[ 2012 Valentines ]

I love Valentines.... I don't know if i'm the only girl that 'expects' much more on Valentines than any other holiday, but for some odd reason I do, which is kinda weird because Shawn isn't your typical romance-kinda-guy lol. But I must admit that he makes up for it all. year. long. constantly doing spontaneous acts of kindness and is the sweetest guy with the biggest heart.....literally (most of our disagreements are followed by him being too nice). 

Anyway, this year for some reason was different than any other year. We both knew I had to be in Vegas for the Rugby 7's tournament held the weekend right before Vday, and Shawn had planned on going anyway- so we pretty much decided we'd celebrate our Vday in Vegas. Between running errands and doing interviews Shawn and I.....Marquez, Tangi, and Matt all spent a pretty fair amount of time together. It was a blast. Shawn just kept telling me before the trip not to worry about anything he had it all covered. LOL... I was a bit nervous and hesitant because normally I'm the shot calluh and decision maker haha but the whole trip overall I was straight 'crrruuuiiisssin' and I loved it.....I so deserved it anyway right? ;) lol jk.... Towards the end of the trip I felt bad for my poor guys wallet =/ but hey, he told me not to worry right? ;) 

Here are just a few photos I snapped while in ViVa =)

-the Outlets seriously was our first stop-

-Thursday night, kicked off w/the PolySwagg Health Awareness concert @ South Point-

PolySwaggs VIP treatment was off the chain.... Big Ups to them and especially Baroque Events who was in charge of VIP, it was awesome!!

We saw Tribal Theory, Zhen, Met Hot Hula creator and instructor Anna-Rita Sloss, Interviews went great, and met Hon. Salote and Hon. Virginia for the first time- 

Friday:

Good Morning Las Vegas!

We wasted NO TIME!

 Up early with my crew for interviews w/Paul (founder/owner of the Paul Soliai Foundation & #96 Nose Tackle for Miami Dolphins) and Ali Campbell (Lead singer of UB40 & Headliner for Kulture Shock/Paul Soliai Foundation concert) & Luncheon w/Ali Campbell....who also happens to be the sweetest man, glad I got my hug in when I met him haha. (that wasn't nervy right?), the PSF and Kulture Shock Group. I love these guys and have so much respect for them..

-after interviews, eating a ton, and shopping a little we headed to Las Vegas Athletic Club for our Hot Hula Segment w/Anna-Rita. 

Can I just say.... AMAZING, and I'm dying to become a Hot Hula instructor after this.... haha 

Really though. 

Check out the segment here =)

Anna-Rita and her crew were such sweethearts even though I was full on hangin' trynna act like I wasn't dying. lol.... oh man, I miss the dancing days of a nice toned body. 

Later Friday....we kinda just played andHung out with good friends, not to mention THE COOLEST Asians on this planet. Tons of fun was our priority and that's exactly what we did....that's what Vegas is all about anyway right?? ;) Of course through out the night I failed to catch any pictures which I'm kinda bummed 'cause I wore my new outfit and we were looking all kindza good.... ;p haha

Saturday:

OH EM GEE! 

Probably one of the busiest days of my life.

Had a last minute meeting with my crew....I swear we should never have meetings at restaurants, we eat so much. 

this is my quesadilla i ordered, not joking, each piece was a size of a big burger. We had our meeting at The All American Restaurant downstairs of The Rio....the size of their food explains why so many Americans are obese. hoooii

Due to some craziness in Vegas our whole agenda for Saturday night (which happened to be the busiest BIGGEST night in Vegas during the 7s) CHANGED =/ but we managed to get it all under control.

We went to the Rugby field for some interviews (check it out here)

Ended up back at Planet Hollywood for last minute running around and got a little carried away in the mall there... haha. Ended up shopping and left me no time to get ready for the Ali Campbell concert that evening. BOOO! =(  Once again, grateful for Shawns help I was able to make it to the concert in time for everything I needed to do with out looking like hot mess. The concert was a BLAST!! From B.E.T. to Spawnbreezie to Common Kings, and Ali Campbell.... OH EM GEE. They all did such a fantastic job. 

