COFFEE WITH A SIDE OF MURDER

Iced latte w/ caramel from Steel Head 

I'd like to start off this post by praising my iPhone photography and editing skills. The picture above is probably the best picture of coffee that I've ever taken and I'm ridiculously proud. Like, seriously stop and just look at it. OK, moving on. There is nothing I enjoy more than a good cup of coffee except maybe reading murder stories. Don't think about this in the wrong way. I'm not admitting to an unhealthy obsession with murder or anything like that. I simply enjoy reading about major cases such as the Black Dahlia or Manson Family. While meeting up with  Kimberly, from Belle En Rouge, we realized we share this interest. I'm not sure how murder popped up into our conversation while we had a cup of coffee but it did.

Kim's taste in murder stories happens to be a lot more ...close to home. She told me about murder stories that happened in the city of Long Beach (where we were at the time). She told me about the murder of  Dorothy Bembridge in her own home. The Bembridge house is located in Long Beach and is considered a historic landmark due to the house being built  in a Queen Anne Victorian style in 1906. Obviously, we had to go take a look at the house itself. We couldn't take a tour of the inside on the day we visited but I can say that the outside was stunning. As for the murder of Dorothy, she was killed in her backyard by a burglar. I was surprised that the house still existed. This isn't the first time Kim surprises me with her extensive knowledge on the history of Long Beach. I guess she really does live up to her bio, the 'Sherlock of coffee and history'. 

Before going to the BemBridge House we visited a cemetery. I'm not quite sure which cemetery it was but it had very old graves and looked fairly abandoned. We explored about half of the cemetery and we found that the most recent burial was in 2008 while the oldest was in 1903. It was nice (and a little surprising) to see that a few of the graves had fresh flowers and even decorations. We started getting a little superstitious so our visit didn't last very long.  

Kim also introduced me to the world of podcasts. Obviously, this podcast is relevant to the theme of the day which was murder. Serial, a podcast about true stories, tells the story of the murder of a girl named Hae Min Lee. Her ex boyfriend was accused of killing her but he might have been falsely accused. It get's a lot more complicated and mysterious than that. I'm currently on the third episode and I'm hooked!

After our exploring we had some lunch at The Village Grind down on 1 Street. I had the Awesome Bagel (pictured) which was honestly pretty awesome. I had an issue eating the actual bagel due to the fact that the egg kept slipping out. The egg itself had a funky taste so I just threw it out but besides that I enjoyed the meal! The place is cozy, has wifi and plenty of electricity ports so I think I'll be visiting again but with my laptop in hand.

We ended the day after our good lunch. On our way to the car I saw this lovely message on the floor which gave me the perfect opportunity to take a picture of my new shoes. *smirks*

ROAD TRIP DIARY | TEXAS

-PREFACE -
Remember when I made a post about wanting  to go on an epic road trip? Well this is not that road trip. My cousin from El Paso ,Texas was getting married over the weekend. My uncle wanted to attend the wedding but didn't want to drive by himself so logically he asked his niece, the one that's never driven on a freeway or for longer than an hour, aka me, to join him on this road trip. The trip already seemed like it could be a  disaster but I was very excited because I got to visit a state I've never been to and see family I hadn't seen in a long time.

Alright! Let the road trip begin! *nervous laugh*

-TEXAS BOUND-
Thursday 8:30 PM -
We left at night in hopes of avoiding traffic and for the most part we did. We wanted to get to El Paso before Friday afternoon but to do so it meant that we would have to drive all night. I was a little nervous about that since the main reason I was invited on this trip was to help my uncle with the driving. You see, my uncle could quite possibly be  half koala since he must sleep for over 11 hours a day in order to function. His sleeping habit would mean I would drive for most of the trip.

-Friday 2:30 AM
I still hadn't slept when we made it to Phoenix, Arizona which is where my uncle handed me the keys and I drove until we made it to the boarder of New Mexico. Driving is boring, especially when all your uncle likes to play is country music. The scenery was absolutely amazing though.



- Friday 10:00 AM
I've been awake for about 24 hours but I felt okay. We stopped one last time in Las Cruses, New Mexico for a scenic view. There was a large bird built out of shoes, computers and golf sticks and a beautiful view of the city ahead.

-Friday 12:00 PM, Officially in El Paso
I was sooooo done. Whenever I'm tired I get really moody and laugh uncontrollably. Let me tell you that I was laughing hysterically at this point about things that weren't even funny. At this time we officially reached my families' home in El Paso. Our arrival was very anti-climatic because they weren't home but they left the doors open for us so we walked in and fell asleep until they woke us up. I said a brief hello and went back to sleep for another 2 hours. lol.



