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
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@ 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

FIVE DAYS

   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
ATTENTION: THERE ARE ONLY 5 DAYS WE HAVE TO GET THROUGH  UNTIL SPRING
BREAK. 5  D A Y S.

It's going to be stressful week full of impatience, groaning and eye rolling. I made a playlist of the tracks I've been listening to lately. These are just my favorites (maybe soon I'll make a longer one ?) I'm going to have them on replay all week in hopes of feeling a tad bit excited!

Another reason to feel excited (and a little stressed) is because on Wednesday Alex and I are going to a concert! We are going to see Palma Violets play for the second time! We will have plenty of pictures and video (hopefully) to make a post about it!

Anyway, I wish you the best if, like us, you're trying to make it out alive for spring break.

WE CAN DO THIS *arm muscle emoji*

Carolina x

YOUTH

  These are some photos of a random drive we took! I also played around with a new app called PosterLabs. That's where I made the first picture on this post! I think it's really fun to use and a lot more stylish than other collage apps I've used.

In other news, there are a lot of drafts in queue for these coming weeks! And also spring break is in two weeks so there will be new videos!! I'm very excited for all that's coming.

Carolina x

REMINDERS

   This quote reminded me that it's important to do what makes me happy and to do it now (instead of later). Most of January and all of February I was bored .Just plain out bored with everything. Don't get me wrong, I love school but it's the only thing I've been concentrating on this year. I don't want to keep being bored but I literally don't have time to focus on anything else. Alex and I actually went three whole weekends without being mischievous together because we were too tired. LIKE WHAT EVEN?

It's important to stay focused on my future but I don't want to completely ignore the present. I've decided that I refuse to drag on through the days until I get to my career/lifestyle goals. A balance between the present and the future is what I need. In hopes of obtaining that balance here are a few things I'm going to keep in mind this month.

 1. NO SETTLING. Not even for coffee. Tea. lemonade. Whatever it is. It has to be a good drink. Life sucks too much to have a bad drink in hand This goes for food as well. Don't eat anything that isn't satisfying to you. That's a lost opportunity to eat/drink something that makes you happy and I honestly don't have time for that.

2. GOOD ATTITUDE. Staying creative is something difficult to do. Especially with my negative attitude. So GOODBYE bad attitude HELLO good attitude. It probably won't be, like, the best attitude at first but ya know baby steps. It's the effort that counts, right?

3. ORGANIZATION IS IMPORTANT. I need to write every thing down. Seriously, I've reset my Apple ID like 12 times because I can't remember the damn password. I've also forgotten some decent ideas that could have become great ideas for the blog, insert sad emoji, which I regret the most.

Thanks for reading!

Carolina x



*WATER COLOR ILLUSTRATION  BY AJ FLORESCA

Sometimes you need a break.

   These past few weeks Carolina and I have been immersed in school work. We have been staying at home to sleep and get homework done (on Sunday because lets face it, Saturdays are for sleeping). College has really kicked our ass. They're not lying when they say college is A LOT of work!
   We're not saying its extremely difficult and that you should consider taking a different route, but what we are saying is that if you're going to do it make sure you stay committed. Sometimes you're going to feel really unworthy and down in the dumps, but what you need is a time out with your galls. Friday, we went to a new coffee shop in Long Beach, Rose Park Roasters. It was so Instagram worthy but it was a hot day and it was super crowded so we chose to walk down the street. We found ourselves in a part of Long Beach known as retro row. If you're ever in the area and in serious need of some mid-century art, clothing, furniture, or just want the ultimate Barber Shop experience you must must must take a walk down 4th street in Long Beach. Super stoked I found 3 mid-century furniture stores but not stoked to find out they were so expensive!! I nearly dropped my iced coffee. The day turned out well we took and Uber home because we walked 3 miles, not about that bus lyf. On Saturday (following day) we decided to head up to our local gallery and catch up, ya know since we've been hermit crabs all month long. But yet the universe was against us leaving on time so we showed up AFTER it closed. Our day automatically had no climax so we drove around town instead. SAD PART IS WE LOOKED FAB all we wanted was to look at some great art. (angry emoji here) We weren't about to leave without an impromptu photoshoot so here ya go! At least you lovely people get to appreciate my effort of dressing up and getting out of my bedroom.

