Pictured: A lagoon in Exuma, Bahamas

It's 2016 - a fresh start.

I'm back from my 5 month hiatus! It's been so long, I know. I've just gotten so caught up with college, work, binge watching Gossip Girl, etc. I'm glad to be back doing what I love.

In honor of my return, I wanted to show you all a song I found recently, named "Never Be Like You" by Flume. If you know me, I really appreciate good music; this is by far one of the best tracks I've heard in a while.

If you are new to my blog, welcome! I'll be blogging at least once a week - twice if possible.

Kisses and Kitkats,

Denise

I really, really love my bed.

And I mean that.

I spent the beginning of my weekend with Sierra and ended with Allie. 

Saturday morning. Sierra and I headed to Great America (the amusement park). It's been a year since the last time I went--I hadn't gone the whole summer because I just live so damn far away from it, and I still have no license. Bummer. We went on about two rides and ate the rest of the time. I particularly remember that it was about 100 degrees that day. So fuxking hot. I almost wished I was in Canada for the day. 

And you know what isn't right? Catcalling. I felt so at fault for wearing shorts and a crop top on a hot day. I'm really not asking for attention. I wore what I felt was comfortable to an amusement park, yet I get catcalled. It's the worst. People who do it scare the shit out of me. Sorry to say this but I'm not interested. I really don't feel safe when it happens either, so just leave me alone! No offense, but if you were well-dressed, I may not be as offended, but since most of you aren't, NO THANK YOU. GOODBYE.

The next day, Allie had her farewell lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory.
I'm currently in a library rn bc college started! I honestly wanted to delete this blog post, but I just wanted to write about this day just in case I want to read about it again sometime later on.
Julia, Jackie, Tanvi, Kat, Miguel, and Allie's family were there too. To be honest, nothing interesting really happened during lunch LOL. It was mostly after, when I spontaneously spent the night at Allie's house. She didn't want me to go home just yet because that would be the last time I'd see her for who knows how long. I love Allie, so I just decided to stay over and spend some time with her and her family. We ended up going to Kohl's for some last minute-- literally last minute, we had 30 minutes before the store closed--shopping. Then we headed over to the Bourbon Market (I think? maybe it was Boston Market. I don't really remember) and ate some chicken and mac and cheese. The rest of the night, we watched The Purge. I was already falling asleep, and I could tell Allie did not want me to sleep. I was a little annoyed-then I realized I really don't have much time with her.

God, I already miss her. She's crazy and obsessed with too many boys, but I love her. She's my best friend.

:(:

Kisses and Kitkats,
Denise 

Last summer, I started watching Awkward.

The show is about a girl who lives an  "awkward" life and blogs about it. I'm not really sure why, but blogging always seemed appealing to me. 

That was the main reason of the start of this blog - to blog about everything that's happening in my life. I'm going to continue posting OOTDs, songs of the day, etc, but now this blog will become more personal. 

Especially since I'm starting college in exactly a week.

Oh god.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I bought a moleskine notebook! I've been wanting to keep a journal for quite a while, and here I am. Surprisingly, it's helped me a lot this past week - along with some Lana del Rey and binge-watching Parks & Recreation.

Kisses and Kitkats,

Denise

Hey everybody! I've recently been very busy dealing with college. There's just been so much going on, but I have now made a commitment to post at least once a week! Every Thursday, to be exact. 

Today I'll be presenting to you two of my favorite outfits from last week and a quick little rant. 

Festival Outfit

Job Interview Outfit

I am an 18-year-old girl who does not know how to live her life independently. Mostly because I've spent the past 18 years sheltered in my own home with my parents hovering over me--as LA natives put it, "helicopter parents."

I admit it: I really don't know much about being a grown up. I also prefer being in a smaller group of close-knit friends rather than having hundreds of other ones that I barely even know. 

July 14 - 15: college orientation.

Objective? Complete event without complaining/crying/dying.

I am 18 and I don't have my license. I know, you're probably completely judging me right now. I'm a late bloomer! Plus my parents are always scared to take me out driving. Anyways, I took public transportation to my college, SJSU. I met my friend Miguel and Jackie before actually heading down to orientation. When we arrived, we noticed people bringing luggages. Seriously? For a one night thing? But I was too quick to judge. Some people had actually flown from different parts of the U.S. and just had their luggage with them. 

The school I'm attending was not exactly my first choice, but I have a feeling I'm definitely going to enjoy it here. 5 minutes into orientation and I had already made new friends named Kara and Sham! I was surprised, mostly because I am the most anti-social person in the world, yet I managed to make friends so quickly. 

Right then I knew I was going to be okay. 

