SPOTLIGHT: Los Angeles Trip // Aug 23 - 29, 2012

i am back from my trip!!

it all started when 2NE1 (a Korean female group) decided to embark on their first ever world tour and only chose to perform in 2 cities in North America (so far anyway): Los Angeles and Newark.
Los Angeles was more appealing so off we went to catch our flight at 6 am on August 23.

so to spare you the details, here's a quick recap of my trip:

Thursday, August 23  
- rental car from Midway... very good prices here
- hotel at Marriott Courtyard Ventura in Simi Valley (which is ~45 minutes away from downtown L.A.)... not somewhere i would normally book if i had not have a family member who got a discount (thanks!)
- In-N-Out Burger... quite delicious!
- shopping at Camarillo Outlet... HUGE place, i would definitely recommend to those wanting to get great deals!

Friday, August 24
- strolled down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, checked out the hand/footprints in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre... Hollywood Blvd is a bit dirtier than expected - be careful of random homeless men mooning you or asking you for money for cocaine and hookers
- went to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum... quite life-like! took a lot of fun photos
- 2NE1 concert at Nokia Center... fantastic concert but unimpressive merchandise
- ate the spiciest tteokbokki ever

Saturday, August 25
- did some Koreatown shopping... shops are quite overpriced but food is fantastic!
- waited THREE hours to eat at a highly recommended Korean BBQ All You Can Eat... had to actually grab an appetizer at the bar next door but it was actually really delicious. i get super cranky when i am hungry though

Sunday, August 26
- visited the happiest place on Earth... Disneyland. did the 1-day park hopper. warning: one day is NOT enough to visit two parks. we were there from approximately 9 am - 12:30 am and felt that there was just too much to do!
- i found the Disney California Adventure Park and Disneyland were both huge and equally fun
- rides are amazing, lineups are pretty long (30+ minutes) but single rider lines and FASTPASS can save you sooo much time; for example: Cars Land just opened so the ride Radiatior Springs Racers had a 2 1/2 hour + wait. ridiculous!!! we decided to split our group up and do the single rider which ended up being like 40 minutes.
- World of Color is a show that uses water, light, fire and color... it is the most amazing thing i have ever seen in my life. a MUST-SEE. i was seriously overwhelmed at this point and thought i might cry hahaha. too bad they experienced technical difficulties halfway and had to stop the show!!!
- spent a ton of money on merchandise but now that i think about it, i should have spent more! i hate that i regret not buying a few more things.

Monday, August 27
- recovery day. ate at Jack in the Box. very affordable! pancakes were cute haha
- went hydrobiking at Long Beach (got it from Groupon)... this resulted in having a sore butt for the rest of the trip but the scenery was amazing
- South Coast Mall in Costa Mesa... VERY expensive!!! i tried on Christian Louboutins for the first time in my life! although i have to say they were not comfortable
- walked the Santa Monica beach at night. so gorgeous!

Tuesday, August 28
- Universal Studios!... less rides than Disneyland so got to ride all except for one so like 4 rides? they were mostly motion stimulation rides. favorite: Jurassic Park - but be warned that people wore ponchos for a reason!! i was laughing at them but they knew what was going on
- Universal Studios also had much shorter hours (10-6) so right after close, we decided to do one of those tours on Hollywood Blvd. visited celebrities homes and yadadada. i uncontrollably squealed when we passed by Orlando Bloom's (and Miranda Kerr's) home.
- visited a Walgreens and a CVS - hooray!

Wednesday, August 29
- quickly scrambled to fit in everything before leaving... went to Macy's and Target. Macy's was having an AWESOME shoe sale - and when i say awesome, i mean awesome. Nine West, BCBG shoes going for like $20 - ack! but sadly, nothing (except a pair of sandals) in my size! Target had such a lovely lovely lovely cosmetics section. i wanted so much stuff but had to walk away. they sell e.l.f. products there too!
- walked around a bit in Chinatown but it was the hottest day ever. i read somewhere it was like 38 degrees.
- departed LAX at 5:50 pm.

and now onto the exciting part: pictures of what i bought (prices in US$ - not listed for items i will be reviewing)!

starting off with makeup:

1) e.l.f. Eyelid Primer (Target)
2) e.l.f. Matte Lip Color in "Coral" (Target)
3) e.l.f. Matte Lip Color in "Tea Rose" (Target)
4) Maybelline Expertwear Luminous Lights Eyeshadow Collection in "Opal Lights" (Target)
5) Wet n Wild Mega Last Lip Color in "Just Peachy" (Walgreens)
6) Love & Beauty Hydrating Lipstick in "Rose" (Forever 21)
7) Nuance Salma Hayek Color Vibrance Lipstick in "Coral" (CVS)
8) Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in "Charm" (CVS)

on to nails:

9) Love & Beauty Nail Polish in "Crystal Pink" (Forever 21)
10) Love & Beauty Nail Polish in "Patina/Fairy Tale Blue" (Forever 21)
11) Sinful Colors Nail Polish in "Super Nova" (Walgreens)
12) Sinful Colors Nail Polish in "Pink" (Walgreens)
13) e.l.f. Nail Polish in "20417" (Target)

some beauty tools:

14) Sonia Kashuk Limited Edition Brush Couture 4 Pc Travel Brush Set (Target)
15) Sonia Kashuk Kashuk Tools Complexion Perfector (Target)
16) Nudy Double Eyelid Tape - 68 Pieces (Palace Beauty)

and jewelry:

17) Minnie Bow Necklace (Disney Parks; $12.95)
18) Minnie Dotted Charm Bracelet (Disney Parks; $9.95)

of course, some clothes:

19) Stella Skirt in "Eternal Animal" (Cotton On; $5.00 - was $17.95)
20) Mossimo Supply Co. Shorts (Target; $12.58 - was $17.99)
21) Trixie 3/4 Sleeve Lace Shoulder in "Black" (Cotton On; $2.00 - was $12.90)

more specifically, dresses:

22) Viva You Long Chiffon Dress (Attitudes; $17.60 - was $44; retail $90)
23) Weavers Striped Heart Dress (The Garage; $5)
24) Double Zero Strapless/Banding Dress (Attitudes; $18 - was $45; retail $100)
25) Chiffon Dress (Essue; $29.99 - was $45.99)

regrettably, only one pair of shoes:

26) INC International Concepts Maura Sandals in "Leopard" (Macy's; $7.49 - was $29.95)

some new bags:

27) Carry Me Around in "Tan/Beige" (Cotton On; $5 - was $14.95)
28) Clutch/Bag (H&M; $10 - was $17.95)

and who could resist these two stuffed animals:

29) Round Pooh (Disney Parks; $17.95)
30) Round Eeyore (Disney Parks; $17.95)

what i learned from this trip:
* check if your airline charges baggage fees!! sounds simple right? however, i did not take this into consideration since i've never had this happen before when i went to Australia and Mexico. $25 each way :(
* wear socks on an airplane. having cold feet means not being able to sleep.
* "washrooms" is not a term used in the states - they will look at you funny or chuckle to themselves and say, "you mean restrooms?"
* iced tea doesn't exist or rather, it is unsweetened - which doesn't make any sense to me. who likes it unsweetened??
* the BBQ sauce at McDonalds is NOT the same. the American version is too BBQ-y. haha yes that's right, it has too much of a BBQ flavor to it. i prefer the Canadian version.
* portions are HUMONGOUS. we could hardly ever finish what we order.

so what items should i review first?? i have a ton to do from before the trip still as well as some beauty box reviews but let me know if there is any you are specifically interested in.