Fort Funston, San Francisco, California

Recently I had an outing to a beautiful view spot in San Francisco with a good friend of mine. It's right on the water and it's a great place to watch the sunset. I suggest bringing a cardigan or a light jacket and boots. It will get cold. And a heads up, people like to take their dogs there and let them off their leashes. From my experience there, most of the dogs were small or medium sized dogs. A few big dogs, but they were all well trained. They weren't running around, just seemed to be relaxing. This was my first time at Fort Funston and I've fallen in love with it. I definitely plan on being a regular at this view spot throughout my years in San Francisco. Here are some pictures I took while I was there. I hope you enjoy them and maybe even plan a trip to Fort Funston to enjoy the view for yourself. :)

Yours Truly,
Carla Renee
xoxo

 The drink came from a boba shop not too far from Fort Funston, it's called TeaWay Express. I got the taro milk tea boba. It's one of my favorite flavors.

Here is a picture of a teddy bear that a guy set up for his girlfriend. He purposed to her here and my friend and I were lucky enough to witness it. It was such a beautiful moment. Congrats to the newly engaged couple. <3 

 My adventurous friend who brought me here. He knew about this place for years and I'm so glad he invited me here.

Just in Time For the Holidays

Thanksgiving is a few days away and it's one of my favorite holidays. Thanksgiving to me is a time of bonding and togetherness. The family gathers in one home to laugh, catch up on old times, make new memories, love,  and enjoy a delicious feast together. I won't be flying home to Southern California for Thanksgiving this year unfortunately. It'll be my first time spending the holidays away from family, but it's okay. I'll be home just in time for Christmas.

Now that I'm older there's one thing that I would love to do.That one thing is to host a Thanksgiving dinner for my close friends and family. Hosting a Thanksgiving dinner is a lot of work, but I think that there isn't a better feeling than decorating your home and preparing a meal for you and your guests to enjoy and bond over. Unfortunately, I'm a college student and I live in the on-campus dorms at my university so my budget and living situation won't allow me to do so. But in the future when I'm out of college and I have my own home I will host a Thanksgiving dinner at least once. :)

Here are some Thanksgiving recipes that I would experiment with if I were to host a Thanksgiving feast. I hope you guys find these recipes helpful and yummy like I do. To see the recipes click on the names of the dishes above the picture and it will send you straight to the recipe. 
Enjoy and Happy Holidays. :)

Yours Truly,
Carla Renee
xoxo

Pear, Arugula, and Pancetta Salad

I would make this light salad during the day before dinner. It's light and is just enough to satisfy your hunger so that you're not full before dinner.
















Nutty Brown Rice

Brown rice is a great side dish to any meal and it's really healthy for you. I love brown rice. According to Health.com, brown rice contain a healthy carb that boosts metabolism and burns fat. Certain nuts like almonds, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, and peanuts have beneficial effects for your health. All around, great dish. :)










Spinach Puffs

This is a quick and easy vegetarian dish. I like spinach. I think this dish is a creative and fun way of incorporating vegetables into your meal.














Classic Roast Turkey with Herbed Stuffing and Old-Fashioned Gravy

Thanksgiving Dinners always have a center piece and what better center piece than a classic roast Turkey. Turkey is like the signature dish of Thanksgiving. Nothing like a classic turkey right?











Cranberry Eggnog Tart

From experience I've learned that eggnog is a hit or miss with a lot of people. They either love it or hate it. I love eggnog! When I came across this recipe I couldn't turn it down. I looks so good. I hope someone tries this recipe.
















Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake Pie

I'm not a fan of pumpkin, but I do know that pumpkin pie is a popular dessert for Thanksgiving. I love cheesecake and ginger so I would be willing to give pumpkin another try. This looks delicious! Cheesecake is a smooth dessert so it would be a perfect way to end a great Thanksgiving dinner.











Spiced Hot Chocolate

After a long day of festivities it's nice to finish the night off with a warm cup of Hot Chocolate to unwind.














Oreo Frappe

If you prefer cold drinks at the end of the night, this just might be the one. :)
















For more recipes like these go to bigoven.com or epicurious.com where I got the recipes I posted above.

Music to Capture the Seasonal Feeling

So, I don't know about you guys but Autumn has definitely set in out here in San Francisco. It's gotten cold and people are in coats and boots and wrapped up in scarves. What I like to do, specially in cold weather, is have music matching the cold weather. I feel like I'm having one of those cliche movie moments when I'm walking alone bundled up in warm clothes with my hands in my coat pockets and I have relaxing music in my headphones. Maybe that's just the hopeless romantic in me, lol. But, anyways, here are the artists and songs that I recommend for those cold Autumn days. :)

Tori Kelly's "Foreword" EP

Tori Kelly released "Foreword" on October 22, 2013. Her voice is amazing and she's an amazing live performer. I love every song on this EP. My personal favorites that are constantly on repeat are "Dear No One" and "Paper Hearts". Besides her newly released EP she has many videos on her YouTube channel of her doing covers of songs with other talented artists. I suggest you guys check her out. She's amazing and her music is just right for those cold days out or even for those days when you're inside staying out of the cold.











Jesse Barrera "From the Ground Up"

This album was released earlier this year, in March to be exact. I just recently bought this album on iTunes and I'm kind of sad I didn't buy it sooner. This album is so unique and the lyrics are so relatable. I've been a fan of Jesse Barrera for years now. He also has another album that he released a few years ago called "Love in Technicolor" which I will mention right after this album. A couple of songs great for the weather off of this album would definitely be "Promises" featuring AJ Rafael who is also an amazing artist, "Stars", "Wasted", and "Saved" featuring Melissa Polinar, who is another amazing artist. Definitely an album worth looking in to.









