TWENTY • TWO

I haven't updated my blog mainly because I've had family visiting from Mexico, and you know how that goes: I had to give up my room, therefore giving up my computer (so no blogging time available). Anyway, this past week I turned 22! I didn't do much to celebrate me turning a year older. I do feel like celebrating by going dancing one night, hopefully soon! I seriously am such a grandpa compared to people my age, instead of partying and going out clubbing for my birthday I had a relaxing chill day. It was my day off and I spent it (of course) with the boy I love AND one of his old friends Angela M. Castelli. She is amusing, interesting, funny, fashionable and such a cool girl. I haven't hung out with her too many times but the times I have she's always full of energy and I love talking about pop culture with her. Like always, Victor gave me some GREAT gifts, and the presentation was so cute (you can see below):

he's so great at decorating/wrapping gifts.

a personalized/handmade "22" card.

The wrapping was so perfect and neat that I did not even want to rip it apart, I didn't want to ruin it! The first gift I opened was of Victors mom, she always knows exactly what kind of clothes (or even undies) I like, and has great taste when it comes to picking out things for me!

how cute is this shirt that she got me?! I love the bright yellow, and I love stripes! Perfect pairing! Perfect gift!

 Victors sister, Valerie (a.k.a Valerizzzle) also gifted me something super cute that I can't wait to wear! See below:

I love baseball tees and I love hoodies so her gift was the best of both worlds! Seriously can't wait to wear this out!

Then it was time to open Victors gifts and I was so nervous! I didn't know what to expect, and didn't want it to be something expensive. I was so happy when I opened the gifts and saw several things that I have been wanting for a while now!

GIFT REVEAL

I've wanted some dark ruby red military style boots for a while now and YUP HE GOT THEM FOR ME! That turquoise sweater is super cute, I love that color, and think it looks great on my extra tanned skin!

these socks are the cutest, he gifted me a pair a while back with little mustaches and I love them but these are my new favorite! I love skulls and there's even little turquoise skulls!

personalized cards, I love writing notes to friends/family and now I have another reason to do so with these super cute cards!

I loved all my gifts and he got me everything that I could have wanted! I love clothes, I love turquoise, I love skulls, I love stripes! All the gifts I received sum up who I am perfectly!

After the big gift reveal, we met up with Angela M. Castelli at the Mexican restaurant Acapulco for margaritas, chips and salsa, and pop culture gossip!

TYPICAL: hot wings.

MARGARITA TIME!

Eventhough I didn't do much to celebrate my 22 like people my age, I had a great time and it felt good to just have that day to relax. These days I'm always busy and my schedule is hectic that anytime I have a full day off I try and take advantage of it. This day off was extra special because I spent it alongside special people. I'm now 22 and even if it feels no different than 21, I can sense that this year has some great things set for me (not to mention a new apartment, a new routine, and a new/much more mature Jose). Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! Thank you to Angela M. Castelli (I just love saying her full name) for taking the time to hangout with me and Victor. Thank you to Leti Go (Victors mom) for always being there for me, being caring, and supportive. Thank you to Valerizzzle, for being so welcoming and calling me an easy person to shop for! Last but certainly not least thank you to Victor for making sure I had the most memorable birthday ever! Thank you for all that you planned, thank you for always having me in mind and thank you for always inspiring me!

SECRET SATURDAY.

This weekend was simply AMAZING! I was anxiously waiting for the weekend to come because Victor had planned a pre bday activity, that was top secret, and I had no idea what it was. Saturday morning arrived and we woke up super early, and headed out to a secret location. Victor punched in the address to my GPS and there I went, driving wherever my GPS told me to.

7:00 AM • en route to surprise pre bday activity

driving down a sketchy road, a bit woried.

crossing over a bridge, nerves at full force now.

Finally after driving for 30 minutes a little OVER AN HOUR we arrived! The funny thing was that even after reading the name of the place I wasn't sure what it was. I immediately asked Victor (super excited) if we were going to look for dinosaur fossils! As a kid I was OBSESSED with dinosaurs and loved anything dino (including the dino chicken nuggets!), so my first thought was that we were doing something dinosaur related but Victor just laughed, told me no and was surprised that I still hadn't guessed what it was that we were going to do. It literraly took me a while to realize where we were, I figured it out once we went up to the registration table! So the top secret activity we were doing that day was... wait for it... wait for it... ZIP LINING! I was super excited but even held back a bit because I didn't want to fan girl (freakout) in front of the manager! haha

Skull Canyon

all smiles, waiting for the rest of our zip line group!

decked out in zip lining gear!

