Whale Watching

Happy Hump Day! Hope you all enjoyed your three day weekend. I had a great birthday weekend and got to spend my Labor Day in Dana Point whale watching. We saw three whales and lots of dolphins swimming right next to our boat. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures of the whales, but I got a few of the dolphins, as well as a snap of the blue jellyfish that have been washing up all over California recently.

How did you spend your Labor Day weekend? Let me know about your weekend adventures below!

xx, Ciera

Paw Prints in the Sand

It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Southern California today, which for every native Californian means only one thing- time to hit the beach! My puppy Phoenix had never been, so my dad and I decided to take him down to the Huntington dog beach. Unfortunately he’s a bit of a scaredy cat and was afraid to go in the water, but we explored the sand and enjoyed the sunny weather.

{ Ross shirt | American Eagle shorts | Aerie swimsuit | Vintage aviators }

Did you have any exciting weekend outings? Leave your questions and comments below 🙂

xx, Ciera

My Weekend Getaway

My Valentine’s/President’s day weekend was spent in one of the most interesting cities in California- San Francisco. My dad used to live in the city when he was younger so I love being able to go back and explore where he spent his time growing up.

When we first arrived it was cold and cloudy- around 50°F, to be exact.

We stayed at the W Hotel, which had the coolest mix of a modern and oriental theme. It had a bar and lounge downstairs, filled with lots of orchids and flowers and mirrors.

I got to do a few exciting things while on my little mini-vacation, including going to a concert, eating at the Ghirardelli Factory, trying out new cupcakes, visiting some of my Chinese relatives, and of course a little sightseeing. I’ll be posting more about it over the next few days so stay tuned!

xx, Ciera

Weekly Recap: La Brea Tar Pits, Thrift Shopping, Scholarships, and More Fashion Shows

These past two weeks have been so crazy hectic that I have barely had time to breathe, much less sleep, or blog. I thought that the end of senior year would be easy and relaxing, but of course it is the complete opposite. Now, where do I even begin? (I’ll try to keep this as short as possible.)

Best Friends hosted a pet adoption event at the La Brea Tar Pits with over 50 rescues and over 1,000 adoptable animals. My aunt’s rescue Good Dog-Dog Talk had a booth there, where I volunteered at all day Saturday and Sunday, taking turns walking and petting them. All the dogs were so adorable- I wanted to take all of them home!

Tuesday and Wednesday were Spent running around Macy’s, pulling handbags and exchanging sizes during the Padre fittings.

I spent 4 hours taking my AP Statistics test on Friday, so afterwards I decided to treat myself to a little retail therapy. The Salvation Army by my house has a 50% discount on all clothes on Fridays, so me and my sister did some summer shopping there as well as Nordstrom’s Rack. Later we got dessert from Snow Station.

Saturday was another crazy day packed full of excitement. G by Guess hosted a free event at the Wango Tango Village with live performances, tons of booths, food and drinks, and a Guess fashion show that I worked backstage. There was so many different things to do, and the best part was everything was free! I ended up going home with an iPhone sound amplifier, nail file, sunglasses, headphones, along with free coke, ice cream, and popcorn.

Then, while I was walking around the Village, I got a call from the LAFD Scholarship Board of Directors letting me know that I was the winner of a $2,500 scholarship! This was the first scholarship I had ever applied to, which made it even more unbelievably exciting. Talk about beginner’s luck!

The day was still not over yet, as I had another fashion show that night for the Padre Foundation at the Marriott hotel. Padre stands for Pediatric Adolescent Diabetes Research Education. This show in particular was one of my favorites because all of the kids who were modeling were absolutely adorable and ecstatic about getting to walk with the professional models.

Both shows ended up a great success. I have another show I’m dressing for at Macy’s on Thursday, so I will keep you posted.. 🙂

xx, Ciera

Weekend Recap: Fashion a La Mode, Garage Saling, Informal Modeling, and 2013 Pet Expo

Happy Monday! I’m still exhausted from my jam-packed three day weekend… but I have to admit, I love being on the go because it keeps me on my toes and life interesting. So here we go!

On Friday my fashion class took a field trip to Saddleback’s third annual Fashion a la Mode event from 11-6 pm. This was my second time attending, and it was again an amazing experience. Industry speakers came to speak to high school students about their careers and experiences, as well as instruct several workshops for students to explore the endless opportunities and possible career paths in fashion.

The event began with a pizza and salad lunch served while guest speaker Beth Jones from B Jones Style spoke about the takeoff of her amazing blogging and styling career.  Every student attended three different workshops, along with a group competition at the end. My workshops were Styling, Tie-Dying, and Blogging. I competed in the Merchandising category, where in groups of 4-5 we developed our own store to demonstrate a specific theme and trend.

My group named our boutique “Fallen Vixen“, aimed at 16-25 women with confident, edgy style. The trend was grunge/black and white. After the competition, there was an ice cream social, fashion show of student made garments, and awards given out with cute goodie bags.

I woke up bright on Saturday and early to go garage saling with my mom and sister. Whenever there are neighborhood garage sales, we try to get out and find some great deals, especially now that they are taking an eBay selling class and selling things online. (I will be posting my garage sale findings soon!)

After I got home, I quickly changed my clothes and drove down to Macy’s at Victoria Gardens for the Teen Vogue Shopping Party. I worked as a volunteer dresser for informal modeling of Teen Vogue’s new line in Macy’s. Photographers were there taking pictures of customers in front of a white Teen Vogue backdrop, while the models stood on blocks to show off the clothes.

My aunt runs an animal rescue Good Dog-Dog Talk, and I volunteer with her whenever I get a chance. She was at the OC Fairgrounds America’s Family Pet Expo all weekend long, along with hundreds of other rescues and vendors. My job was to drive dogs down to the event (she lives in West Covina), walk them, and talk to people about adopting. Luckily, two dogs were adopted yesterday and they received many applications 🙂

xx, Ciera