-with Spawn and Aggz-

-CK-

-this guy STILL GOT IT-

Ali Campbell did amamamaaaazing =)

Not bad huh?! =)

Check out the concert HERE! =)

Hon. Fredrica Tuita and yours truly backstage

J.R** tRoY** MaTa

Between all the running back and forth from backstage to the front I somehow ran into this guy outside and snapped this picture. Long story short... J.R. (on the Left) is lucky I happen to just love him and the Common Kings that I took his pic instead of making him take mine since it was originally Me, Troy, and Mata... hahaha. 

The great thing I loved about the concert was that there were so many athletes there that came out and mingled with the crowd, it was awesome to witness that no matter how far up they get they don't forget their people. I loved it. =) It was an awesome night and I'm so glad so many came out to support the cause. Words can't even express how proud I am of my boys and crew for all the hard work that went into this concert, overall it was a success. 

Sunday:

the trip continued...a full day of MORE shopping, eating, and chillin' by the pool.......FREEZING. 

Vegas was kind and one hell of a trip to remember!

We got back Monday evening and Valentines was the next day. I seriously thought our Valentines was done in Vegas........NOPE. haha Shawn called pretty early for lunch (12pm is early for me) he had Shawnee w/him so we took her to Mcdeez to play, ended up having lunch w/my cousin as well....and the shopping continued. lol... He dropped me off and again I thought that was it. Called me back about 2 hours later that he was on his way. I was so tired but got up anyways... walked outside and he had balloons and flowers. LOL now... I don't even like flowers hahaha, but I still thought it was so sweet. We then went to this Chinese place I was dying to go to...nothing fancy, but I was seriously craving their chow mein....so we went there and then caught a movie (SAFE HOUSE) @ Gateway. Yeah, so i have this bad habit of ALWAYS falling asleep in the theater so I didn't want to do a Romantic Comedy or any kind of Romance movie so I asked Shawn if we could watch Safe House, plus I know he's been dying to see it. It was a pretty cool movie, lots of action, but still....I could not keep my eyes open. LOL... I felt so bad, he totally caught me dozing off. haha 

I really was just so tired....I didn't even have the strength to go to ice cream after when he asked. The night ended kinda early but I was glad, Valentines was sweet....and very memorable.... I feel bad I even forgot the flowers and balloons in the car =/. I really loved it all though... it was much more than I expected, from Vegas to me dozing off in Safe House.LOL... I dunno how I scored such a loving patient fella. 

XoXo

Thanks babe...

[ LA fix via Instagram ]

I rarely get along with Utah weather. It's cruel, cold, and most of all bipolar, so in the effects of that I decided to take a short trip to L.A;
my favorite city! =)

Soakin up the beautiful sunshine and weather would do me justice I needed- so that's exactly what I did, plus I also had to meet up with Lisa for some WhatitDo buisiness. Plans kinda changed when I got there. Lisa had a whole different schedule planned than what I originally had planned. (typical for us haha)

1.) Shopping
{of course FIRST on the list}

-CHECK-

2.) Get hair done in the ghetto by an uliuli w/a thick "homegirl" accent


-CHECK-


3.) Interview with LEGACI
check em out here

 the voice behind Justin Beiber, also his opening act!
-CHECK-

4.) Palms Thai Restaurant


{MY FAVE}

-CHECK-


5.) Take care of WhatitDo business from West L.A.-Burbank


-CHECK-


6.) Lunch in West Hollywood @ Bossa Nova!
{everything on the menu is so delish}

-CHECK-

7.) All nighter with the Princess of Tonga. =)
{sweetest, smartest, funniest, craziest (to say the least) gal I've met)
 



-CHECK-


8.) Jack in the Box
before my flight home! =)


Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! =)

[ OrLaNdO ]

As always I feel like such a slacker when I don't update on time. My goal was to actually update daily while out of town (like good bloggers do)....but, I suck at that, I had too many pictures, I was always eating (and am now 10 lbs heavier), and had too much fun to actually think about posting. So here I am, about a week late, but hey, better late than never right? 