 After getting all our zip lining gear, the pro zip liners trained us and took us for a practice zip line. See Victor below:

 After our zip lining training it was time for a 10 minute hike, and the real fun stuff:

driving up to our hike

Victor about to take off

Zip lining took a total of 90 minutes and it was exhilarating, thrilling, and tons of fun! The closest I've gotten to feeling like flying! There were different lengths and heights zip lines, and we even had a competition to see who could get the most leafs off a tree. I took off a total of 4 leafs! Victor, 0. I can't wait to do it again!

After our zip line experience we were tired and starving! We ended up going to Chili's, and feasting on all of this:

notice Victor in the background, pen in hand, writing down my family tree.

After Chili's we drove to my house and spent the rest of the day relaxing, catching up on our favorite shows, and cozy cuddling!

Victor looking up DIY blogs, and watching the hilarious movie Date Night.

Sunday morning I woke up next to him again and it just felt perfect, I love hugging him while he sleeps:

my morning view

This weekend was like nothing I have ever experienced, it was exciting, adventurous and something new that we both experienced. Victor is not a fan of roller coasters, let alone heights, (as oppose to me) but to see him take on zip lining for me was INCREDIBLE to say the least. I have no words to describe the feeling I got seeing him throw his hands up in the air as he flew across the sky. It was a feeling of happiness, a proud feeling because he did something out of his comfort zone and he enjoyed it and made the best of it. No one and I mean NO ONE has ever done that for me, he is truly the best boyfriend ever. I would have never guessed that he would take me ZIP LINING for my birthday, and that he would put himself out there like that for me! Lately my focus has been on the development of memories, and how what we experience in the present will transcend into a memory , into a third person perspective. The fact that both him and I experienced something totally new to us, and made a brand new memory together means so much to me. I will forever remember this weekend and how amazing it felt to be with him all weekend long, enjoying his company, acting silly with him, and waking up with him.

• To more memories to come •

want to experience zip lining? Click here for more info: skullcanyon

MY MAN • MY MUSE

Just a quick blog post about today, it was my day off, and for once I actually enjoyed it to the fullest! I slept in (sleeping in for me is just a little past 7:00am and a little before 8:00am, naturally I hardly wake up past 9), hanged out with my little nephew Ceelo, and practiced sketching/drawing again. I've always wanted to try and dabble a bit with sketching but never put the time and effort into it so I am trying my hand at it and I love it! I think I've just found a new hobby, and need to buy a sketchbook to keep all my work. So far all the sketches I've drawn are of my boyfriend, he is my biggest inspiration and my muse after all. It's fun to make a drawing out of some of my favorite photographs of him or as I did today, draw him as I see him in my mind: cool, edgy, confident, bad ass, and as he calls himself "the prince of Los Angeles".

starting point of my drawing: 

pencil + ink

adding some color:

LA skyline behind him | 711 Big Gulp filled with Coca-Cola | platform sneakers | bold sunglasses | camera ready

finished product:

THE PRINCE OF LOS ANGELES

I wanted to save the drawing and frame it then surprise Victor with it in a couple of days but I was so happy and excited with how it turned out that I couldn't resist and gave it to him as soon as I saw him. I hope to get better at drawing and hopefully continue to draw him the way that I see him in my head. I'm still planning to buy a frame to frame my mini masterpiece.

Later in the day we went out for hot wings at Bastards Sports Bar in Downey CA, and once the sun went down a bit we took photos of a good friends son for his upcoming bday party. This is such a cute picture of a picture: 

Victor taking great shots of Aiden.

I'm so glad I got to enjoy my day off. Fun times surrounded by special people. Now off to bed I go like the grandpa that I am.

• Buenas Noches •

LONG MONDAY

Just another manic Monday. More like just another manic Monday morning. I had work today super early from 2:00am to 10:45am. It was a long morning in deed but the only thing that honestly keeps me going and working long hours and sometimes 7 days a week is thinking about moving out with Victor! These long days at work will pay off once I get rewarded by getting home to the one boy I love. Speaking of moving out, I'm so excited because I found this beautiful apartment online, at a great price, in the mid city (mid-wilshire) area, and just one block away from Victors old apartment. We might end up going for a tour of the apartment later this week, wish us luck!

My morning might have started off to a rocky start, BUT I felt energized and happy when I got to see my boyfriend Victor. We ended up going to lunch at IHOP, and later went to run some errands for a new exciting opportunity that is in the works for Victor!

chicken+waffles+fries | roasted turkey bacon club sandwich+fries

 As usual, I ended up photographing Victors outfit for a new blogpost which he'll be featuring very soon. You can check out some teaser photographs below:

BLACK+GOLD

we have matching matte black (one of Victors favorite color) Tungsten rings.

