Crosstown Rivalries

Every city has them. Crosstown rivalries. Those schools you hate just for the sake of having a rival, whether it’s athletically or academically. In Santa Barbara, there are 3 high schools: SBHS, San Marcos, and Dos Pueblos. Game days against these schools are a SUPER big deal. For example, the SB vs. SM boys volleyball game on tuesday, and the SB vs. SM girls lacrosse game on wednesday.

Beating a rival school is so satisfying, even though a lot of the times your good friends are on the other side. A bit of competitiveness between friends never hurts! Plus school having insane school spirit makes these events even more fun. A good scream team is CRUCIAL to your school’s success. Not to mention killer cheers. The typical Don’s house and “We can’t hear you!” cheers are always fun. And if your team is losing, you can always resort to the “WE HAVE MORE FUN” which was heard a few times at tuesday’s volleyball game. One of my personal faves.

Sophie and I ready to crack some SM girls at our lax game this week

 

Celebrating the Earth

April 23rd this year was Earth Day, a day dedicated to appreciating and respecting our Earth and its environment. In my opinion, we should live our lives with this attitude every day. Our home is a beautiful place! Look around you every once in a while and just take in all the sights around you. We are lucky to live in a city as gorgeous as Santa Barbara, which is filled with different habitats and life.

Mexico Sunrise. Worth waking up early to see this.

There’s so much to see from way up high.

Tide pools are unexpected places to find some amazing creatures, always worth looking around to see some.

It’s not often you come across natural springs, so it’s definitely worth the hike to 3 pools.

Shout out to Mother Nature for being awesome.

Desert Nights

The three nights at the festival were soo unbelievably exciting, just due to the craziness of the DJs performing. I saw Flume, Skrillex, Calvin Harris, Disclosure, Dillion Francis, and Zedd while I was there. Everyone had so much energy and went absolutely insane when the acts came on. It was so fun to be in the midst of a crowd all dancing and having the time of their lives!

Calvin Harris on Sunday night went out with a huge bang of confetti

Everything was lit up at night, from the ferris wheel to the palm trees

Going on shoulder is a prime way to get a good view of the acts

Disclosure was the last act I saw of the festival and was by far one of the best

Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival

This pas weekend had to be one of the most memorable weekends of my life. Friday morning at 6 am my mom, sister, friends and I all set out on a road trip to the desert. Our destination was to the Coachella music festival in Indio, held yearly in April. I had been looking forward to this weekend since I got my tickets on the pre-sale months ago. And I was most definitely not disappointed.

Direct Relief International

DRI, a nonprofit organization that focuses on disaster response, has it’s head quarters here in SB. I volunteer for this organization and this week to raise money we did our annual flower drive. For this I went around with a friend and delivered people’s pre ordered flowers as a donation to DRI.

The video above gives insight on the goals and purposes for DRI. It’s nice to be able to do small tasks for an organization that makes huge changes out of what I am able to do.

http://www.directrelief.org/blog/

 

I’ve been on a tour of the DRI Warehouse where they keep all of their supplies that need to be ready to sent at a moments notice for disaster aid.

Probably the main thing direct relief provides is medical care where it would usually be unavailable in underdeveloped countries. Vaccines along with the proper equipment for childbirth are vital to these people.

http://www.pqmd.org

 

Check out the Direct Relief blog!

http://www.directrelief.org/blog/

Boys Volleyball

I love the boys volleyball team at SBHS. I attend nearly every home game to support the team! They kill it, and are having a great season. They took a few tough losses but are recently coming together as a team super nicely. It’s so much fun to watch them play!

 

The ONLY thing lacking from this sport is the cheer section! When we played DP at home, and won in a really exciting game, they were louder than us. I really want to see more people coming out to support, because great school spirit is what high school is all about right?

 

Weekend in the Middle of Nowhere

This weekend is State Cup, an annual soccer tournament that my club team participates in. I love these tournaments because staying overnight in a hotel with my team is exciting and fun, and gives the tournament a more serious feel. The only bad thing about State Cup is that the it is located in the middle of no where 100 percent of the time. Places like Bakersfield, Lancaster, you get the picture. (If you don’t know either of those places then don’t bother looking it up, there’s absolutely nothing to see). The only thing these towns have to offer is a huge amount of room for soccer fields. And a lot of chain restaurants. This year our tournament is in Apple Valley, about 3 hours away in the desert.