Last Thursday I began my journey out to Orlando for my cousin Kaities wedding. Seriously...what was I thinking, flying standby? Anyway, after about 2 days of trying to get out I finally  made to Florida the morning of her wedding.... THANK GOD! The wedding was beautiful, she was a gorgeous bride of course, and it was just a ton of fun. I don't want to get into too much detail about the wedding, I'll let the pics speak for themselves. =)

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Diaz! =)

The following night after sleeping in...which by the way felt extremely wonderful, we headed to the house to watch the Steelers play......and beat the Cardinals!

That night we figured we'd celebrate and hit the city so we first headed to After Party- a burger place that makes enormous burgers. My goodness, it was the biggest burger I've ever eaten. Came with a side of 5 lb fries...hahaha...

(told ya I ate A LOT)

then headed to the CityWalk at Universal. We ghosted a ton of people (when you follow a random person so close behind em until they notice you..sounds silly but it really is fun and hiiiillarious.), took lots of pictures...

{click on picture to enlarge}

.....and then we found Bob Marleys. A reggae lounge owned by Rita Marley in tribute to her husband. =) The live band there was aaawwweeesome, and the DJ seriously made me feel like I was back in Jamaica. My cousin MaryJane is almost 22 years old and since she's been the legal age of 21, she has NOT ONCE been out to a place like "bobs" so, Melia and I decided we'd take her out....and live life a litte. lol... It was really fun though. It was perfect for MJ because she sings in a band, so being in the audience, for fun.... was enjoyable for her. =)

While in Orlando Melia and I took Pili to Disney World {thanks Aunty Kaitie ;) } and he just loved it. He loved seeing everything in 'real life'. He even got to meet his favorite cartoon characters;

Phineas and Ferb

Secretly I think Melia was more excited than Pili... haha

{more pics from Disney on FB}

Afterwards we went to watch Kaitie dance at her show at the Polynesian Resort. As always, she did wonderful and the show was great.

Orlando was awesome. I loved seeing family, catching up with em all and just enjoying the warm weather before returning to Utahs UGGGGLLLY cold weather. =(

I think I want to make Orlando home.....for 3 main reasons:

1.) I love the warm/hot weather

2.) I miss dancing as much as I use to

3.) By dancing, I'll have no choice but to stay in shape and have a nice beach bod.....

so now L.A. or Orlando?!?! hmmmm.... then again, that's just wishful thinking. As crazy as Utah is it's still a hard thing to think about leaving 'home'.

[ diaries of a mad STANDBY passenger ]

Holy heck...right now I'm irritated to the extent, emotionally frustrated, and patience is at about a zero. Being an airline employee has it's many perks. I have fun at work, I get along with my co-workers, I enjoy the company of many passengers, I work under a remarkable management and station, I love that we give to charity both big and small, and best of all......I FLY FREE!!

I love to travel and see many things life has to offer and many of God's wonderful creations, I find myself truly blessed............................................................................................................................................................Now, we all know there's opposition to all things. Well in this case......full flights (although perfect for the company revenue) is definitely one of those oppositions. When we {standbys} fly, we take whatever seats available. Which most of the time works out fine because working in Utah {one of Deltas main hubs} make's it easy because it has so many flights in and out and direct that I rarely have to worry about getting stuck somewhere or something trying to connect. Therefore, when flights are full it's normally aaaalll good cause there's a next flight.Well with the events going on this weekend- that wasn't too much of an option.

I had blogged a few times before about my gorgeous cousin Kaitie gettin hitched out in Orlando this weekend. I've been looking forward to it for quite sometime now. I've missed this side of the fam a great deal, I haven't been to Orlando for about 9 years, I miss Kaitie and am extremely excited for her to start her new life as a wifey (whoa...sounds kinda weird haha) but yeah.....I've been super stoked for this trip. As times passed to prepare for this trip my parents decided they wanted to come to and of course when my parents travel Pili goes.

