Yo yo yo! Guess what yesterday was?? Well obviously judging by the title of this post, it was my first day of school. That's right folks, I started my senior year at UC Santa Barbara this week. I got lucky and only have school on Tuesdays and Thursdays so right now I'm hanging at my favorite coffee shop near home and trying to get ahead on some reading, but the weather is too nice and I wanted to share some photos from my most recent trip! I'm lucky enough to have family that lives in one of the most beautiful places in the United States- the Pacific Northwest. I've been going up there since I was little and each time is incredible. My brother lives up there now so I've been trying to get up there every few months; so far so good. I flew in on a Thursday and met my grandmother at the airport. From there it was a short drive to Lyle, Washington, which is across the Columbia river from Hood River a bit. On Friday morning, I woke up early to join my uncle fishing in the Columbia Gorge. It was pretty cold but I bundled up with extra layers and hibernated in my seat for a bit. It was a slow start but we definitely saw some action and I got to reel in a pretty big salmon which I took great pride in. See below and you will probably also be impressed. Saturday morning was spent hiking. There's an awesome trail just a bit west of Lyle on Dog Mountain. It is beautiful and shaded for the most part with a terrific view at the top. My uncle has been hiking the PCT so he carried a heavy pack up to get some training in while I just carried myself up. It was a bit challenging but the view was completely worth it. As always, the best part of this trip was hanging out with my family. I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life and their support means the world to me. Also! I witnessed the most insane sunset while I was there. I know I've posted many sunset photos before, but this one takes the frickin' cake when it comes to sunsets. On Sunday I met my friends Alex and Vlad in Hood River. We all went to high school together back in Napa. Alex lives in Portland now and we all happened to be in the area so naturally we had to hang out. On our way back to Portland we stopped and explored the most incredible little land spit. Seeing friends who you haven't seen in a long time and being able to pick up right where you left off is such a gift. I am so very thankful to have those guys in my life. Early Monday we headed back down to Napa. Shoutout to Alex for doing most of the driving. And of course we had to stop for some in-n-out on the way. There's no other way to do a road trip in California. I'm vowing to be more on top of my blogging in order to document my last year here so keep an eye out if you're interested. It's been an incredible summer, and i'm sure it'll be an equally fulfilling year. Cheers to all of you, hoping your fall is starting off well! Grab yourselves a pumpkin spice latte or something and enjoy the best season of the year.
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Happy September everyone! I'm sitting in a cafe on Telegraph ave. in Berkeley right now, going through photos of the last couple weeks, and wanted to talk about "Moving." If you are a college student like me, you have done your fair share of moving around every few seasons and the constant packing and unpacking into dorms and apartments can seem like a momentous hurdle each time. This summer, I'm moving for the 7th time in four years. While last year around this time I was packing up my entire house and my family was spreading out to different states and countries and everything was uber stressful, this time it's just me packing a few boxes and moving down with one of my dearest friends to go back to school in Santa Barbara. Throughout all the moves, the couple things I've really come to appreciate are the people that go out of their way to help, and the awesome experiences that can happen along the way. With that being said, I'm going to delve into a quick two-week recap on my latest moving experience. Okay, so this doesn't have much to do with moving, but how beautiful are these clouds. On one of my last nights at home, my friend Hannah and I managed to catch a few shots of the sun going down in beautiful Napa Valley. Kasia and I drove down to Santa Barbara on a Friday night and got in to town pretty late. We crashed right away and were up the next morning early to head downtown and check out the rock climbing gym. Couple that with a ton of errands to grab stuff for our new place and we were pretty pooped by the afternoon. I decided a siesta was in order. In the evening a few friends came into town and we headed back downtown for a few drinks. Two of them, Jack and Hayley, are from London and it was so much fun showing them around and introducing them to what is the unique Isla Vista culture. If you don't know what that is, don't fret, you're not missing much. Sunday was spent hiking. There's a great trail up in the hills outside of town that leads to an outlook called inspiration point. It's not a long hike and the weather was absolutely beautiful. Just sneaking in a pic of our front yard! I am so happy with our little new home. It is definitely a Southern California paradise. On Monday we hung out at our favorite cafe for a bit. I hadn't been since before I left for Spain. A year and a half later, it still serves up the best bagels and iced coffees. If anyone is ever visiting Goleta, I highly suggest stopping by Caje for a quick caffeine boost. While Isla Vista can get a bad rep for all the crazy antics, it certainly has it's moments of beauty. Watching the sun go down is one of my favorite things to do. My mom always thanked the sun for the day when we were growing up, and reflecting on the everything while all of the beautiful colors spread across the sky is so comforting to me. Gratitude for my situation, and the people around me is something I try to think about each day. And while the sunsets in Napa are gorgeous, the ones in Santa Barbara really can't be beat. I'm back up in the Bay Area just for a day before I head up north to Portland and South Washington to see family and friends.Then it'll back to SB rather soon to start the school year. Enjoy the last bits of summer everyone! Food for thought: how many times have you moved in your lifetime? What is the best place you've ever lived?
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Amani P.Last fall I took off for a year abroad. Now I'm back in the states, trying to figure out this crazy thing we call life! Archives
February 2017
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