Come and get it: bit.ly/letgomayan

I felt like an old lady after thirteen hours at the park and one rough ass ride on the matterhorn, but then I got carded and remembered that I’m still the paragon of youth.

It’s been a rough week with my 4th place bracket finish, Channing and Jenna’s uncoupling, and now this earthquake today.

At least I’m going to Disneyland tomorrow! Let Alicia’s birthday weekend commence 🎉

Kansas got killed today, but Michigan’s win still put me in first place! Their chance of beating Villanova is like one in a million, so I’ll just enjoy being on top while I can…

Currently #2 out of 75, but my bracket automatically wins first place if Kansas beats Villanova tomorrow! 🏀🏆🎉

I’m just as surprised as the boys at work who had to explain to me what a seed is.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Lord Huron – The Night We Met

Sylvan Esso – Coffee

Young the Giant – Cough Syrup

Local Natives – Coins

Head and the Heart – All We Ever Knew

(@ Culinary Dropout)

(@ Cornish Pasty Co)

(@ Pizzeria Bianco)

(@ The Arrogant Butcher)

(@ Tempe Beach Park)

We escaped the LA rain and road-tripped it to Arizona! The first of hopefully many Innings Fests did not disappoint. Good weather, great bands, amazing food…

Turn right after Waffle House??? These are my kind of directions!

I got lost going to work once (ok twice) because the house that I turn left at took down their white picket fence, so I drove right past it. I still can’t tell you what the name of the street is, but they put their fence back up, so we’re good! Ha.

Tempe, I am in you. And I’m about to get all up in your Innings Fest (@ Tempe Beach Park)

My morning raclette (@ Venissimo – Liberty Station)

In the event that this isn’t anything like that Survivor pool I joined and won without ever watching a single episode, I have a few questions, like how do you know if it’s a 12 seed team or a 5 seed team, and also what is a seed???

I need to make a change.

Air + Style x Phantogram (@ LA Memorial Coliseum)

…or what you eat when your lunch buddy is observing lent (@ Hopdoddy Burger Bar)

If I didn’t know the Impossible Burger was plant-based, I would have never guessed it was meatless! And this is coming from a girl who loves her meat. I’m not about to give up ribs or anything, but it’s nice to know there’s a worthy (albeit pricey) alternative out there. We usually go to the farmers market for lunch on Fridays, and I could get four mexican hot dogs (and a stomachache) for the price of one burger. Def worth it, though.

The guac is extra, and so is my boss (@ SKX Advertising Dept)

Catching up with my coworkers (@ The Rockefeller Manhattan Beach)

@ncartier:

I love seeing the outcome when people try my DIY Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table tutorial ♥

I’ve been itching to build something new for my place, but I’m not sure what. My sister’s husband thinks I’m making myself too comfortable in this apartment I’ve been wanting to leave for five years, and it’ll be that much harder (for everyone else) when I eventually move out of the sticks. (You ask someone to help you move during one Chargers playoff game ten years ago, and they don’t ever let you forget it!)

Were the tacos the best I ever had? No. But were the micheladas good at least? Still no. (@ City Tacos)

I should’ve known that this place was no bueno when I saw people drinking wine with their tacos, and the only mexicans eating there were the friends I came with.

Or as I like to call it… Thursday (@ Manhattan House)

Deane and her BF broke up today, so I drank her sorrows away with her since I’m such a supportive friend and all.

Wish I could turn you back into a stranger
‘Cause if I was never in your life
You wouldn’t have to change it

Lucius covering my most favorite Tame Impala song ever ♥

I thought most of the people flying on Valentine’s Day would be on their way to see loved ones, but the majority of the passengers on my flight were headed to see Bruno Mars. Or at least that’s what their hooligans jerseys led me to believe…

I managed to snap this without getting elbowed in the face by all the asians with selfie sticks. My mom was one of them. Just kidding (she forgot hers at home).
(@ The LINQ Promenade)

I’ll have to make my way back here, if only for Virgil’s Real BBQ. And maybe that cute guy covering Stone Temple Pilots inside.