I dormed with Kara and Sham. Each have different personalities, but they were just the greatest roommates. 

Later on that morning, we were all put into random groups. I was in group 4. I knew absolutely no one. I said hi to this one girl, but she was really shy. She didn't smile, and I thought she didn't like me for some reason. Kinda made me sad, honestly. But then I thought again--maybe she's just really, really shy. I made a few more friends in my group. Turns out, the most anti-social person in the world was the most not anti-social person in the group. My leader relied on me to answer when no one ever did. If you knew me 10 years ago, I was the kid who never talked. Sometimes, I am still that kid. But not during orientation. Not during college. I'm coming out of my shell for good. 

During icebreakers, we played this game called "Aye aye, captain." That's when I saw this very cute boy. Well, the back of a very cute boy. Then he turned around. I'm pretty sure my face had heart eyes. I learned that he was from Huntington Beach. No wonder he was so damn cute. 

Then I met a few more locals. I told them which school I went to, and they all said the same thing. "Wow! That place is more expensive than this college. How do you feel coming from a private to a public school?"

My answer? My high school isn't that special. I prefer not bragging about that kind of stuff. Except for the fact that we've had 3 olympians, and one recently went to the olympics. Polina Edmunds. As of coming to a public school? Extremely overwhelming. I came from a class of 22, 475, now to thousands. So yeah, I'm a little bit intimidated.

I am lucky enough to have Miguel and Jackie - my best friends - by my side. What would I do without them?!

As we were divided into our own majors (mine was Undeclared - Pre-nursing), Miguel and I met this girl named Mia. She was the sweetest and greatest person I've met during orientation! She was so much like us. I knew we'd be friends for quite a while. We also met Mia's boyfriend, who came to pick her up. They were absolutely #relationshipgoals.

Miguel, Jackie, and I walked together towards the end of orientation and grabbed a few hot dogs, hamburgers, and fries. Literally, how American can we get.

We walked across the main plaza, and I thought to myself,

"We're going to be okay. Smile. Be confident. Don't let anything stop you from chasing your dreams, because that starts now."

Kisses and Kitkats, 

Denise

12 days of the blazing sun, warm waters, and tasty seafood.

Honestly, I think I found paradise. I never thought I would actually find a place like this--everything in sight looked like it was just from a postcard: nothing looked real. I couldn't believe it. Exuma is where I want to spend most of my days, right by the beach.

Exuma is known for their swimming pigs! It would've been a shame if we skipped this part of vacation. Thursday was one of my favorite day spent in the Bahamas. We took a full day tour to swim with these cute pigs and sharks, snorkel in the Thunderball Grotto, and sightsee some of the islands that belong to the rich and famous. 

Swimming with pigs seemed a bit scary at first, not gonna lie. Were they friendly? Would they eat anything I gave them?

The answer is yes! To both. 

I can check that off the bucketlist :)

I also came to realize that there were plenty of Canadians vacationing on the island. I met one in particular. I'll just tell you guys a quick story.

No one could decide which beach they wanted to go to. In result, we stopped at a restaurant called Big D's. I sat on a bench, waiting for my drink, and looked up to see the most handsome boy I had ever seen in my life. He smiled, and to be honest, I was so confused! Was he smiling at me? He couldn't be. I was wearing no makeup and felt so bare. I was feeling self conscious. The Canadian--for a good 5 minutes--tried to make eye contact with me, but I just couldn't do it. Finally, when I came up to get my drink, he approached me.

"Hello love, are you from the Philippines?"

He had an accent! I almost melted. 

This is so teenage like, haha. According to my parents, he was hitting on me. I was completely drowned out by his gorgeous face and stunning body. I really had no idea what he was saying, and no words came out of my mouth.

Main point of the story? Canadians are hot af. 

The day began to become even more exciting as we dove into the Thunderball Grotto, where the James Bond movie, Thunderball, was filmed. Different types of fish crossed our paths--none I could identify. The current was fairly strong, and I was constantly being dragged into the ocean (which honestly freaked me out). Honestly, I just want to live here. Buy my own island in Exuma. Just gotta start saving up, like, now. 

How could you not like this?!

Not to mention, I stood where Victoria's Secret model, Candice, stood. And Pitbull. Even Kesha. And probably more celebrities. 

I've spotted Usher's yacht, Tim McGraw and his wife, and walked where Johnny Depp has. 

THIS WAS MY DREAM VACATION.

And I cannot thank my parents enough for bringing me to paradise.

No goodbyes because I'm definitely coming back! 

For more pictures, find me on:

IG (personal): deeennisseee

IG (travel account): ocean.aesthetics

VSCO: denisebeldia

Kisses and Kitkats,

Denise