An Amazingly Random Adventure!

Yesterday, as soon as I woke up, my brother asked me which places there were to eat at near by, and from the top of my head, I listed off all of the places that I could think of. He ended up choosing Carl's Jr., which was a good walk downhill from where we lived, so I quickly got myself dressed and decent enough to go out in public, and we went on our way. After we had finished eating, we thought it would be nice to go down to Cannery Row (a pretty big tourist area) and just walk around for a bit, since Carl's Jr. is SUPER close to that area. The whole day landed up turning into an epic adventure as we stopped by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, The Mirror Maze, the beach, walked around some stores, and then lastly stopped at Ghirardelli for some sundaes. xD It was pretty awesome! We have a ton of neat pictures that we took from our little outing. :3

I swear this shark was posing for the cameras...

Petting the rays!

Isn't he cute?!

Otters!

The Jellyfish Experience HAS to be one of my most favorite sections of the aquarium!

There's so many of them!

Probably one of the most fascinating creatures I've seen in the aquarium: the leafy seadragon 

The Finding Nemo cast! We did find Nemo in there, but he swam into a hole... :(

PENGUINS~!!!!

This shop was entirely dedicated to otters. Everything they sold had some sort of an otter pun. xD

Hairy Otter wall!

Inside the Mirror Maze

Inside the Laser Maze....

At the beach!

There really are a ton of different beaches here in Monterey.... I've been to about four so far.

You can see me enjoying my brownie sundae.... xD With as bad as I've been eating this whole week, I'm amazed I've only gained back one pound.

We had so much fun! Seeing all of the different types of sea life is so incredible, and even though I've been to the aquarium a couple of times before, I still become so fascinated seeing all of the different creatures there. I was so happy that I've finally been able to go to the Mirror Maze, too! I've always wanted to try it out because one of my friends had said such good things about it before. It really is challenging with the kaleidoscope glasses they give you (it really messes with your vision, making it look like there's four of everything). My brother and I managed to make it out still, though. At one point, we both decided to try going through it at opposite ends at once (I went through the exit, he took the main entrance) and we met somewhere at the middle, and he shouted "Desirae, where are you?!" even though I was standing right in front of him! He thought that he was looking at a reflection of me. The laser maze was pretty intense, too. The objective of that one was to hit the two buttons in the room while trying to avoid touching the lasers. There's also different difficulty settings you can choose from. I tried it both on easy and medium, and oddly enough, I did so much better on medium than on easy. O.O

 The worst part of our little excursion was definitely the walk back to the house... Nothing but uphill.... @_@ Still, it was well worth it. :D It was a shame that my hubby couldn't join us (he was at work), but I brought him back a Toll House Button Brownie (a frosted brownie with a Toll House cookie on top of it) to enjoy. :) I think he and I will have to do these things together before we have to leave Monterey. I'm sure he'd really like it. ^_^ I can definitely imagine him getting mad at the laser maze... It makes me crack up thinking about it! Lols!

A Cute Surprise!

My husband and brother came in earlier today, and not only had my husband come back with coconut and red velvet cupcakes for me (my favorites!) but he also decided he would surprise me with the cutest computer mouse I have ever seen! xD It's a Hello Kitty one that's all pink (the shades of pink on it match my laptop perfectly!) and it has liquid in it with a little Hello Kitty charm floating in it (it looks a bit wonky, honestly, but adorable nonetheless). Also, when it's plugged in, different colored lights started to flash from it. :O I really love it! ^.^ I don't care if it was meant for kids (it said so on the box), I will never outgrow Hello Kitty. :3 My husband said he found it at Best Buy and that he just had to get it for me. <3 Take a look!

Not plugged in

My husband's holding it so I could take a picture

Next to my laptop

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I feel horrible for not blogging in the past few days, but I've been so busy with everything lately~! @_@ It's overwhelming, but on the other hand, it's better than doing absolutely nothing all day. There's no time for me to get bored, that's for sure. We've been doing even more preparations for moving to Japan (we were going to Akizuki, but some problems came up that we had to get fixed, and now we'll be going to Yokota, which is only an hour away from Tokyo!!!! x3). There's still much that needs to be done, too. I still need to get my passport (which should be taken care of this week), and we need to make sure that all our pets are able to come along with us, and if not, we need to plan out and see if one of our family members would be willing to take care of them until we return (we definitely do not want to give any of them up if possible), and I think I still need to get a couple of more vaccinations... I can't remember anymore. :P It seems to become more and more hectic as we get closer to our leave date, and everything is starting to blur together.