If money grew on trees… (@ Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens)

O…MG (@ Bellagio Theater)

Infinitely better than the Luzia show I just saw in LA, but The Beatles Love is still my #1.

The guy standing next to me was belting out God Bless the USA during the entire water show. You’re lucky this is a gif (@ Fountains of Bellagio)

Pops zip lining into the weekend like (@ SlotZilla Zip Line)

We lost my dad for 24 hours somewhere between the zip lining and the poker room at the Orleans.

Put the $5 I won off of Britney slots towards his tip (@ Fremont Street)

CAUTION: They rub their meat (@ Rollin Smoke Barbeque)

Checked this gem off of my BBQ bucket list! Standouts were the beef rib (my go-to), brisket burnt ends and the “dam” hot arkansauce.

Till next time! (@ Palms Casino Resort)

Happiest birthday, Shi! I love you more than I love homemade waffles. And that’s saying a lot.

Friyay  (@ Arts District Brewing)

Weekly meeting (@ Tacos Tu Madre)

All the ladies have been complaining about how cold it is in the advertising department, so our boss surprised us with these jackets to keep warm.

Wouldn’t it have been more cost-effective to just turn down the A/C?

Also, does this come in black???

Sounds about right.

Cirque du Soleil (@ Dodger Stadium)

I love it when Weird Science is playing in the break room at work, and I get to stare at Chet’s sweet ass while I’m eating.

I didn’t even have to use my AK (@ Sweet Chick)

Rise up (@ San Diego Civic Theatre)

I think the bigger question is whether or not I’d be willing to let it go for someone who refers to Santa Monica as “SaMo”.

If you, if you could return…

R.I.P. Dolores O’Riordan 💔

Celebrating this baby’s mama (@ Liberty Public Market)

Birthdays, BBQ and BYOB (@ Grand Ole BBQ y Asado)

Thanks to everyone who came out last night ♥

A simple thank you will suffice!

Sick days are for Scandal marathons.

Actual footage of me waking up for work today after being on vacation for two weeks. Yikes!

…or this week’s edition of Mayan burns the bread rolls. Just kidding (this was the second time I burned them this week). As soon as my mom smelled the smoke, she was like, “STRIKE 2!”

I’m sure my parents can’t wait for me to go back to LA tomorrow! Ha.

Last Supper (Pop Pie Co)

Behind the scenes (@ SeaWorld)

My sister went to Christmas mass while I stayed home to avoid burning for my sins wrap presents at the eleventh hour! Ha.

That’s a wrap! 🎁

Christmas gift from my boss… I think she’s onto me.

Staking my claim 👅 (@ Little Damage)

I’ll be here all winter ✌🏻 (@ Pershing Square Holiday Ice Skating Rink)

Sunday funday (@ Smorgasburg, ROW DTLA)

The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away

Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity

Love Forever (@ The Broad: Infinity Mirror Rooms)

Unsolicited fact about me: I can ice skate circles around you ⛸ (@ LA Live Holiday Ice)

Blessed (@ Flood Church)

– Chosen as a godparent for the Lapel twins ✓

– Opened a 401k ✓

– Paid off all my credit cards ✓

I’m adulting the shit out of 2017, you guys.

24K Magic (@ The Forum)

My mom has visited me twice in LA since I moved here 5 years ago—once to see Adele at Staples, and this past weekend to see Bruno Mars at the Forum!

Now who has to tour LA for her to come visit me next year??? 

Linkin Park & Friends (@ Hollywood Bowl)

Even though it had been years since I last saw Linkin Park in concert, I was heartbroken when I found out about Chester Bennington’s suicide.

I can remember exactly what I was doing when I first heard Hybrid Theory. Pammie and I have this game we play called Guess What Year? (it’s a working title), and I can always pinpoint the year a song came out because I’m able to tie it to life events. Like I know that Boyz II Men’s One Sweet Day came out when I was 13, because I remember crying to that song at Sharon Bernardo’s birthday party when I found out that Raymond Alcarion liked my best friend and not me. I’m totally over him now, partly because that was 22 years ago, but mostly because my name would have been “Marion Alcarion” had our love stood the test of time! Yikes.

