Midterms, Flu Season, Pier, Cupcakes, Thinkin About You, The Procrastination Song

I can speak for all of us when I say right now we are feeling the pressures of midterms. It's crazy that this month is almost over; Holiday season is beginning soon, then its winter break and then its spring semester...Focusing on the present, I can tell flu season is in effect. I've been noticing so many people sneezing around me and my sweet paranoia resulted in my own sickness as well. Going to work sick is not a joyful time. I recommend taking good care of yourself, getting enough sleep (yes even with the temptations of staying up all night to study) and drinking lots of water.  Then, you can embrace the beautiful weather on your breaks from class.(The picture on the left will be explained in the next paragraph).

Yesterday was my dad's birthday so we decided to go eat dinner at the pier. Being able to see the sunset while literally eating by the ocean was beyond words. So I took a picture (on the left) isn't it completely breath-taking? The best part was that while my family and I were waiting for our food, a man came into the restaurant and played classical guitar next to us. I am completely in love with Spanish style finger picking its very enriching and it makes me so content, that's one way to cheer me up just by that sound. 

He started playing a classical version of "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk, I'm not kidding! It was the most beautiful composition I've ever heard. My sister and I were the only guests who knew the song, other than the waiters who requested him to play it. I looked over at him and he smiled while he was playing I blushed. One of the waiters told me he was playing that by ear because he heard "Get Lucky" on his iPhone.

Anyways the pier is a few blocks away from school, which is pretty convenient if any you guys are stressed from midterms and need a nice walk to relax your mind. It's also quite inspiring for writers who have writer's block. I remember one time my friend, Billy and I got out of class early and decided to have lunch on the pier it was amazing. Also, if you go kayaking I recommend you don't kayak under the pier because its first not allowed and second its very dangerous. I've done it once with my sister and my friend Jack, we all survived. Haha.

So after dinner we brought my dad some cupcakes from Crushcakes Cafe! Originally, there was only one on Anacapa Street by downtown State Street, also near by school, but there's now one in Isla Vista.

 (http://www.crushcakes.com/menus.html) If you have a sweet tooth these cupcakes are sensational. I promise you. I had these for my 16th, 17th, and 18th birthdays. Although they are somewhat pricy they are so worth it! My favorite is the strawberry blush.

On a different note, I brought my ukulele to school. My friend has an amazing singing voice, she and I were practicing a song that we're going to cover its called "Thinking About You" by Frank Ocean.  It's a great song. Also I wrote a new song called "The Procrastination Song" its up on my soundcloud, but its not the best version of it. I need to record it again and make it perfect, I happened to be a perfectionist anyways...

-KIKI REYES

P.S:I covered some more Civil Wars.. https://soundcloud.com/kikisrey/tip-of-my-tongue-the-civil

Temptations, Took the 2:03pm train going anywhere, Harbor and Seafood Fest, City Council Elections...

It's still stuck in my head... (the song from the last post) hmm at least its not some annoying song because that would drive me insane. I've been writing some new songs completely inspired by this wonderful fall weather as well as inspired my own experiences. Just a walk around school can inspire me to write a verse of a new song. I have been tempted to bring my ukulele to school, but I haven't because I'd be way too distracted to focus in my classes. In fact, my friends use to give me a time limit with playing guitar because once I start playing I can't stop. It's addicting.

I was able to visit my sister in Camarillo on Friday. My mom and I took the train there, it was our first time. It was such a soothing ride and the scenery was unbelievable (Picture on the left). We are all seriously blessed to live in such a beautiful coast. I was doing some of my American Literature homework and then an hour later we were there. My sister picked us up and we spent all day in Camarillo shopping for my dad's birthday presents.

It was a nice little day trip, but its making me crave a big adventure for winter break; Maybe, up north to San Francisco or Berkeley, to visit some friends.

This weekend in Santa Barbara was the Harbor and Seafood Festival! It was literally across the street from school. This event is where the whole community gathers to enjoy delicious sea food and embrace our Santa Barbara culture. Apparently, my first time going to this festival was when I was five years old, but I honestly don't have a slight memory of it. (My sister, my dog, and I on the left) Fortunately, I went this year with my family and we walked around looking at the different booths. Many were selling clothing, there was face painting for the children, booths informing us of keeping our environment clean, and most of them were food booths.

I saw two familiar ones though, one happened to be the SBCC Culinary Arts program(http://www.sbcc.edu/careercenter/cte_pages/culinary_hotel_cte.php)  and the other was the SBCC Marine Diving Technologies Program (http://www.sbcc.edu/marinediving/) . I actually went up to the diving program and asked them personally for a picture of their table, as seen on the left. So if any you are interested in diving or cooking I recommend you to join these programs.

While I was at the festival I saw Wayne Scoles, one of the candidates for major of Santa Barbara. I had just received my ballot earlier this week, so my sister and I approached him and asked him several questions about what he would improve about our city. It was great talking to him in person rather than reading the Voter Information Pamphlet. This goes for everyone election day is next month, so I encourage you to be informed with what's going on in your local city council.  I still have a long way to go to make set decisions on who and what I'd be voting for this year.

Midterms are coming up... enough said. I hope everyone has a fabulous week! If your just tuning in to my blog, you have made the best mistake of your life! :)

- KIKI REYES

P.S Over the weekend someone asked me what my major was and I said it was English and they told me "That's boring." I laughed and thought little do they know how exciting the world of literature is.