Aside from all of the preparations for Japan, my brother has been here (he doesn't leave until June 8th) and we've just been doing a lot of spending time together. My husband, brother, and I had been staying the night at my mom's place during most of the weekend. She wanted us over there because she was planning a "surprise" birthday party for me on Saturday (surprise is in quotes because I knew about it a couple of weeks ahead of time) since she and I weren't able to get together on the day of my actual birthday. xD There was SO much delicious food that I had to forget about my diet for that day and made a piggy of myself. Lols! All the hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, pulled pork and cornbread were just too amazing to pass up. The best part is that we still have some leftovers!!! So I'll be able to enjoy all of that food some more, but in moderation this time.

So yeah, that's pretty much what I've been up to lately. I'll be back to posting more often again soon, for those of you who like my rambling. Have a nice Memorial Day Weekend everyone!

Gladiator Izanami no Mikoto!

I've finally made it to level 22!!! I'm really exhausted.... I've been grinding and doing quests like crazy. Izanami's becoming really cool! ^.^ She's really strong, and ever since I traded in my great sword for a polearm, killing enemies has become a lot easier! (Thank you, brother, for telling me to switch out!) She attacks much faster now, and it just fascinates me. Lols! There's still so much about Aion that I need to learn! I'm still so... noob-ish. xD Again, I have to thank my brother for helping me out. Also, I'm so glad that I finally got rid of my Restless armor set.... I thought it was hideous. xP I'm much happier with my Revenge set. :D I had to take screen shots of Izanami because I think she looks really good in it! Don't you agree? I think it sort of screams Xena: Warrior Princess.

Time To Bake~!

Tomorrow, I'm going to go to a potluck brunch. ^_^ It's for my husband's boss's going away party, and everyone is invited, so I'm making two Italian almond tarts! ^.^ It's a very rich pastry, and so far everyone who has tried it loves it (thank you Williams-Sonoma!). I don't use the recipe often, but I really like making it for special occasions. I'll admit it, when it comes to cooking and baking, I love to show off, and usually this tart impresses people. :3

If anyone would like to try it out, here is the recipe! Here's the one for the dough, too. ^_^ I suggest using almond extract in place of vanilla in the dough to make it more sweet! I also add a bit to the tart filling, too. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do! :D

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

I'm so so SO happy that volumes one and two of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon had come in yesterday! As soon as they came in, I ripped open the box right away and I couldn't help but admire the cover art on each one. It's just so pretty! Lols! xD I have to say that I think the second volume's cover is my favorite of the two, which is odd for me since usually I would choose whatever has pink on it over anything else. :P But I really love how elegant Mercury looks on there and I think the water in the background looks, too.

 I haven't read the manga before, so I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out. So far I've finished reading the first one, and it started off pretty similar to the anime at first, and then it became way different! Some of the encounters that  Usagi had when meeting some of the other sailor senshi for the first time had been altered quite a bit in the anime. Also, Usagi doesn't appear to be nearly as cowardly or as much of a crybaby in the manga. She seems to be a bit more brave and more willing to investigate things, and she also doesn't seem to refuse her role as leader like she does in the anime. 

The manga also goes along a whole lot faster compared to the anime. There aren't so many in-between chapters or fillers and all of the sailor scouts have all pretty much been assembled aside from Sailor Venus in the first volume. Two of Queen Beryl's henchmen have also pretty much been killed off already, and don't have much of a story behind them, nor were they really given much personality.. It is kind of a fresh new take for me on the series. ^_^ I really enjoy it. :D It's fun spotting all of the differences! I can't wait to read the rest!

Style Obsession: Roses

I've been so drawn to just about anything with roses lately! After I had received my satin rose brooch as a gift for my birthday, I've been wanting more rose accessories and such. I didn't realize this much until I was looking for a charm bracelet so I could check it off of my Spring-Summer Fashion Wishlist (which also includes a rose ring and rose hair clips in it), and had come across this lovely little gem on etsy (love that site for accessories!):

Can be found here

Not only that, but while looking at chokers, all the ones that got my attention were ones with roses on them. Go figure. :P

This reminds me a bit of the choker Agnes wears in Barajou no Kiss! xD

Rose choker with metal charms

Then there's this dress I found from Forever21.....