When I was 18, my friend Nick Costa told me, “Linkin Park… Remember that name… They’re gonna be HUGE someday.” I downloaded some songs off of their EP on Napster (yes, I was 18 that long ago) and became a solid LP fan after that. I remember going to the library to chat in their forum in between classes in college. I remember listening to their CD in Sheena’s car while I practiced driving stick around Jamul. I remember how sad I was when their intimate show at Canes sold out before I could get tickets to their first tour. Linkin Park soundtracked a time in my life that I reminisce about often, and it makes me sad to think that Chester is gone now, too.

I was lucky enough to see Chester in concert a couple times in my life, and being able to go his memorial show and hearing all those songs made me feel like I was 18 again (my sore stems the next day from standing during their 3-hour set reminded me that I’m nearly twice that age). All these years later, I still remember their lyrics. Also, can we just talk about how good Mike Shinoda still looks??? Some things never change…

Watch a full stream of the show here.

Lit 🔥 (@ Rise Festival)

Loved, loved, loved ♥

Stacked (@ Seven Magic Mountains)

Happy 64th birthday to a man of many talents!

The Shins (@ The Greek Theatre)

It’ll change your life, I swear…

Ice cream Sunday (@ Museum of Ice Cream)

Khruangbin x Geto Boys (@ The Fonda Theatre)

The Fonda is across the street from the Shake Shack in Hollywood, so we skipped the headliner for a shack stack and some crinkle fries (yes, I have a problem).

Burgers and beer for breakfast (@ Modern Times Fortress of Raditude)

Pammie, Dennis, Paul and I arrived at the Shake Shack pop-up 30 minutes before they opened, and the line wasn’t too bad. The longest I’ve ever waited in line for food was over 2 hours at Howlin’ Rays in Chinatown, so this 45-minute wait was no bigs. There was absolutely no shade though, so our burgers came with a side of UV! It was worth the tan lines…

Level up (@ Coin Haus)

Leo took Alicia, Ray and me to this beercade in La Mesa last night. It’s in a nice area with an industrial bar and gorgeous resto next door. Things have def changed since I lived there years ago!

I like their system so much better than other barcades I’ve been to. You exchange a credit card for a tapcard and use it to serve yourself beer and play video games. It beats having to wait in line at the bar for $15 drinks or having to use quarters for the games (ain’t nobody got change for that!). When I turned my tapcard in at the end of the night, it ended up being less than $20 to drink some beers and play a few rounds of Contra, Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros and more. The cashier said I was a cheap date! Boys, don’t all come running at once.

We all float down here (@ Reading Cinemas Grossmont Center)

I came to get scared, but I stayed for the dick jokes and NKOTB references! It was funnier and less scary than I remember the original being 27 years ago. Not gonna lie though, I still avoided eye contact with the sink drain while brushing my teeth last night.

There is a hell and it’s my apartment during the hottest heat wave in LA 🔥🔥🔥

I’ve been stuck at home with the flu for 4 days (I tried to go to work yesterday and they sent me back home!). I’ve gone through 2 seasons of Game of Thrones and 5 boxes of tissues (for all the sickness coming out of my nose and mouth, not the tears coming out of my eyes when Khal Drogo died—yes, I’m that far behind). I escaped to my parents’ air-conditioned house in SD for the holiday, and it took me 4 hours to get here in triple-digit weather. I guess everyone else had the same idea. Some of my relatives are staying at my parents’ house this weekend and they’re sick, too! Misery really does love company. And air-conditioning.

I thought it was too late in the year to buy a portable a/c unit, but climate change is real y’all. My windows don’t open, so it would have to be a sliding door unit. If anyone has any suggestions on brands/installation, please send them my way!

Lord Huron (@ Del Mar Racetrack)

I had all and then most of you, some and now none of you
Take me back to the night we met

The last time I attended 4 o’clock Fridays may or may not have been 14 years ago to see Hoobastank.

I’m learning some amazing moves from these guys (@ Wonderspaces)

Ohhh, so this is what 6am looks like…

Our trip to NYC wouldn’t be complete without me getting us lost on the subway. Again.

