Orange County, California

Since I went to school at UCLA and my sister attends UC Irvine, I've been to Orange County many times.  Overall, I really don't like the place--especially Irvine.  It's the perfect example of American planned suburban ugliness.  There aren't nearly enough trees, the streets are wide but parking is prohibited EVERYWHERE--and the list goes on.  What an awful place!  We really only came to visit with my sister.  Luckily, she'd moved into a nice, new apartment with some lovely girls who had decorated the place really well.  

To be fair: there is a lot of good Asian food in Irvine and if you like beaches there are plenty of nice ones around the OC.

my sister's cute apartment

a supersweet banana split at Watson Drug  with Ed, a friend from college/OC expert

my adorable sister

I feel like a bowl of delicious ramen at Santouka is an OC mandatory stop for me even though we have a Santouka location back home, too.  It's seriously just the best ramen!! If there's a location near you, have a bowl for me~

Santa Maria, California

Why would anyone want to go to Santa Maria?  Well...there is absolutely no reason to go unless you are visiting someone.  After conquering two national parks, it was on to the next, greater challenge: visiting my boyfriend's parents deep within suburbia.

I'm pretty skittish, so the thought of staying with my boyfriend's parents and integrating with their household was pretty terrifying.  Luckily, it was already my third time staying over and they are both very nice, open people.

Santa Maria is really one of California's buttholes, so there was nothing to do.  That meant there was plenty of time for relaxing, reading, writing, and playing with the household dogs.  It was also really great to eat home cooking. ♥






PS: Nick has been blogging away about our trip at A Californian in Outer Space.