Nothing is Better than a Sunny LA Day

Today was a beautiful 80 degree day that completely turned my week around. There's nothing more cheery than walking around campus in sunny, warm weather.

OK, So this wasn't from today but it was just as beautiful out

After taking a break from working out the past few days, I was excited to get back into it. My friend Ai and I met at 12:30 to go for a run around the school. The run is a 2 mile loop, and since I'm not yet skilled in running long distance it's the perfect challenge. Since it was so hot outside, I could feel myself getting sunburned, but I still enjoyed being able to run with a friend at this time. Usually I have classes throughout the day, but since it's my last weeks of classes a canceled lab gave me a two hour window to enjoy the weather.

I followed up the run with 3 sets of 30 sit ups and then some pushups. After this workout and lunch, I went to my dance class where we watched people preform. 

I've been meaning for a very long time to start weight training/strength training, but it has always intimidated me. USC has a great gym, but it's on the other side of campus so I usually stick to the mini gym in the basement of an adjacent dorm. Although it's an easy walk, this means I am limited to 2 treadmills, 2 ellipticals, and a stationary bike. Luckily, I had a sorority sister in my dance class take me to the Lyon Center to give me a run through of some great strength workouts and tips on how to use the machines. If everything goes as planned tomorrow, you should be hearing about how it goes soon!

I'm afraid I dropped the ball on pictures this post, but it does give me the excuse to show off the pretty campus!

The day had an amazing end when my sorority sister (same one who helped me at the gym!) got pinned. For those of you who don't know, it's a cheesy, but adorable and impossible not to love ceremony between a senior girl and her long term boyfriend. We went out later to celebrate!

Now time to go to sleep, and get back to reality. Tomorrow is (almost) the last day of classes!

Easter recap!

After a great Easter weekend, it feels kinda like a bummer to be back at school. But nothing makes a dreary  day better than remembering how great the weekend was, so here's a recap.
I was home for the weekend so I was really excited to be back in my room with my younger siblings, parents, and dog. To be a honest, our house can be a bit of a mess at times, but since we were hosting Easter brunch, my mom had made everything look absolutely beautiful.

One word: TULIPS <3

Although the table looks amazing, I ate outside at the kids table--I guess I have not finished growing up yet!

Although you can't see it, there's some Easter eggs hidden!

My parents fixed up the backyard when I was at school, and I  was very surprised to see how nice the backyard looked. It's strange seeing things looking different than you remember, but it looks incredible and like it was taken from a magazine. I'm not one to typically approve even the slightest change, so my approval is true sign of how great it looks. When I was an elementary school, I organized a "strike" with signs for me and my brother and sister against my mom when she even mentioned about changing our backyard (the above picture used to be all grass, so our 2 minute demonstration did not make that big of an impact on the decision haha).

Another reason I was excited for Easter was home-cooked, non-dorm food meals! Just so you know, USC has one of the worst cafeteria food ever. Luckily, everything else about it is great, but I was very excited for my Easter feast brunch. After snacking on chips and onion dip and veggies with ranch, my meal consisted of fruit salad, Ceasar salad, ham, baked beans, mini cinnamon rolls, and a bit of an apple fritter. The punch was also homemade by mom. YUM.

The first round...Much more was consumed after this.

The rest of the time was spent with family and friends. Oh, and a significant amount of time was spent playing with this little guy. He's adorable! And don't worry, I'm completely aware that I look insane, butttt there's a huge smile on his face (and mine too even though it's not as cute!).

Fun fact: all my favorite pictures are the ones that people think are the weirdest. They make me laugh!

Week's Workout history (so far)

My goal for the week of April 14 is to work out at least 5 times. Usually I have a problem of only working 3 or 4 times a week because after consistently going to the gym Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I let myself off easy for the rest of the week.
So one of the reasons I started this blog is because I am in the process of getting in better shape, and am trying to live a healthier lifestyle. So while the workouts aren't intense to some people I'm getting there (and something is always better than nothing)!

Hiking to and swimming in Rainbow Falls. How does this relate? I mentioned healthy living, duh haha.

Monday- 27 minutes on the elliptical--a very odd number, but I was watching a show on my laptop and fitting in a nap, workout, and shower in less than two hours. After that I had my 2 unit beginning jazz dance class from 2:00-3:20. The best thing about the class is that it always starts out with a killer ab workout.
Tuesday- 30 minutes on the treadmill. I switched the incline and speed every 5 minutes, otherwise I get bored. Incline 15/Speed 3.5, 15/4, 10/4.5, 15/3.5, 0,5-6.5
Wednesday- 30 minutes on the elliptical
Thursday- So here's where my frustrating/embarrassing workout story comes in. On Thursday, I got on the elliptical for what I thought was at least a good 25 minutes. Right when I started I put my laptop on the elliptical completely over the screen so that I could watch Modern Family while I work out. As I was watching I would keep pressing the button on the handles to increase the resistance because the work out was feeling surprisingly easy. Unfortunately, right when I thought I was done with my workout, I lifted up my laptop and realized I had actually never started. Ends up up I forgot to press the quickstart button and had been plugging away with absolutely no resistance. It was very frustrating to realize that I had not been as productive as I thought, so I just walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes at incline 15/3.5.