Morning view (@ Top of the Rock, Midtown)

I felt a little dirty recording this food porn (@ Bar Moga, Greenwich Village)

Trainspotting (@ Grand Central Terminal, Midtown East)

The OG Shake Shack (@ Madison Square Park, Flatiron)

There are five Shake Shacks in LA, but we still ate here three times during our trip! We even schlepped across town with our luggage on our last day to get one last Shackburger and their limited edition Hot Chick’n when we found out we were flying out of the JFK terminal that doesn’t have a Shake Shack. We’re kind of obsessed.

Rooftop vibes (@ Gallow Green, Chelsea)

I was worried it was going to be humid all weekend, but the weather was perfect for a rooftop cocktail or two (these are both mine).

Melt my heart (@ Raclette, East Village)

This was our favorite meal of the trip (don’t let the fact that we ate at Shake Shack three times fool you). Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, the waitress came back midway through our meal to give us a second scrape!

Checked the brontosaurus beef rib off my BBQ bucket list ✓ (@ Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque, East Village)

Tame Impala (@ Panorama NYC, Randall’s Island Park)

This was def one of the smaller music festivals I’ve been to, but Tame Impala brought the big show with their lasers. Our lyft driver thought we were at EDC!

Best $20 I ever spent (@ Magic Jewelry, Chinatown)

Pammie and I got our auras photographed inside a tiny Chinese jewelry shop, and that pink ass cloud = my mind being blown.

The Westfield mall I used to work at wasn’t quite as nice as this one, but they both have Wetzel’s Pretzels (@ Westfield World Trade Center, Oculus, Financial District)

Ground Zero (@ One World Observatory, Financial District)

The last time I was here was a couple years after 9/11. There used to be a steel beam cross where this memorial now exists. They did a beautiful job!

Sunday cycle (@ Central Park)

Pammie wanted to ride bikes through Central Park, and it was one of the highlights of our trip! We rode from the Guggenheim to Strawberry Fields and stopped along the way to enjoy the scenery.

Gaining perspective (@ Guggenheim Museum, Upper East Side)

Strawberry Fields forever (@ Central Park)

Before we knew it, it was time to fly home. Anyone who knows me and my sister knows that we’re complete opposites. She’s a Potterhead, while I’m more Homicide for the Holidays! But we always have fun when we’re together. I can’t wait for our next trip!

One more week!

All I want to do is trade this life for something new
Holding on to what I haven’t got

R.I.P. Chester Bennington 💔

Cancel my dinner plans (@ Jon’s Liquor)

Sunday funday with Sabrina (@ Arroyo Seco Weekend)

Heart eyes since 2010 😍😍😍 (@ El Rey Theatre)

Tuxedo (@ Observatory)

When your friends give you free tickets to see Mayer Hawthorne, you repay them with booty shorts from the merch table, obvs. Thanks, Jessie and Abe! 😘

SKX Global Sales Conference (@ Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center)

Hearing Schwarzenegger tell us “it’s not a tumor” was clearly the highlight of our conference.

R.I.P. Chris Cornell 💔

I worked 16 hours straight yesterday and haven’t slept much these past few weeks 😩

I always need something good to look forward to during conference season, so I bought tickets to two LA shows (Sylvan Esso and Blind Pilot), an OC show (Young the Giant), and music festivals in LA (Arroyo Seco) and NYC (Panorama).

I may or may not have been delirious at one in the morning.

#FBF to these three amigos in their Baja Ponchos 🇲🇽

Welcome to the world, Dominic & Elijah!

Pammie, Christine and I were finally able to visit these two nuggets. I think their parents were happy to have a little help and a lot of Halal Guys.

Pad squad* (@ Petco Park)

*not pictured: Alicia and I dodging homerun balls (none of which were hit by the Padres, of course).

Bastille – Good Grief (@ The Novo DTLA)

Every minute of every hour
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more

Cheers to Alicia’s 36th birthday! 🍻 (@ California Adventure)

I spent 14 hours and $200 at the park, and all I took home was some dole whip cotton candy and a sunburn.