-ANGELENO IN TEXAS-

I couldn't help being confused by the city of El Paso. I couldn't decide if it looked more like Mexico or the U.S. Since Mexico is literally down the street it's very difficult to not see the clash of cultures.I immediately saw this mixture in the street names (i.e Valle Suave rd, honey mesquite st ) and I found it both creative and amusing. I also immediately noticed that during the day there is not a single person outside. No one walks or does anything outside during the day. Which is understandable since a regular day in El Paso could be over 100 degrees. Which leads me to my last observation ; there weren't any stereotypical cowboys in sight #sad

-Saturday
I spent the majority of the trip bonding with my family and getting to know cousins I wasn't aware existed. We didn't really leave the house since they were busy prepping for the wedding but it was fine because I rarely get to spend time with any of my family so it was nice to just be with them.

-11:00 AM
My cousin James takes us out to eat to a very popular fast food place in Texas, It's called What A Burger and it's supposedly rival to California's dearest In N Out. James happens to work in their corporation or something like that so he really wanted us to try it. I have to say that their burgers were really good! But it's not fair to compare it to In N Out since they have 4 burgers on their menu while What A Burger has about 20. When the workers heard we were from California they immediately said it was going to be better than In N Out. One of the workers even brought us complimentary dessert and said, "Here's some dessert! You see In N Out won't do this for you".The whole situation was really funny to me.

-5:00 PM
The wedding itself was very beautiful and I'm very glad to have been there to celebrate with everyone.

-Sunday 12:00 PM
During this trip I also reconnected with a friend that happened to be stationed in Fort Bliss.  He's the reason I got to do some sight seeing and exploring. I documented my entire trip on Snapchat and he saw my geotags and immediately snapped me saying that he was in El Paso too! It was so exciting to find out I had a friend in Texas, It had been almost 3 years since we last saw each other but I didn't seem like it when we met up! He knew I loved coffee so he took me to the most hipster coffee shop I've ever been too. There was even a record store and other locally owned stores. Afterward he took me Scenic Drive [pictured above] which is like the Signal Hill or Griffith Observatory (without the observatory) of El Paso.

-THE DEPARTURE- 
-Sunday 6:00 PM
My return home wasn't as bad as I was told it would be. I had to ride a bus back home because my uncle was continuing the road trip into Mexico. Besides the fact that I almost missed my bus the trip was uneventful. I arrived home safe and happy. This road trip was full of firsts for me and although it was a very brief visit, I really enjoyed my stay in El Paso, Texas.

Until next time,

Carolina xx

MUSINGS | A ROAD TRIP

picture by new legs via flickr

Ever since I thought of the Golden State of Mind idea I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. The thought of driving across the state sounds like a beautiful daydream. If you aren’t familiar with GSM then let me enlighten you. Golden State of Mind is the name of the road trip I want to take. I called it that because this road trip is meant to push me to a better, more positive mindset by surrounding me with beautiful scenery, new experiences and good friends . Also, the trip will be across California and since it’s known as the golden state, I thought it funny and ironically, very fitting.

At first I wasn’t sure about what I wanted from this road trip but I knew I didn't want to take an epic road trip (so epic  that I named it) without me getting or doing something important with it. Being amazed with all the new places I'm  going too see and visit is not sufficient enough. Experiences are what I strive for but I want more. Then I came across an article on The Atlantic regarding the lack of women protagonist in books. The post, written by Kelsey McKinney, made some  valid points about the role of women in books and generally in life. You don’t hear a story about a woman without having it related to love and men somehow. That slightly alarmed me.  

“There are no Jack Kerouac or Holden Coalfields for girls. Literary girls don’t take road-trips to find themselves; they take trips to find men.

“Great” books, as defined by the Western canon, didn’t contain female protagonists I could admire. In fact, they barely contained female protagonists at all.”

– Kelsey McKinney, The Atlantic  

She's completely right! Books we read in school rarely have female protagonist. Classic novels by authors like Ernest Hemingway or Jack Kerouac have amazing stories but with male leads. Don't get me wrong, I love the classics and I appreciate how they've influenced the world. These stories are exciting and fun but like Kelsey, I want something/someone I could admire. I also think it's fine for women to want to find love or men or both! I think it's great when you're able to find someone to share your adventures and life with but that's not all we strive for in life....right???   Anyway, this article made me realize that, that  "more" that I was looking for was actually a purpose. A purpose to motivate me  to  make my Golden State of Mind road trip actually happen in the future. My purpose is to be able to tell my story throughout this road trip. The one with a female cast, their thoughts and adventures. I want something real and raw that girls can relate to and be inspired by. 