Today (Friday) I didn't officially work out, but I had an active day outside cheering on my sorority sisters at a frat beach volleyball philanthropy. I've worked out 4 days in a row and spent the day outside, so there was no guilty feelings about it:)

A Weekend Recap and Watermelons

Good morning everyone! (Since it is 2:13 am it's technically morning. The joys of being a college student and procrastinating on sleep.)

Since I'm brand new to blogging, I'm going to throw out a few random things about how my second to last week of classes as a freshmen are going. 

This weekend LA experienced the wonderful SoCal days everyone dreams about. It was beautiful, sunny and 90 degrees (probably more around 83... I don't have too much trust in car thermostats). So of course a couple friends and I headed straight for the beach.

The sand was burning, the water was freezing, and the beach was amazing. I'm proud to say that I completely braved the cold water by going for swims and playing in the waves throughout the day. And all it took was being a tad melodramatic (yes, I did utter an I hate myself before diving under the first wave...it was freezing!). 

Isn't it adorable? So beachy

The famous watermelon juice

After a few hours at the beach, my friends and I were all starving so we went to this amazing little Cuban restaurant called Cha Cha Chicken. If you're ever at Santa Monica beach it's somewhere you should absolutely ago. It was relatively cheap (around $15 for a meal and drink), colorful, and delicious. While the coconut fried chicken I got was mouth-watering, what really stuck out was the juice. I ordered watermelon juice, and that's just what it was--pure watermelon juice. Not concentrated flavors or added sugar, just sweet watermelon juice. It was a lot like water, but with a taste and sweetness that could not have been more refreshing for such a hot day. I'm definitely going to try to recreate this on my own sometime!

My next post will include an embarrassing (and frustrating) story so stay tuned. And ending on an even happier note, after a Micheal's trip with my sorority big sis, I couldn't help but buy these watermelon stickers...as well as a million other things. Night!

PS my roomie's side is a tad messy haha but that's what happens near finals

Who's that?

Just so all of you guys can get to know me better, I want to introduce some of the important people in my life. These people mean the world to me, and now when you hear me drop some names you can see who I'm talking about.
So first of all, meet Scott. He's my amazing boyfriend, and we've been dating since freshmen year of high school. He's from San Diego, and I'm from Palos Verdes so we did do long distance in high school. Now even though we're at different universities, we're closer in distance. We usually see each other every other weekend, and this guy is incredible. He can always makes me laugh, and knows me better than anyone else. I cannot say enough good things about him. :)

Prom!

It was a laua theme, we're not cool enough to dress like this everyday

Hiking in Mammoth a few years ago!

My family also means the world to me and I'm the oldest of four siblings. Fun fact: all of our names start with J's (Julia, Jessica, Johnny, James)! My parents are so great, and have always been there to support me. They raised us to really value family, and taught us the importance of living an active life (even though we sometimes mope and want to watch TV). Believe it or not, my two brothers and my sister actually get along (most of the time), and they are so much fun to hang out with. They are some of the funniest and craziest people, and I guess it's cause they learn from the best... Moi! And just because I know my brother would want me too, I would like to mention that in no way am I the tallest child anymore--my brother Johnny towers over me.

My sister Jessica and I are really close. She's my best friend, and after sharing a room together for all of of elementary school, middle school, and high school we know each other inside and out. She can always make me laugh or drive me crazy. And she might not love the pictures I've put up, but I'll let you guys see how awesome Jessi is. 

The Background Info

My name is Julia, and I'm a 21 year old graduate USC. I've grown up in Southern California, went to school in LA, and am on to my next adventure!

I like the beach, my family, my friends, my boyfriend, eating, being active, being lazy, and being a Trojan. I have a weird interest in notebooks and office supplies, all things Russian, and Arrested Development. I also love Harry Potter, but am finally accepting the End of the Era. I love to read, but don't do it enough. After studying abroad in Prague for four months, all I want to do is travel every where else in the world.

I'm a generally pretty cheerful person, but I can stress over the details. My favorite season is summer, and I like to think that the season is a description of my personality.

I started this blog when I was 18 to create a healthy living blog that recorded my workouts and the food I eat. I have blog posts from 2011 that I really love, and it's fun to see myself how I worked out, what I ate, my trip to Hawaii (my favorite), and the random things I did throughout the summer.

I ended up finding that once I got to school, taking pictures of my food became very embarrassing and annoying. I went from avidly blogging to having no interest in it at all--a broken camera didn't help the situation either. After randomly reading through some of my Hawaii posts a few months ago, I realized how happy I was to have a journal of everything I did, saw, ate, and thought. While some of it seems a little ridiculous, I decided that I would make a conscious effort to start documenting some of the details of my life.

So here's to continuing my own personal little journal! Hopefully it will still maintain a little focus on working out and the little things as well as the big ones.

Oh, and I love all things watermelon.