My boss texted me this picture of my car when she went out for lunch today. This is why she gives me USB cables and portable battery chargers for Christmas. She’s also the one who bought me a fire extinguisher after I almost burned down my apartment!

Yeah, I have no idea why she hired me.

Museum day with Pammie and this clown (@ The Broad)

I went shopping for pillows, because I literally only have two in my apartment. My mom was like, what do your overnight guests use? I’m not sure who what she thinks I’m doing in LA, but my life isn’t as exciting as she thinks it is! Pammie and Shi slept over last weekend, and I didn’t have enough pillows for all of us, so my sister had to improvise with the teddy bear I got on Valentine’s Day! 😂 I made it up to her by taking them to Shake Shack twice that weekend. You’re welcome!

La La Land was def overhyped, but this dream sequence of what could have been was everything 💔

Just when I thought my week couldn’t get any worse 😩

My favorite wings EVER are from this Portland transplant. I thought that I had seen all I needed to see during my last two trips to Portland, but I have half a dozen reasons to go back now…

Home for the weekend (@ Camp Temenos)

Wild west (@ Pioneertown Motel)

On Sundays, we sound bathe (@ Integratron)

BRB, getting saved ✌ (@ Salvation Mountain)

Never Knock / You Send Me (@ Troubadour)

My favorite Kevin Garrett show yet. Alessia Cara came out to sing the song he wrote for Beyonce, and all was right with the world.

The way I keep myself together
Is by not keeping anything at all

Tomorrow ♥

Unlike that one time I won the dirty diaper baby shower game by identifying 10 out of 10 melted candy bars (some without even having to smell them), my intimate relationship with candy did not give me the edge in this puzzle competition at work today.

We placed #9 out of 10 (but still #1 in your hearts!). Who needs a $2K grand prize when you get to go home with this guy???

Workmode Squad (@ Universal Studios Hollywood)

NOTE TO SELF: Don’t get blitzed on bottomless mimosas on the bus before you ride every 3-D ride at Universal Studios.

Bumble bio update: Must hate smoked BBQ beef ribs.

Tourist trap queen ✌ (@ LACMA Rain Room)

Pammie and I snagged tickets to the last day of LACMA’s Rain Room exhibit on LA’s rainiest day ever and got more wet outside than we did in the exhibit 🌧️🌧️🌧️

Even faces change, my heart stays the same

Tame Impala in NYC??? Yes, please.

(@ Ace Hotel Portland)

(@ Pine State Biscuits)

(@ Punchbowl Falls)

(@ Multnomah Falls)

(@ The Commons Brewery)

(@ Cheryl’s on 12th)

(@ Portland Japanese Garden)

(@ Voodoo Doughnut)

(@ Tryst)

I’m sick and I have to wear pants to bed??? Ugh.

After a couple years of entering an online lottery, Shi won a permit to hike The Wave in Arizona! We flew to Vegas and road-tripped it the rest of the way to Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend and The Wave.

Here’s a little video I put together of our trip. I kept it under a minute to fit the whole thing on insta, so I cut out the part where I fell down and also the part where Shi got pulled over, among other footage! Ha.

Hardly working (@ Skechers Corporate)

We had a sub in cardio hip hop yesterday, and now I’m wondering whether to apply ice or heat (@ Culture Shock Dance Center)

My mom flips bottles better than yours.
I hope I’m half this cool when I’m 58!

Are there tears baked into this oreo crust, be honest (@ The Pie Hole)

Bon Iver (@ Hollywood Bowl)

The rain may or may not have hid my tears! So apropos…

Puff puff pastry (@ Mr. Holmes Bakehouse)

Birthday Blue Star Donuts for Mary (@ Venice Canals)

This peanut butter powdered donut with habanero blackberry jam will change your life.

Glass beauty (@ Wayfarers Chapel)

I think I might get married in this Lloyd Wright stunner. I just need to find a husband first! Just kidding (they also do baptisms, so a baby daddy will suffice).

<3

Case Study House No. 8 (@ Eames House)

Leave the keys under the mat. I’ll take this house exactly as it is!