This dress paired with my crochet shrug and a brown belt would look so cute!

AND these shoes

These Are sooo cute!

There is a definite and obvious theme here.....

Mairunovich

Today, I've come across this manga called Mairunovich online! There's only eight chapters of it out so far, but it's good and I'm hooked on it! It's about a sixteen year old girl named Mairu. Her peers constantly make fun of her because she has a cute name and her appearance doesn't match it. The guys in her school either laugh at her, are repulsed by her, or just ignore her completely. Everyone at her school even call her "Poisonous Mushroom". Eventually, she decides that she wants to change and become pretty. With the help of her two friends, she achieves her goal! ^_^


The story isn't very original, and it in some way it reminds me a bit of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge (AKA The Wallflower), but I still love stories like this. I find that I could really relate to characters like Mairu. Back in middle school, guys were the exact same way toward me, and even used to dare each other to hit on me and then laugh about it. They also used to throw markers, erasers, and balls of paper at me during class and made fun of whatever I said. I was called ugly and a freak. I wanted to become pretty, too. I know there are things that are much more important than beauty, but still... I was tired of being bullied and made fun of all the time because of the way I looked, and I wanted it to stop. Because of that, I could really feel for Mairu and landed up cheering for her the entire time I was reading! xD

If you're interested in checking it out,  you can read it here! It's actually a really funny read, and very cute, too. I've already recommended it to a couple of my friends, and they seem to really like it a lot, too! :3 I hope that this manga gets translated and published out here, eventually. I'd buy it in a heartbeat! Lols!

Aion

I'm not really all that into MMOs due to the fact that I really do not like playing games that will force me to communicate with other people, but my older brother had talked me into playing Aion again. At first, I was reluctant to start playing again, but he informed me that you don't have to pay for it anymore! :D Annnd now you can get a house and decorate it, too! Those were good enough reasons to get me back in. xD I decided I would start from the very beginning, and this time I'm an Asmodian (I was an Elyos before). I made two characters: a priest and a warrior. I'm using the warrior (Izanami no Mikoto) as my main. I turned her into a gladiator because... well... I LOVE having brute strength. xD There's something totally cool about carrying around a sword (well, I chose a great sword, but there are other weapons to choose from, too) and hacking and slashing the heck out of your enemies. It's great! I think I like the warrior class better than being a spirit master (the class I was when I originally started playing Aion). The ability to summon spirits was pretty awesome and all, as well as being able to use magic, but I prefer just running up and killing things. Keep it simple, you know?

Having a priest is nice too, in a way. I just don't like how they don't have many offensive skills. Ume-Chan (my priest) has mainly healing skills and buffs and only one offensive spell and one attack skill so far. I suppose that's to be expected though. It is nice that I can heal whenever I'd like. That's really useful. With Izanami, once her health gets really low, I have to flee from battle (though she has pretty high defense an doesn't take too much damage), but not so much with Ume-Chan. The thing I mainly have to look out for is her MP, but so far her magic doesn't use up too much of it, so I don't have to worry about that much.  I still prefer my warrior overall.

Also, I had forgotten what a beautifully designed game Aion was. The scenery is just so nice, and so are the character designs. Honestly, making a character is enjoyable in itself. There are so many things you can do to tweak your character's appearance and make them unique from others. There's an array of hairstyles, tattoos, markings, faces, and color selections to choose from! ^.^ In my opinion, it is soooo much better than building a character in WoW (yes, I played WoW for a bit on behalf of my hubby's request. Didn't care for it much, so I never got past level 6). It just seemed so... limited with the choices it provided, and everyone looked pretty much the same to me. @_@

Here are a few screen shots I took of  each of my characters (they're both still so low-leveled... ^^;):

Izanami no Mikoto, my warrior

That's my brother's character right behind me. He has a harlequin costume  on. xD

My priest, Ume-Chan

Changed her armor. ^.^

Hehe! I think she's so pretty!

That's about it! May Aion protect you... Lols!