Anyway, long story short- with UEA going on this weekend flights are booked full from every city that flies into Orlando. They're all just completely booked......oversold.....zipped.....nada.......NOTHING! But do we try? Of course... because there are ALWAYS misconnects, late checkins, and people that just get lost in the airport- I mean, that is normally what we hope for on full flights when flying standby. hahaha... and we've been in the game now long enough we know how the system runs. So we sit at the gates, crossing our fingers, HOPING a miracle happens. Also since we're pretty good 'standbyers', we know how to occupy our time in the airport- hence the pictures off the webcam. haha

Anywho, instead of taking our direct flights to Orlando from Salt Lake we flew out here to Vegas because it had more seats available. Flew in this late afternoon, ate, slept, relaxed, laughed, and just spent time with family out here. [[THANK GOD FOR THEM BEING HERE!]]
We then RE-packed up and headed to the airport for the red eye flight to Orlando. We waited.......and waited........and waited.........then the gate agent finally calls our name.

I run up HOPING [once again] that we're good. I get up there and the gate agent tells me there are only 3 seats available. Mind you, we need 4. Pili was clear down the list so there was no way he was going to be cleared for this flight. In that last 5 minutes as we sat there trying to make a decision as to who was going to go since we could only send 2 and the other would have to stay with Pili, I saw Pilis eyes water up and he just started crying. My heart broke. I knew how bad he wanted to go to Florida, but this was something totally out of our control. I ended up sending my parents because 1.) Mom had to teach Kaitie a dance for her wedding and 2.) Dad needed to go......I guess LOL. Na j/k I sent dad because it'd be much easier for me to fly on a higher priority rather than leaving my dad and Pili w/pretty low seniority. =( So i stayed back with Pili. I know the gate agent felt terrible as well because Pili was just quietly saying to me thru his soft little cry "Aunty...I just want to go to Florida..." My goodness....I had to be strong even though I was about to just break. The agent left and to make sure all were onboard so she could at least send him..... unfortunately everyone was on board. =(  And my parents were no help, walking away practically crying saying bye to Pili, I was seriously like "REALLY, who are the adults here?" lol....

After comforting my little man and getting him excited for a night full of fun at home Pili and I made a call and next thing ya know....we're back at the house eating Winchell donuts, Jack in the Box, Church's Chicken, and watching Red Boxes with Aunty Tina and Uncle TJ. haha... Tonight sucked for us as standbys, it really made me wish I was a millionaire with a private jet to fly anywhere. This is what I hate the most- not so much of ME NOT getting on but more of Pili not getting on after waiting for hours being super excited to go and then not getting on. I hate when things are out of my control like this. It drives me nuts. I mean, I am very grateful for my job and it's benefits but it's the downfalls like this that I can not stand. But......we expect that  when we fly like that.

Tomorrows another day so we will be hanging out in Vegas til then.......wish us luck. Thank God Pili's such a great sport. XoXo....

[gettin' BAY wit it]

For the next 18 hours I will be visiting san fransisco for jboogs album release party (courtesy of thewhatitdo.com). its been a while since i've been there. Since mine and my cousins fall out a few years ago I dont really have the desire to be out there. I miss em, the girls, my family, the beautiful year 'round warm during the day, cool at night weather, and most of all the bay area 'careless' swag. I wish things were different as far as our fam situation, but they're not haha, and I'm not one to sit and dwell on things...or hold grudges. So within that said, I am muy excited to be going to the bay. regardless of how much the hyphy movement and outta pocket bay area people drive me (because at times many get pretty obnoxious and "get stupid")....I do enjoy observing and seeing a different way of life away from utahs 'living in a box/comfort zone' kinda living. Lol. Whether its the people, the food, or the city alone, I absolutely love it!. beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder, and I'm all about versatile and diversity. I love variety....so im ready to RE-explore the bay area...and who better to do it with than my die hard, hard lovin, self motivating, twitter bangin', dream inspiring TWID team?! Not to mention home of 3 of our lovely hosts [Luisa, Melania, & Jordan] as well as our writers and editors [Malissa Raen, and Juliet Uata] who happened to be extremely BAY WIT IT when reppin' their home town! :) knowing these guys' and their eccentric, always full of energy personalities...I don't thing jboogs parties ready for what we got ;) lol but Ready or Not.....here we come!

