BERKELEY HILLS

About a week ago, my dad and I agreed to start hiking more often. Last week, we took an easy trail, a bit too much sunlight exposure, but it was fun. Today, the trail was definitely difficult. From the moment we began, it was uphill, with little snakes and salamanders every where, under rocks, in the brush and in the bushes. Once reaching the highest point of the hill, we ran into an area where all the trees were cut down, and how could I pass up that photo op? There was nowhere else to go, so we decided it was time to head back and grab lunch. And although, going uphill was a challenge, loose rocks, brush and sand are not helpful when you've only got a walking stick to help you down a steep hill. Thankfully, I didn't slip... until we got back to our car. I totally advise everyone to go out and have a good hike, it's refreshing and a great work out.

ari xx.

OTRA + ROWYSO

Hi everyone! I haven't made a blog post in quite a while and I just recently went to two concerts so I thought I would write about that. July 11 was the day that I saw 4 beautiful boys for the second time. I have been a fan of One Direction since the day What Makes You Beautiful came out, and to have seen them grow with their music (and hairstyles) over the years and to grow with them has been such a journey. Today, July 23, 2015 just happens to be their 5 year anniversary as a band. As expected, their concert was full of jumping, crying, dancing and singing until I actually felt like I was going to throw up. They did so incredibly amazing the whole entire time, it was truly one of the most surreal moments of my life. The least I can say is that it was oodles of fun! The 5SOS concert was also incredible. I was in shock the whole entire time and it really did not hit me that I was seeing them live until it was over and I was driving home. I hope all of you guys who are fans of either bands get to see them live one day because they are both breathtaking. I took some photos from both concerts which will be below, enjoy!

ari xx.

SOMBER SUMMER

To many who have never visited California or only know of Southern California, it's a bit hard to believe that it rarely gets "hot" in Northern California. In fact, the weather here is either up and down, or quite moderate. Lately, it's been a tad more cold and gloomy. Living by the bay, it's always windy, but right now the skies are darker. Personally, I like cold weather, so it isn't an issue to me. My friend, Nicole and I went by the bay, close to her home, to take some photos. They seemed to make sort of a grey theme and I really enjoyed that day, so here are some photos. 

ari xx.

BEACH DAY BIRTHDAY

I've just now come home from an exhausting, yet absolutely amazing day. Today is two of my closest friends' birthdays! After lunch and a little painting session, we headed to the beach. It was quite windy and my toes nearly disintegrated from the burning hot sand, but the beach is such a beautiful place to spend time at. Being there today with no worries on my mind, just happiness, made me feel like summer has finally begun. It's a peaceful sight and being with some of my most favourite people made it even more of an enjoyable day. Happy birthday, Nicole and Katia! 

ari xx. 

VISIT SF

Having lived in the Bay Area my whole life, I have yet to explore the beautiful city I live in. Of course, if you come visit San Francisco on a vacation, there are the typical tourist like things you have to do, such as walk the Golden Gate Bridge, visit Union Square, Pier 39, AT&T Park (boo Giants) and take a bus tour. As much fun as those things are, the less traditional things are so much more enjoyable. Now, I'm not going to make a laundry list of these things because you won't get any information out of that. Mind you, these are not in order of most favourite to least favourite.

I'm going to start off with food because it's what everyone wants all the time. Crown & Crumpet Tea Stop Cafe is the most adorable cafe located in Japantown. It's food and beverages make you feel like you're in England... who wouldn't want that? Another food spot is Smitten Ice Cream. They are said to have the creamiest ice cream made right in front of you.

If you want to bring out your inner six year old, take a trip down the Seward Street Slides, which are very well hidden in Noe Valley. Another super fun thing to do if you don't want to exactly be all too mature, is to visit the park in Yerba Buena Gardens. It's every elementary schooler's dream park, or in my case a fourteen year old's dream park. From the giant slides to the climbing structure, it's loads of fun.

The Exploratorium is one of the coolest interactive museums (I'm a big science nerd), with my favourite exhibit, The Wave Organ. It provides a beautiful view of the city and you can literally hear the ocean due to the way it's sculpted and constructed. The Sutro Baths are so unexplainably amazing. They were once a public bath but the Pacific Ocean doesn't run through it anymore and it's open to the public. San Francisco's secret stairways are so much fun to climb with a friend, family member, or alone. It's calming when it's just you, and when you're with someone, it's like taking a mini adventure up an old wooden stairway or metal stairs that have vegetation growing all over them.

If you're traveling alone or want to go somewhere calm these are my favourite spots. I am quite the book worm and also one of those people that likes close to empty places, like cafes or in this case, City Lights Bookstore. City Lights is just amazing, to say the least. Visit Jack Early Park! It's the smallest park in the whole city where you can listen to the sea lions while sitting on the little two-person bench.

Moving onto shopping! San Francisco and the Bay Area in general have many unique little shops you won't find anywhere else. La Boutique: L'Art et La Mode is an adorable little shop with jewelry, shoes, and clothing. Harputs is such a beautiful store that shows different, bold fashion choices (I love it !!). Picnic is an adorable store with home goods, gifts and clothes. Welcome Stranger is a men's clothing store with more of a casual feel to it. Gravel & Gold has just about everything: journals, books, bags, clothes and more. Along with these shops, there are chain stores like Urban Outfitters, Zara, Topshop, American Apparel and more. 

Well, I sure wrote a lot and I am just about done! The locations, photos and more information will be below. The websites for certain places are bolded so click on em! I hope this was helpful to anyone that will be visiting this beautiful city anytime soon!

Crown and Crumpet Tea Stop Cafe Website

1746 Post Street, San Francisco

Smitten Ice Cream Website

432 Octavia Street #1a, San Francisco

Jack Early Park

San Francisco, CA 94133

Greenwich Steps on 231 Greenwich St. San Francisco

Sutro Baths Ruins and Cave - Point Lobos Ave & Merrie Way Golden Gate National Recreation Area

The Wave Organ in the Exploritorium

83 Marina Green Drive, San Francisco

Seward Street Slides

70 Corwin St, San Francisco

American Apparel

363 Grant Ave., San Francisco

1615 Haight Street, San Francisco

2174 Union Street, San Francisco

City Lights Website

261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco

Urban Outfitters

80 Powell Street, San Francisco

Harputs Website

109 Geary Street, San Francisco

La Boutique: L'Art et La Mode Website

414 Jackson Street #101, San Francisco

Picnic Website

1808 Polk Street, San Francisco

Welcome Stranger Website

460 Gough Street, San Francisco

3266 21st Street, San Francisco

Gravel & Gold Website

I do apologize for not having photos for all of the places I mentioned, I don't carry my camera around everywhere... just most places!

ari xx.

SUNNY SEASON

It's summer everyone! It seems to be more relieving this year than any. I'm just going to assume that's because I just graduated, so things were a bit more stressful this year round. 

Summer is an amazing time for everything. It's a time of relaxation and relief. No stress. No school. Although, it's a time to relax, I will be swamped. I plan to restart. This past year has been challenging and stressful and I came to a point where I stopped putting my full effort in my schoolwork because of my loss of self confidence in certain topics. I hope to reorganize my thoughts, my bedroom and my outlook on things. I hope to be optomistic and focus on the good, while still being aware of reality.

But let's not get too serious, summer is also a time to wear flowy dresses, drink lemonade during brunch and get ice cream before a trip to the beach!

Summer is the end of one thing but it's also the beginning of another. It's a time to refresh, prioritize and reorganize. It can be your clean slate. Your fresh start.

ari xx.