I'm Officially 21

Today is my birthday! My husband and I actually celebrated it on Saturday, but now it's official... I'm 21. Everyone says I should go out drinking and clubbing now, but I don't really want to. I don't really think I'd fit in much at a club since I'm more reserved and keep to myself, and as far as drinking goes, I don't really like the taste of most alcohol. I only ever drank champagne or wine coolers on special occasions. I don't like drinking anything else. In my opinion, doing all of that doesn't really sound like much fun to me at all. I'm happier with the idea of going out shopping, eating out at a nice restaurant, going somewhere where I can run around or do something I've never done before, and simply spending time with my entire family. ^_^ I would even prefer playing video games inside all day over going to a club. :P

I must sound a bit strange for someone in their 20s... ^^; Even most of my friends had been going to clubs and partying ever since they had turned 18. Then again, most of my friends have always been the outgoing type, so maybe that's why they enjoy it so much. Most people say that the best part of going out to a club is dancing and socializing, and I'm not to great at either. xD In fact, I think I'm downright awkward whenever I talk to people or dance. v_v; Maybe I should work on those skills a bit more. :P While I don't want to go clubbing, being able to talk with others comfortably and being able to dance can be pretty useful...

Anyways, I plan on enjoying today in my own way. ^.^ It's not likely that I'll be able to go out today, but there's still a lot of things I can do at home. :3 Off I go~! I hope everyone has a beautiful day!

Meet Our New Guinea Pig!

Today my husband and I went to Pet Co to buy a new collar for Blair, since she destroyed her old one. We landed up getting distracted by the guinea pigs there, and we spotted this cutie! <3 As soon as I saw him, I thought he'd look really cute with our guinea pig Cocoa, whose sweetheart, Chip, had passed away a month ago, and we just had to have him. His name is Marshmellow (Mello for short)! I'm so glad that he and Cocoa seem to be getting along well. ^.^ I felt so sorry for her because she just seemed so lonely to me. I thought she would be happy to have some company again. ^_^ 

We hope that Marshmellow will be happy living here with us and will get along with all the other piggies, too! We already love him very much! <3 

Yo! Say! Ho!

All I have to say is, if there is ANY reason at all to play Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations, it's this guy:

The Rapping Fool Killer Bee! Awwwww yeah~! He's the best part of playing through the game. xD

He's Coming Home~!

My hubby is going to be back home in just a few hours~! ^_^ I've been spending most of the day cleaning the house, getting dolled up, and cooking. @_@ It's such tiring work! I'm still not done, too. Right now I'm working on baking a cake to celebrate and to welcome him back home. :3 I want to make sure that he's really happy to be back and that tonight will go perfectly. ^.^

Hehe~! In a way, it almost feels like he and I are dating again right now. I remember how I would do everything I could to look my best, make sure I had everything ready, and waiting at home anxiously for him to come and pick me up. I seem to be doing the exact same thing at this moment. xD It's kind of exciting, to be honest. :) It's been awhile since I've been this eager just to see him... I've missed him so much.... I've decided that as soon as he steps through the door, I'm going to slather him in kisses! Lols!

Anyways, I really should get back to the preparations now.  I can go on and on about how elated I am over the fact that he'll be here shortly and how much I love and miss him, but I'll spare you readers the torture. :P Bye bye~!

<3

Ball and Chain...?

I love being married, I really do. What I can't stand though is when people refer to me as my husband's ball and chain right in front of me. -_- I think that's extremely rude... Not only is it offensive to me, but it really offends my husband, too. He really hates it when people say things like that, because he feels that I'm anything but a ball and chain. I don't weigh him down or keep him from going out with friends or having fun, or try to control him in any way. Doing that would just send a marriage crashing and burning into a pit of unhappiness, and who wants that? I know I don't. :P 

Unfortunately, there are people who believe that it is inevitable for a woman to become mad and self-centered as soon as they get married. I can't tell you how many times my husband's friends had "warned" him and told him that he better think twice about getting married once we had gotten engaged. They told him that I may seem all sweet and amazing to him at the time being, but once we get married, I'd be different... They said he could kiss his freedom goodbye and that he would land up miserable and that eventually, I might land up either cheating on him or leaving him for someone else. They had said not to trust the things I say. Hearing that (yes, they said this while I was in earshot) really hurt. 

I know I probably shouldn't have let it get to me, because I know that I've been nothing but my true self ever since my husband and I had first met. I was never a crazy lady (well... okay, maybe a little bit. I'm a fun kind of crazy though... :P) who yells and throws fits over nothing and complains about everything, nor did I ever feel the need to ever boss anyone around. As for the cheating/finding someone else part, that just completely goes against my moral code.  xP The woman who they said I would become is not in the least bit like me, and I would never want to be her. Even now, they say to just give it more time, and it'll happen... I'm just glad my husband had never believed them and knows me well enough to be able to see that I'm not going to change.

