finds

i am also a mexican food fiend, and i just love the idea of real food for meals – instead of just sandwiches – which i am not a huge fan of!

i hope you enjoy! and tell me how you enjoy these recipes!

xoxo

(aka kate wins!)

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