The terrible journey from SB to Apple Valley maps.google.com

I’m going to have a lot of time to entertain myself, so here’s a post dedicated to making the best of situations and endless boredom. 🙂

1. Movies are key! Bring your computer and a few of your favorite DVDs (Mine is Frozen). I know this is pretty basic but you seriously can never go wrong with watching movies.

blogs.disney.com

2. Card games may seem like something for old people, but trust me if you get into them they can be a blast. One of my favorites is spoons, which is perfect to play with a big group like with my team.

3. Download the app Head’s Up!!! It’s the most classic game ever, I played in Vail with Maddy and Coco and I promise you will get plenty of laughs out of it.

itunes.apple.com

4. Don’t forget your swimsuit. Hotels like the Marriott always have a jacuzzi.

en.wikipedia.org

5. Last and DEFINITELY least, bring school work. Being productive when you have plenty of time on your hands is always a good idea. Plus AP exams are coming up!

sweeps.jobs

Old Friends and Beach Walks

Being from two cities has made my life hard in a lot of ways, but also taught me a lot of things. Keeping in touch with old friends is really crucial, even though sometimes I go for a while without talking to my friends from Palo Alto. However they’re people who’s friendships I really value and catching up with them constantly really makes me happy! That being said I was absolutely ecstatic when my best friend form up north, Katie Douty, let me know her and her twin brother and mom would be stopping by Santa Barbara for the day.

Even though we only had a few hours in the afternoon that went by much too quickly, we still had a great time. I’m so grateful that they are people I’ve been able to stay close too even though we live so far away and it’s difficult to plan visits to see each other. I know that these friendships are ones that will last for a lot of years!

 

I definitely encourage you guys to catch up with some old friends, you’ll definitely be in for a good surprise on what a good time you can have.

Good Eats Part 3: Best Sushi In Town

Over spring break I was able to go out to eat at two out of three of my favorite restaurants in town. All three of these happen to be Japanese cuisine, by far one of the best types of food. On Friday night I went out to eat at Arigato, a sushi restaurant in downtown Santa Barbara. What I looove about Arigato is the huge menu, so I can always switch it up when I’m there. On Friday I ordered the Eskimo roll, with salmon, asparagus, avocado, red onion, and spicy sauce. I highly recommend it. You can find a copy of the menu here.

http://www.gogobot.com/arigato-sushi-santa-barbara-restaurant

Arigato is on State Street between Victoria and Anapamu.

The second Japanese restaurant I visited this past week was Kyoto, on Saturday night. I came here with friends for a birthday dinner. What I love about this restaurant is how authentic it is to japanese culture. You are able to reserve private tatami rooms for bigger parties, where you even have to take off your shoes! The tatami rooms are closed off by sliding doors, and inside you sit on the floor with your feet on the ground underneath an extremely low table. The whole atmosphere is super fun and interesting, and the private room makes for a perfect birthday party or other celebration. You can find the website with the menu and more here.

http://www.santabarbara.com

The pic above shows the inside of the restaurant, with the normal tables on the left and tatami rooms on the right. Kyoto is on upper State street.

The last Japanese restaurant that’s my fave is Sakana, in Montecito. This is the usual place I go if I want sushi but unfortunately I wasn’t able to go over break 😦 Beware though this place is pretty pricy, although its soo worth it.

http://www.santabarbara.com

Go check this places out if you’re into sushi as much as I am!

Pool Daze

There’s nothing better than hopping from a steaming jacuzzi to a cooler pool, or vice versa. Thats why spending a good portion of my spring break by the pool was absolutely amazing. My friends and I got in the spirit by swimming around and soakin up that vitamin D.

 

Being able to transition from the hot weather, to the snow, and back again was soo fun for this break. My friends and I are so lucky we have access to this opportunity, and we were able to totally make the most of our break. I barely found myself sitting not preoccupied  at home, or having no idea of what to do with friends.

 

My friends and I made the most of one of our afternoons by kicking it off with a friendly soccer match and hopping into the pool as soon as we got hot from the exercise. The whole situation is just fun and ideal for spring break and summer coming up.

 

I hope to have countless days like these once school is out for good. Being able to relax and be stress free while having a good time with my friends is what I live for. This type of environment can provide me with just that, and makes for a good time for everyone there. Go hop in the water and get active!