Still, I wonder where people even get these ideas about marriage from? Thinking that way is really unfair to all of the wonderful women and loving wives out there. Even if they had encountered one woman who was like that, it doesn't mean that we all are going to be that way. It's a real shame that so many people have such a negative outlook on marriage and horrible expectations from wives and soon-to-be wives... I just wish that horrible stereotype would just go away... It gets really annoying hearing about it over and over again. :/

Crazy About...Socks?

Lately, I've been really into socks. Not gym socks or ankle socks or anything like that, but thigh high socks. ^.^ I've been wanting some so badly and they seem to be in everywhere right now! They come in such unique and interesting designs! x3 I have my eye on a few pairs that I found at sockdreams.com and socktheory.com at the moment.... Here are my favorite ones that I saw:

I think that these would be so much fun to wear! I have a feeling my hubby wouldn't mind seeing them on me, either. ;) Lols! Something about thigh high socks are really sexy, or so I've been told. Some of my male friends had said so before, but they didn't really explain why they thought so. :P To me, they're more like cute accessories that can make an outfit stand out. What's your opinion on them?

A New Look!

I got bored and decided to change the layout of my blog~! ^_^ I think it's really cute now! Lols! Though, I thought the old layout was cute, too... ^^; I just get tired of looking at the same thing over and over again. I like to change things up! It's more fun that way, I think. I've been wondering about maybe changing the layout once a month on here.... I don't know. It's just an idea for now. Honestly, I think the most annoying part of changing a layout is making a nice looking header/title thingy... I mean, I'm not great at it at all, and I use basic online editing tools to create mine, but still.... I put a lot of work into them. >.<; Lols!


I wonder if I should try to get better software to make my own backgrounds and such... It might look nicer if it was 100% customized by me... I need to look into that, I suppose. I'll have to learn how to do something like that too, since I am really bad with working a computer.... v_v; The most I can do is go online, download things, and a bunch of other basic stuff... Sad, huh? :P

My Female Celebrity Crushes xD

Even though I'm a straight girl, I can't help but admire some of the female celebrities out there. ^.^ So here are my top 5 (no specific order)!

1. Sofia Vergara

This woman is insanely gorgeous! What's even more amazing to me is how well she has aged! She definitely does not look like she's in her 40s at all! I would be happy if I could look half as good as she does when I reach my fourth decade... xD Aside from her looks, she's also really funny. ^.^ Every time she shouts in Modern Family, I can't help but laugh~! She just becomes so animated and crazy... I love it! I also like how she can poke fun at herself. I remember reading somewhere that she sometimes makes her accent stronger than it really is for the sake of a joke. I think that the fact that she can do that makes her all the more attractive. ^_^


2. Catherine Zeta-Jones

Yet another more mature, gorgeous woman! I've loved Catherine since I was a kid. When I saw her in The Mask of Zorro, I was in awe of her beauty and I wished that I could look like her. Needless to say, her looks haven't faded a bit! She's every bit as lovely as she was back then! Also, I've always thought she was a great actress. I really loved all of the movies I've seen with her in them. :)


3. Taylor Swift

Taylor is so pretty, cute, and talented. :3 I love her music and I like listening to her sing! Another thing that I  love about her is that she dresses elegantly instead of showing off everything she has like most stars tend to do. That's pretty rare and it really makes her stand out from the rest. She also seems like a normal and real girl, and that adds to her appeal. She also has inner beauty to match her pretty looks. She truly is a sweet and down to earth person, and if I had the chance to hang out with her, I happily would!


4.  Ayumi Hamasaki

I've been a long time fan of Ayumi. x3 I love everything about her! I've always envied how well she could pull off long or short hair and still look utterly fabulous! I also really enjoy her sense of style, as well. Also, when listening to her sing, I love how there's feeling and power behind her voice. She's really incredible, and I have to say there's not one song from her I don't like. Another thing that I really admire about her is that she always stays true to who she is, and never tries to be anyone else but her. Because of that, I look up to her. :D


5.  Rachel McAdams

What I like best about Rachel is how she can play various different roles so well. She is excellent at playing a mean girl, but does equally as well at playing the romantic type. She really gives her all in each role she plays, and she's passionate about them. Not only that, but she's intelligent, too! With all of that plus her beauty, she really does seem to have it all!