dry.bar

i actually discovered this trendy place from a post of Emma Roberts leaving the dry bar @ thevoguediaries. so i did a little research & found their website right away. 

the website is adorable & you can make appointments online. it was so simple, i thought i did something wrong. at any rate, since my hair has been in rehab & i refuse to let anyone cut off any more legnth until it grows, i decided to treat myself with a simple wash & blow dry.

everyone that worked there was really nice & knew what they were doing. you can do a simple blow out to a full on updo or spiral curls. & they greet you with your choice of H20, champagne, or wine.

I will definitely go back before a special night (or when i'm too lazy to do my own hair) check it @ www.thedrybar.com

sneaky sneaky

i already mentioned that my best friends surprised me this past weekend for my birthday. this is me opening the door to the really cool minivan they gave my dad as a rental... i was about to hop back in my car, but my padre told me to look in the backseat to see who happened to be on his flight.

 if only there was a picture of my face. i was so confused/thrilled/happy/...confused. my parents definitely pulled a fast one on me. props to my mom for being able to hold in her excitement when she was with me the days prior to this... she has a hard time keeping these things to herself plus she had to make up random lies... i.e. her response to "why are we going to pick up dad if he got a rental car?"

once i wrapped my head around the fact that these two lil beezys were actually in LA, they got in my car, we headed to my place, & after by the time we got to my apartment, having them here felt normal and as if time stood still as we picked up right where we left off.

the deal with all my best friends are that they all live across country scattered in different states. Hannah lives in Tennessee, which is where I am from so we manage to see each other more often then some of my other bests. we got to spend a lot of time together when i went home this past December. i stayed in Nashville for 3 months and during that time we were pretty much attached until she had to go back to school in Knoxville. clearly, i had to follow her there for a weekend visit before i jetted back to Cali.

& then there's Savannah (who is going to kill me for posting this picture) she has an ELF ear situation going on. hahaha sorry i'm not sorry... i met Savannah at the North Carolina School of Arts. we were the only normal 2 people @ that summer program, & luckily we were roommates. i knew i had met my match when we bonded over abnormal interests. i.e. yelling random names at strangers, lurking around campus wearing matching outfits (jean jackets included), lurking around the dorms, and making fun of people who lurked into our room to help themselves to our ipods, clothes, what have you... aside from reminiscing on how we met, i had not seen this stupid elf in over a year!! our last adventures took place in Nashville @ my ever so legendary Christmas party, where literally everyone i knew met each other and still to this day i'll hear "yeah, i met him/her at your xmas party"

santa monica.

spotted: planet blue bag

 *** fashion note: Savannah wearing my Wildfox heart sweat shirt. (purchased @ Kitson)

leighton meester

Leighten Meester, oh i adore this girl from Marco Island, Florida...
so i know i'm a little late but i just got caught up on the end of the last season of Gossip Girl since the new seaons starts mid sept. but watching reminded me how much i love Leighton Meester. i think she is really talented... you truly believe her as this drama queen that rules all of Manhattan, aka Blair. but she is so different in real life. i think she has a lot of versatility & i hope her career continues to do well.
oh & i also admire how she has taken a stab at the music business as well, because she loves singing as well as acting... sounds familiar :)
"I think the biggest thing to know is things aren't as bad as they seem. Your boyfriend seems like the last one you'll ever have and the love of your life, your friends and their drama seems so important - but it's not."
"I went through so many phases in high school that I can't say exactly what my style was. A combination of just rolling out of bed and going to class and kind of defying my femininity by wearing sweatshirts with holes in them, never wearing heels or skirts. Also, all black almost all the time."
"I don't feel guilty at all if I'm just lying around, one of my best guilty pleasures is doing absolutely nothing."
(on the acting business): "[It's] fierce and discouraging. But I think you can grow out of that, especially if you realize the only way you find success is: Figure out what works for you and what doesn't."
(on waiting in her trailer to shoot): "Like they say: The acting is for free. I get paid to wait."

... wait, i am obsessed with this quote, because it is so true!!! i have never seen someone say this--- with the little experience i have, the waiting is already my BIGGEST battle. even in class, you will go for a week and sometimes only get to do your scene like once. the acting really is what makes everything worth it. it can be such a rush!!! ahhhhhh.

VOYEUR. ♥

"Change; we don’t like it, we fear it, but we can’t stop it from coming. We either adapt to change or we get left behind. And it hurts to grow, anybody who tells you it doesn’t is lying. But here’s the truth: the more things change, the more they stay the same. And sometimes, oh, sometimes change is good. Sometimes, change is everything." — Grey’s Anatomy