Outfit Details: Hat//F21, Duster Coat//F21, Shirt//TJ Maxx, DIY Distressed Levi's, Shoes//Aldo

\\ HAVE A LOVELY DAY // 

WE LOVE YOUR FEEDBACK 

(:

FILM REVIEW - MOMMY

Watching this movie was very exhausting. I don't mean that the movie was boring. I mean it was so exhilarating and real that I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed when it was over. The film was directed by Xavier Dolan, which I was not familiar with before but his other popular works include I Killed My Mother and Heartbeats. 

I first encountered this through Alex. She sent me the movie trailer and I found it interesting but not something I'd go out and pay for if ya catch my drift. A few days later Alex found a free showing at UCLA. We weren't aware that before the film Xavier Dolan was going to be there for a Q&A session We got there a little late (typical) but we were able to catch some of it. He talked about how his own relationship with his mother served as a bit of inspiration for Mommy. Someone asked him how Instagram served to him as an inspiration due to the fact that the movie was literally filmed in a square format. He said it didn't have any inspiration (which I thought was bullshit). I think being inspired by Instagram would be the coolest thing since the story itself is already so real and that would just make the film so much more modern and interesting. I mean Instagram is one of the most popular apps of our generation and now there are movies being made in that format!? It's probably been done before but this is a first I've seen it done for this generation. Claps to him.

Now do yourself a favor and go watch the trailer. I think you'll understand me more once you have.

( Watch Mommy Trailer )

Now that you've watched the trailer  let me explain the plot further. It follows Diana "Die" Despres (played by Anne Dorval) and her burden of caring, full- time and on her own, for her unpredictable 15- year old son, Steven, whom has ADHD. The film also stars Suzanne Clément as Kyla the helpful neighbor and Antoine Pilon as Steven. The film is actually in French and based in Canada. And if you watch the trailer you probably noticed the format it was filmed in. I absolutely loved that idea and def made it more interesting. The story may not sound like it could be all that fascinating but trust me it won't disappoint you. I have to add that apart from the square format it was filmed in, the cinematography was my favorite. It was so fell done.

The trailer alone is enough for you to understand why I loved Dorval. She did a very impressive job playing that role. I think her character had the possibility of going very wrong. Die had tacky highlights, wore very provocative high heels and used a lot of bad words. But regardless of all of that Dorval was able to successfully portray her in a very charismatic and non-tacky way. Die was honestly my favorite character. Her personality won me over from the moment she made her first appearance in the film.

   I don't know what else to tell you without spoiling the entire movie for you. I'm obviously not a movie reviewer  but I truly enjoyed this movie so I felt the need to tell the world. Frankly,  there's nothing I enjoy more than a movie that gives me a reality check. And Mommy does that perfectly.  

What movies have you watched recently? 

FLASK MOB LA

         

           I think the word inspired is an understatement. It's not an appropriate word to describe how I feel. What's better than inspired? Perhaps motivated? I dont know but I'm feeling it. Being surrounded by like minded individuals is literally all it takes to rise your spirits. Last night we experienced Flask Mob for the first time. You might have heard about it on the news being described as a riot or a "flash mob" *insert laughing emoji here*. It was nothing like that, it was sooooo far from that. It was literally a bunch of photographers/photography enthusiast coming together for epic shots, some old fashion networking and drinks. It basically was a huge photography meet up.  Flask Mob originates from the bay area, where it's been more successful and was organized by him and her . The meet up in LA was right across from Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory and the Sixth Street Viaduct. I believe the turn out was about 300+ people. The crowd was full of really nicely dressed people carrying cameras and tripods. There was fire blowers, classic cars, and steel wool spinners. A very perfect scenario for a street photographer. We were definitely not prepared for the shit that went down. First of all, none of us even had a camera. The fact that there was so many epic photo opportunities has made me desperate to get my hands on a nice camera ASAP. You can't look at pictures taken at that event and not feel inspired. You should check out their instagram or even the hashtags! We ended up leaving a few hours before the event was officially shut down by LAPD. The police in LA really don't mess around. The moment the walk started they were already waiting for us at the end of the bridge.
               I knew that if we went there would be two possible outcomes : 1. Frustrated about not having a proper camera and leaving with a very negative attitude or 2. motivated to keep making stuff with what I have.
               Luckily, it's outcome number 2. It's motivated me to keep blogging and making videos but it's also made me want to work harder to get to the point I've always wanted to be in. Next time we attend Flask Mob hopefully I'll have a Canon in hand along with a dope flash. Meanwhile, my decent iPhone photography will have to suffice. They aren't amazing but I want y'all to see what our night consisted of!

Carolina x

edit : check out this article for more details on the night and some truly badass photos.