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[CARRYing ON]

Since I'm always ON THE GO, you'd think I was queen of packing. Truth is, I suck at it, especially if Im going more than a week. Most of the time I wait last minute to pack and it's such a bad habit because by the time I start packing (which is normally an hour or 2 before my flight lol) I just end up throwing my whole closet in my bag...and what makes it worse is that when I do get to my final destination I end up shopping and then I don't wear what I did pack. Smh.... So bad I know. However, one thing I do have on lock is my Carry On gear......
The things I must have on the plane or just away from home...

Carry On:

My dark Green/Gray Forecast roller or my Maroon snake skin Duffle....... Perfect for all aircraft over head bins and seriously fits everything for quick trips to looooong ones.

Beauty Must Haves:

Besides my norm make up bag, I never forget my good face wash. I never or at least try to sleep with make up on. That's so bad for my skin. Lately I've been using MK's face wash. OMG, it works wonders for my face, leaving it soft and smooth......I mean not that it wasn't already smooth. lol.... na j/k but for real, it's been great. I don't really 'break out' but I have very dry skin, so between keepin' it smooth it keeps it moisturized as well.

I have to have good face moisturizer for my dry skin, as well as my toothbrush. I LOVE brushing my teeth haha. I also always have Playtex wipes to freshen up too. They're great for freshening up after long flights...

Travel Uniform:
{very important}

I like to be comfortable when traveling, not only because I might be stuck in a middle seat between two fat OR hairy people lol....but also because I'm forever connecting flights (which I try to avoid the most), and uncomfortable heels are the LAST thing I need to have while trying to make a 30 min connection in a humongous Airport. 

Therefore most of the time I will wear skinny jeans (not because I'm skinny), a blazer, because whether I'm feelin it or not it dresses up anything from tanks to tees to dressy tops....

plus Its always cold on the plane so it keeps me warm. Every time I travel I take my nude heels....only cuz they match everything. I have a good collection of nude heels and that's exactly the reason why....
Nude heels are also my favorite because they totally longate my legs.

In Flight Entertainment:
I'm an Apple FREAK. I love all Apple products, they're just legit like that. ;) I have NEVER had problems with any Apple products....like I said, they're just legit like that. =)

When inflight I gotta have my iPad. This thing truly saves space and I love it. I have over 600 books. Tons of my favorite movies, music, music videos and my favorite tv shows. I can use GoGo flight wifi if I need, and it even allows me to catch up on work or even my blog (what I'm doin now), I absolutely love it. Best gadget for anyone always on the go....

Snacks:

Fiber One bars, a fruit, and Dasani water.... Easy and fill me up. But on the days I'm feelin good I will take my norm

i had to get a photo of this water.....I LOVE seeing this. (definitely ONLY in LA) haha and it's the best water EVER ;)

Grande Iced Coffee, 5 pumps Hazelnut, and half & half =)

A few other things I never leave home with out are:

**Ralph Lauren 2 piece:

I don't have the best body (and that its definitely NOT ME to the left lol- i only wish haha), in fact, i hate my body but I do love to get in the water...and most of the time I like to hit the pool or beach if nothing else, so I always have my favorite Ralph Lauren swimsuit; very similar to the picture on the left.

**Sunglasses:
it never fails, I always knock out before take off and for some crazy reason am up during flight, yet I still fall asleep before landing lol....so just so no one captures me sleeping hellah ugly on the plane I wear these. Plus, I don't wanna look all mohe when I land in some other city. Not cute....and not what it do lol....

**Conair 1/2inch barrel curling iron:

you know I can't be running around w/these nappy roots not hooked up lol.... I've had it for years now and it still works wonders for my hair.



Believe it or not, all these things fit in my carry on. I seriously cannot live with out any of these items while on the road or on the plane. What's in your carry on?!?!

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