so here are pictures & footage from Voyeur, the club i keep talking about. it is a blast!above: picture from their photo booth! yeeeee!! so cute. lurve caroline :)
hands down the best picture of lucas of all time. i laugh every time i see it... oh and thats his new bromance... hmmm...
well this guy is creepy.. haha i met him at the bar, he asked me my name & i told him. and he freaked out, and i quote: "OH MY GOD SAMANTHA IS MY FAVORITE NAME OF ALL TIME!!!!! CHAMPAGNE ON ME..." oh um kewwwwl, thanks?
last night they were on it... playing sick beats all night. total rage worthy.
oh you know, me... my brother... and our pal, mclovin. NBD.
hay boy! suuuuup. fake id chikkaaa chikka yeaaaah.
my new bestie for the summer until she LEAVES me to go back to UT... not okay.
ohhhh the memories we have made this summer & how many more are to come. just day 2 of the 30 he is here.
who me? am i in la la land? oh right, yes yes i am.
the night we saw ashton kutcher! hahaha my brother can NEVER take a fucking normal picture. whatever, its always entertaining the next day.... WATCH VIDEO BELOW::: WE ARE IN THE BACK AT :51.... my big break!? hah jklolnawt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO4tTtttOdU&feature=channel

golden coast.

i finally made it to my new home! my new exit is Hollywood Way. the name is exciting itself huh?today we woke up & left vickterville, CA to drive the last stretch into Los Angeles. we passed through the San Barnadino mountains on the way & they were gorgeous! Then we passed through Pasadena, which is where i use to spend a lot of time with my ex. so it was weird passing old town Pasadena on the freeway... oh memories? baha.
(San B. mountains below) >>> after we passed Pasadena we kept on through Ventura & straight into LOS ANGELES. weeeee. final destination. CHECK. i was very anxious to get to my new apartment and unload my car. today was very comical actually, because my madre & i were acting a bit delirious, so therefore everything took us 10 times the normal amount it should have.

one of our last errands was to stop by my storage unit in north Hollywood. OH MY. it is SUCH a maze. hahaha i cannot stress to you how much of a waste this stop was>> A. because my car was already full so we had room for MAYBE a single hanger. & B. we unloaded all this stuff that we wanted to bring back to my studio apartment without thinking about the lack of space in the car. & C. my mom was creating a false trail of my shit in this maze. so every time i would come back to find my unit i would find a lamp post at one end of the floor and then way later run into a box full of my stuff. hahaha it was like she was the gingerbread man leaving behind a trail. so after all this retardedness, we had to re-pack my stuff BACK into the unit. = EPiC FAiL. & you're prob so confused right now, trust me thats how it was.
after unloading we made my first official grocery run @ Trader Joe's. it is literally in walking distance. i am loving the Toluca Lake area! so my lil girly crash pad is all stocked with some healthy picks & various wine. starting to feel like home.
soo it is safe to say i am already feeling at home here. i LOVEEEE big cities. & i have always loved LA, so it just feels so RiGHT to finally be here. i am so at ease & eager to get started on all my adventures to come. & TRUST. there will be many to share.

^^^ i love this picture, i might try to recapture a similar heart shape collage in my new place with my own pictures.... i am still in the process of organizing & figuring out what art work i want to put up. i will put pictures when my place is pretty to look at. now time to crash on my bed, aka futon. :) peace & love from the golden coast.

::LiVE FREE::

"There is one rule to be learned. Life is outside you.

If it is outside you, you must go towards it." - Stella Adler

The most amazing thing about these people is how we all came together. Everything could have been so different, if we all just stayed to ourselves outside of class. But we always wanted to be together, we always wanted to experience life. There were people from America, England, Egypt, Russia, Spain, Brazil, Uganda, Lebanon... and many others! It truly made me realize how SMALL my life is. The world is so huge and I want to know more than just what's around me. I am never in the same place in the U.S. anyways so lets see where I can stretch the boundaries even more. oh yeeeee.

"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

"Not all who wander are lost."-Tolkien

"In dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own." ~Steven Kloves

After NYFA wrapped up, I headed back to Arizona for school. These goodbyes were unreal. I mean we were all strangers 6 weeks prior and I felt as if I was leaving life long friends. The last thing I had on my mind was school, but life happens and it was where my commitments were. It was a little rough, because all I wanted to do was be back in acting classes. I was missing my creative outlet, and so I had to keep reminding myself what I was capable of, while maintaining the college kid life=not my thing.

journal begins...

"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."

-E.W. Wucox

"We are shaped and fashioned by what we love"

"if you're lucky enough to be different from everyone else....don't change to be the same"

"& This above all: to thine own self be true." ~ William Shakespeare

Last summer I spent a month in Europe & 6 weeks at an acting intensive in LA at The New York Film Academy (Universal Studios location). It was a life changing summer, where I truly aspired to become an actress one day & believe in the power of my dreams. I returned to college at the University of Arizona in the fall for my Sophomore year. However, the inspiration and passion I had discovered could not be lived as a college student. Recently I have decided to move to Los Angeles- FINALLY. In July, I will be a full time student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. & before I begin this new chapter in my life, I want to reflect on the past year through my personal journal. My journal started as something random to remember all these great moments. Somehow it ended up as an artistic personal reflection so I figured I would share (well not everything...) but a pretty good insight into the life of a girl with ambitions. It was a year full of many life lessons & how I got steered back on this path-- the pursuit of happiness & my dreams.