Be sure to check up on his blog VICTOR-GO.COM to see the final shots. I leave you guys with one last picture, and a new favorite picture of us two:

 • Goodnight •

EVENTFUL FRIDAY.

This Friday I spent almost all day with Victor, it was a day to celebrate our 22 months together! I try to celebrate every month by either having a dinner date, giving him a sweet small gift, or both. This month I gave him a candy apple from Disneyland that he absolutely loves, and a dozen red roses. I never give to receive, but Victor always gives me something in return. The best gifts I think are those hand made, and he made me this super cute card which read "I'm Tied Down To You".  One thing (of many) that I love about Victor is that he is VERY creative, to me everything he does is a masterpiece because he puts so much thought into any project and he invests himself 100% with any project so I know whatever he gives me has a lot of meaning behind it.

how adorable is this?!

I was looking forward to this day so much because I have completely decided to take the next big step and move in with him! I now more than ever feel like this next step is much needed, and I am ready to wake up next to him and come home to him after a long day at work. I'm excited to get our own space and decorate it and eat dinner together every night. Just typing this gets me so happy!! After exchanging gifts we took off apartment hunting. We found some cute apartments BUT fell in love with one in the heart of downtown. Just the street it was on was so beautiful, full of vibrant colors, and Spanish culture. Unfortunately the apartment did not have any studios available and only had a single apartment open, meaning for one person only.  I was bummed. The outside of the apartment building can be seen below:

Victor admiring the apartment.

too good to be true.

 After hearing the bad news we decided to take a walk around the area since we loved it, and hoped to find other cute apartments within walking distance of this one. We did find a few cute ones but not as cute as this one. I was so sad, but have to learn to be patient. This is my first time apartment hunting, and I learned that it isn't an easy task. As Victor said, "looking for an apartment is a full time job.", and I completely agree with that saying.  We might not have found the right apartment for us but I'm sure we will soon. I'm hoping to find one before December because I LOVE decorating for the holidays!

Victor photographing some street art  • below: a quick snack stop.

We continued our adventure by taking a trip to the mall, and then followed that by having dinner at Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ in Cerritos CA.

LOVE the hot and spicy bbq sauce! Nom nom nom!

For starters we ordered hot wings; a classic choice for us two.

biscuits|wings|strawberry lemonade|coke

Probably should have ordered something like Victor's plate, I wasn't able to finish all my plate! MEAT OVERLOAD!

Tired, and super full from all that food, we headed back home to relax, and watch some television.  I had a great time, and only wish I could have spent the night with him.

holding his hand while he sleeps and I drive.

  Ti'll next time...

UNVEIL.

In just 30 minutes I will finally surprise my boyfriend by sending him this blog's URL. I'm excited to see what he thinks of the idea. I've been working on this blog all week, and even though I am not fully satisfied with it, I'm proud of what I've accomplished these past few days. This blogging world is new to me, and I had trouble even getting around the blogger homepage and the layouts, but for now I am happy with it.  I hope to learn more about blogging from him, and how to make my blog look much more "cute" as I envision it in my head. I do wish to keep the crisp, clean, and simple look that I have going on right now, but that all can change with time. Here's to 22 months with the boy I love, and to many more blog posts to come.

| find us in every photobooth |

STUDS

Today was a nice beautiful summer day in LA, I spent some time with my boyfriend (Victor), went to eat at one of our favorite hot wings chain restaurant, and did some local shopping. Our afternoon began with a trip to a local thrift shop in Bell, California. We usually like to go thrifting in hopes of finding some Etsy worthy clothing.  Clothing that is either timeless and classic, able to be reworked, or expresses pop culture. Our thift shop trip proved to be a successful one, Victor found some great pieces that are now for sale on his Etsy store. Two of my favorite items that he purchased today was a bright red Lacoste cardigan, and a Britney Spears '09 Circus tour tee (I might just buy it for myself!).

Studs are very in today, so I helped my boyfriend revamp the Britney tee along with two other tees, and give them a punk rock spin by studding the sleeves.  The tee shirts came out great and I'm sure they will sell quickly.

Taking a walk to 7/11.

To check out the Lacoste cardigan, as well as the Britney tee and much more visit my boyfriends Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/SHOP/VICTORGO

INTRO

I decided to start this blog to showcase the wonderful relationship that I have with my talented, stylish, artsy boyfriend Victor.  It will not only be a public diary/photo album but also an inside look into my life and our dates together; an inside look into what it is like to be a boyfriend to a fashion blogger.