Jesse Barrera "Love in Technicolor"

This album was released in 2010 and I still have it on regular rotation on my iPod. I would tell you guys which songs are great for this weather, but I would just be listing off the whole album. Every single song on this album is amazing. Jesse Barrera's sound is definitely one of a kind. If you want to capture the mood of a cold Autumn day/afternoon, just play this album. I love it.














Ed Sheeran "+" (Deluxe Edition)

Ed Sheeran is an artist I came across about a year or two ago. I love him. For those of you that are familiar with him and his music you know exactly why it would be absurd of me to not mention him as one of the artists to listen to to capture the essence of Autumn. He's so talented and it's incredible how a majority of his songs can hit home, for me anyways. If you have not heard of Ed Sheeran I really hope you look into his music. Ed Sheeran's music is one of those things that everyone should have the chance to experience.










These are the artists that I have chosen for the season. There are so many artists and songs that I listen to. It was really hard picking artists, but these are the ones that I have been listening to the most lately. I might do another music post as a continuation. Or, actually, I might continue to do weekly or biweekly music posts. So look out for that. Also, if you have any artist or song suggestions for me, write them in the comments and I will gladly look them up and maybe even put them in my future music posts. I hope you guys enjoy these artists as much as I do. :)



yours truly,

-Carla Renee 
xoxo

Getting Out of My Comfort Zone

So in my last post I talked about going out and living life and today I did just that, but not by my own will necessarily. Today was a beautiful day in San Francisco. I was texting a guy friend of mine and he also agreed that today was a nice day. A little further into our conversation he asked if I wanted to sit in the grass with him on campus. Me being the dorky somewhat smitten girl that I am, I was totally blushing, but I said yes. Thank God we were texting, if we were in person that would have been so embarrassing. When we met up he instantly started conversation. Asking me how my day was and what was new with me. It was nice. After finally finding a nice place in the sun to sit we sat down in the grass and started talking more. He asked me about my love for volleyball and I asked him about his love for his sport. We talked about school, growing up, and how it's okay to be kid sometimes. It was such a refreshing feeling to have someone interested in my interests and listening to what I have to say. I'm not gonna lie, I had a crush on him before this day, but when it was just the two of us sitting in the grass enjoying the sun I started to like him more. He had to leave because there were some things he had to take care of, but he walked me halfway to my dorm and we talked more. We were laughing and chatting and I was holding onto his arm while we were walking. I had never held onto his arm before, but it felt right. After a certain point we hugged and said our goodbyes. I walked the rest of the way to my dorm all smiles. Looking like the dorky somewhat smitten girl that I am. I wonder if this is what it's like to take things slow or maybe I'm just way in over my head. Regardless, I've never had such a simple day with someone before, especially with a guy. He's definitely something different. But, it's a good different. A different I like. I really hope we get more days together like these.

Just Breathe

So far I'm about 3 months into my first semester of college. I only have about a month left before the semester is over and today was like any other day, me trying to survive the day. Walking out of my last class with a friend, we were talking about how much effort should be put into college work. I'm putting all of my effort into my school work while my friend kind of isn't. His response to that was, "I have other important things to do. Like hang out with my roommates, go outside, and just live." I had no idea how to respond to that. He took me by surprise. Before leaving he said, "You'll understand eventually." 
After he left I thought about what he said. I had been so wrapped up and stressed out about school work that I haven't been living. I've just been going through the motions of waking up, going to class, doing homework, studying for long hours, and napping whenever I wasn't in class or had an exam to study for or a paper to write. It kind of makes me laugh now that I've realized this because wasn't living the reason why I moved away from home in the first place? 
I came to San Francisco to explore and experience a new pace of living. To find myself and feed my passion for writing and photography. I came to San Francisco to reinvent myself; to expose myself to something unfamiliar and let myself blossom to my fullest potential. Looking back, I had a plan. I was going to get into photography more and write more and just live more. But I haven't been doing that. I've been so focused on making sure that I get into the nursing program by getting straight A's that I haven't been living. Now that I think about it, once I get into the nursing program and get my degree what kind of stories can I tell about my college life if all I did was go to class and live in the library? None.
From this point on I am making it a goal and a promise to myself to live. To just breathe and take in the sights and appreciate life for what it is. Because after I accomplish my professional goals I have nothing else to show for my life. I don't want my life to be all about my career. I want my life to be about me and the things I love so that I can pass it onto my kids and my kids can pass stories about my life onto their children.
Now, with this proclamation I'm not saying I'm not gonna try and aim for A's anymore, I am. My goal is to get A's in college. A's just aren't gonna be my life anymore. I'm going to wake up early in the mornings and not stay in bed all the time. I'm going to blog more and devote more time to learning more about photography. I'm going to try and rekindle my passion for music and possibly relearn the piano (maybe). I'm going to set time out to write more. I'm going to explore when my schedule allows me to. I'm going to be successful in school and enjoy the finer things in life; my passions.
I'm going to do all of these things because I want to do all of these things. I'm making it a promise to myself to do all of these things because when I look back on my life I want to be able to say I accomplished something more than just a career, I want to be able to say I accomplished happiness and meaning of life.
Sometimes you just have to breathe. 



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