This past weekend, I celebrated my birthday. Along with looking forward to another year added on to your age (or for those that look at the glass half empty, a year closer to death) you get to look forward to a party, when the anniversary of your birth rolls around. I love parties. I love the whole excitement of it all, and creating memories that will last forever. For my fourteenth, I really wanted to do something special. I feel like fourteen is a bit of an eh age. There isn't a significant change that occurs - at ten I reached double digits, at thirteen I was a teenager....when I'm sixteen I'll get my permit (okay I'm Asian, so maybe not). To make up or that lack of "oomph" to this year's age, I wanted to have an extravagant birthday party.
Planning is always time consuming, but in the end when you realize that you will have a time in your life that you'll never forget, and all your hard work paid off, it is definitely worth it. So now...you probably wonder, what did you do? I decided to have a glamorous Hollywood bash, or as my friends have now dubbed it "a so very LA outing". Living in Los Angeles my whole life, I've been in and out of Hollywood all the time. Eight of my closest friends and I, definitely wanted to arrive in style, so we rented a limousine to take us to the boulevard. I've never had my own limo before, so I was definitely aww struck.
Of course, we had our share of silliness as we drank our Sprites and Dr. Pepper's on our adventure.
Embracing our mustaches!
Non-alcoholic, don't freak the freak out :)
In the limo, I also opened birthday presents and I was so "surprised" when my friend's all got me gift cards! I guess they know me pretty well, considering the fan of Sephora and Forever 21 cards shown in the picture below!
We snapped pictures and sipped on our sodas, and at last we finally arrived in Hollywood. Clouds were forming in the sky, and unlike the "typical" SoCal weather, I knew that rain was scheduled in the forecast. I hate the rain. I have a love-hate relationship with it. I'm not the type of person that cries when my makeup gets runny or when my hair gets a bit poofed. I just hate the uncomfortable, tired feeling that the the wet, cold air brings along. For my birthday, I made it my mission to make sure that I wouldn't let the weather bring me down.
Hollywood was jammed packed with cars. Kobe Bryant happened to appear the same day, so the roads were blocked off for him. It was hilarious when dozens of men and women stared at us, as our limousine stretched across Hollywood Blvd. They were probably expecting Kobe. The windows were tinted and they couldn't see us inside, but we felt extremely self conscious as they all waved and shouted.
We made our way through the various stores Hollywood & Highland has to offer. I had originally arranged to spend seven hours at the mall - but I soon found out that rescheduling to five was a great call. Instead of hitting Louis Vuitton, Fossil and all the "expensive" stores, we all wanted to do some "practical" shopping.
First store: American Apparel
American Apparel has always been my lust store. The prices aren't too expensive, but when you are on a tight teenage budget, the five items you want to get do add up. I ended up getting a dark pink crop top for $16.00. The quality and standard of American Apparel sets a bar for all other companies. You certainly get what you pay for.
Onward! We then moved onto Sephora. Good thing by this point, I had replaced my ankle boot heels to a pair of comfy and snug flats! Shop in style, but also consider comfort! I was a bit surprised that the gals and guys at Sephora weren't too customer friendly. They didn't really acknowledge our presence and the store wasn't packed at all, but they ignored my friends and I and only doted on the other customers. Regardless, I did end up getting the items that I wanted, and I love Sephora's customer service at other stores, so I have no hard feelings.
What I purchased:
Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer in Sand - $42
Benefit To Go Set - $10 (BARGAIN!)
Benefit Boing Concealer - $18
We then moved onto one of my favorite guilty pleasures - Forever 21. The thing about XXI is that it's an extremely inexpensive place - but you can drop $300 like nothing! Picking up 18 things and bringing them to the dressing room, I did a quick barcode scan on my phone and the total was already a whopping $490 bucks. Needless to say, I didn't get everything I had intended, but I did pick up a few key Spring wardrobe must haves.
In the dressing room...
One of the funniest moments of the day involved the dressing rooms. My friend Emma and I happened to be put side by side, and as we were in our individual stalls we were looking at the mirror and remarking about our outfits.
Me: "This dress is a bit too long, I'm not exactly sure if I like it"
Emma: "Eh, this dress is kind of blah. Let me here your opinion"
We both walk out and in astonishment we realize we are both wearing the same flowy white lace dress. Being petite girls, the dress didn't hit us well and even though it was beautiful, we had to pass it up.
Carrying our Forever 21 goodies as we head off in search for some excitement.
It remained clear but chilly for a good portion of the day. However, since I've never had a rain free birthday EVER in my life, the clouds did roll over and despite not being invited, my good 'ol friend Rain ended up coming.
The next stores we hit were H&M and MAC.
M.A.C. was quite an experience. I've had times where the people who worked there were out right rude. The store does have a reputation for treating it's younger clients with less respect than their older ones. I was expecting that Hollywood wasn't going to have the nicest employees. I was blown away with the customer service. The staff was very warm and demonstrated great worth ethic. Instead of getting Hue lipstick, I was recommended to get Creme Cup and I am happy with my decision. I also picked up an MSF natural.
Time rolled around, and we hit a list of other stores before snapping some pictures in front of the famous Hollywood sign. It was awkward feeling like a tourist as we strutted around.
The best part about being in a place full of people is that there is always someone who can hold the camera for you when you need a group shot! :)
If you ever happen to be at the Hollywood&Highland Center I really suggest checking out Dlush, a wonderful beverage bar. They serve coffees, smoothies and other tasty treats! We all ended up ordering the Ying Yang, a delicious blend of white chocolate and dark chocolate topped with marshmallows.
We hit other stores as well like Victora's Secret, Hot Topic and Express and finally ended up spending all our money and needed to take a rest. In my case, I didn't run out of bills...but more like strength! I was exhausted from battling the rain (trying to keep an umbrella up, is a challenge when it's windy!) and walking around all day lugging bagfuls of goodies. It certainly was fun! We ended up sitting around for an hour, gossiping while enjoying our Dlush drinks.
Here we are! This is the view that you get after directly walking through the door. The room's vibe is supposed to be airy and fresh -- and after it's been organized and cleaned, that's just what I feel. Being a true California girl, I opted for a nautical/beach theme. Keep in mind the area is small so I have to work with the space to the best of my ability. 
Ginger the dog sitting by my reading nook. This chair is from Ikea and I absolutely adore sitting in this corner with a good book. Reading endlessly is one of my favorite pastimes.
The vanity! I need to organize this -- but since I've been getting requests, this is it! I love the jewelry holder which is from Urban Outfitters. I also opted to display my makeup brushes and hair bands because they add that "glamorous" touch. 