I think it's time the world hears the story about a bunch of girls traveling in an RV across California looking for adventure. 

Carolina 

LOITERING FASHIONABLY FT BIKE MAN

DIY Ripped Jeans

Casually Chilllin in the parking lot

Cross Body Bag // Forever21

Shirt & Cardigan // Fashion District

Sandals// Forever21

Casio retro gold watch // American Apparel 

Its MAY and we're out on vacation so what the heck do we do while everybody is still in school. Hang out in parking lots of course. seriously though, the top floor of the parking lot is so much fun to film in. We have a glorious sunset and in the distance you can actually see the LA skyline. However, there is a Security Guard on a Bike who hates when people have fun on the top floor of the parking lot. Apparently we were "loitering" uh excuse me, no sir we are trying to film a time lapse. Psssh. Loitering. WTF??????? Never thought we'd be loiterers. But he did tell us that the floors below are totally available for loitering LOL So guess where we went, that's right the floor below. WE'RE SO BAD.

Anyways, Carolina took a few photos, I am mostly wearing clothes I bought in LA's fashion district. Expect a post about that soon or video comment down below which would be more entertaining.
xx
-Alex

A QUICK ESCAPE

@ The Greenhouse

   I've been attending school in Long Beach for almost a year now and have lived near it for about 10 years and not until recently have I truly explored it. My friend Belle en Rouge and I have share a 3 hour break between class so we've been leaving campus and exploring Long Beach together. So far our exploring has consisted of trying the coffee at different cafe's walking into the surrounding stores/buildings, and finding cool spots for impromptu photoshoots. With all the stress we have at school it's been nice to get away for a couple of hours and have some fun!

 The first place we went to was The Greenhouse located in the East Village Arts District. The building used to be a hotel that'd lodge naval soldiers! Now it's cut off to two stories and it's a pretty small space but it's comfortable and friendly! I got a (vanilla?) iced latte and it was great! If you go make sure to sit on the second story, it gives you a great view of the busy street!


 

@ James Republic

This is the "Grass Fed Burger" from James Repuplic's Brunch menu. The burger was very simple (no fries included :( ). It had two  meat patties, cheese and onions. oh, and two pickles on the side. It was a very delicious burger but I felt it was overpriced. I guess I should have  seen that coming considering it was attached to hotel, those restaurants are a little more on the expensive side. Other than that it was a great experience! The place itself has a very trendy feel and interior.

pictured above is a happy Carolina bc coffee

Next, we tried Portfolio Coffeehouse where the ambiance is very comfortable and not to mention the iced lattes are only $2.95! I really enjoyed this place because there was plenty of space to sit inside and even outside, the staff were also very friendly.  This place is actually located in Retro Row aka 4th street. It's called Retro Row because it's full of cute stores full of vintage clothes, furniture and miscellaneous. My favorite stores there are Imonni  and Goldie's on 4th I'd like to mention that all of these stores are owned by locals which make them even more cool. The last coffee shop we went to was Steelhead Coffee Company. It's by far my favorite coffee spot. It had it's grand opening on Saturday so we decided it'd be nice to try it out. I tried an iced latte with caramel (obvs) and it was sooooo amazing. It wasn't too sweet or bitter...it was honestly just perfect. The place was very pleasing to the eye as well! There was cute succulents on the table as decor and had a map of the world formed by pennies om the wall! The staff were also very friendly which I always feel is an important detail of any establishment
.

@ MAKE Collectives

MAKE Collectives is a store on 1st street that sells new and vintage clothes + miscellaneous. This place has quality items such as adorable notebooks, leather key chains, and sunglasses. I think I'm going back for all of those things. It also had a range of records and I've heard that on Friday's they're only a dollar! Not sure if it's true or not but the store is still worth a visit!

 This place is actually hosting a photography meet up on Saturday. (more info here) Us and Belle en Rouge are going to be there! It would be really cool  if you guys came along as well!

Let me know if you do!

Carolina

EXPLORING LA: VB [ Take ONE ]

         
 We took a fun trip to Venice Beach. While there we filmed randomly through our day & this is the end result. For more details and pictures of out trip check out our previous Venice Beach post! This video is part one of a series we hope to continue throughout 2014 in efforts to get to know our home city of Los Angeles and all the beauty it has to offer. Enjoy.

                                                              Youtube // Bloglovin 

EXPLORING LA: VB

Over the weekend we decided we were done wishing and decided to start doing. So we planned a trip around our city of Los Angeles. Being California girls you'd think we've hit all the local hot spots around LA. Wrong.                              Youtube // Bloglovin 

READ MORE TO SEE ART, CLOSE UP'S  & THE AMAZING  VENICE BEACH!