Happy new home to the Lansangs! I hope they’re better at keeping things alive than I am.

DIY Indoor Herb Garden:

• Herb plants, $4.98 each @ Home Depot
• Potting mix, $4.97 @ Home Depot
• Wooden planter, $12.99 @ Wayfair
• Chalkboard stakes (set of 6), $8.14 @ Amazon
• Impeccable penmanship, Priceless

Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Lapel (@ Los Peñasquitos Ranch House)

I can’t decide if the most memorable part of today was when the wedding singer dropped panties during cocktail hour, or when a wedding guest was taken away in an ambulance after one too many pot brownies ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Et tu, Target? (@ Target – Manhattan Beach)

Tame Impala was lit af (and so were we) 🔥🔥🔥 (@ FYF Fest 2016)

4 years in LA today. What a dump! (@ Vista Hermosa Natural Park)

Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Lansang! So bummed I couldn’t be there for the wedding, but happy I was able to witness them shotgunning beers without spilling a drop on their sleeping newborn! Ha.

Cheers!

Because Mondays. And car accidents. (@ Randy’s Donuts)

Hardly working (@ The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas)

Our advertising department was in Vegas for less than 48 hours, and it took me longer than that to recover.

All that and dim sum (@ Din Tai Fung)

BRB crying (@ Staples Center)

I’ve wanted to see Radiohead live since I first heard Exit Music (For A Film) in the 9th grade. You guys, that was 20 years ago! Yikes.

I kind of expected them to stick it to LA and not sing Creep, but no Paranoid Android or Karma Police, either??? You’re killing me, Thom! OK Computer is my favorite album of theirs, so No Surprises was my favorite song of the night:

Jessie and Abe bought a pizza oven for their backyard and hosted their first bumble workshop pizza party of the summer this past weekend.

I’m not sure if it’s because most of my friends are in relationships, or because Jessie’s husband calls me “baby boo” sometimes LOL, but my friends are intent on finding me a baby boo of my own! They set up my bumble profile while I scarfed down breakfast pizza, chamango paletas and hell or high watermelon. I obliged them and swiped right on a few “entrepreneurs” (srsly, what do you do for a living?), but only the girl can initiate the convo within 24 hours after you’ve been matched before the connection disappears forever. Seeing that I never approach guys first and wait till the eleventh hour to do anything, this may not be the best dating app for me haha. I may need a few more bumble workshops thinly disguised as pizza parties to convince me otherwise!

I just binge watched two seasons of Casual, and I can’t believe this lady is only supposed to be five years older than me.

In her defense, I get carded all the time. Also, some dude coaching youth track at the park during lunch last week asked me if I was in high school! Sir, if you’re trying to get me to join your track team, I’m in my thirties. And more importantly, I don’t run.

My dear friend, Christine, is officially engaged! Just a year ago, we were livin’ la vida loca in Cabo, and now she’s got a baby and a fiancé! Time moves so quickly around here. It seems like only yesterday, Christine, Jessie and I were at Blind Lady talking about the crapshoot that was the three of us, and now I’m the last one standing! The only time I’ve ever felt bad about being single is when I got into a car accident this year and had to be rescued by someone else’s husband. I was standing there at the auto shop watching them lift my car up, and my best friend’s husband was there talking to the mechanic for me, and my heart sank. Partly because they told me how much it would cost to fix my alignment, but mostly because I forgot how nice it was to have someone there to help me.

The few single friends that I have are serial daters. Tinder, Bumble, OK Cupid… If there’s an app for it, they’re on it. And although I pretty much pioneered online dating 20 years ago with my first AOL boyfriend (LoL), I would still prefer to meet someone IRL. Even though most of the guys I meet in real life are assholes. My problem is that I like assholes. If Christine and that rock on her finger taught me anything, it’s that you don’t always end up with the kind of guy you’re used to being with. I definitely have a type. If they’re bearded, witty and/or an asshole, all the boxes are checked. Maybe if I go for a nice guy with a babyface who tells mediocre jokes, the outcome will be different. I guess I’ll never know since the guys my friends want to set me up with have girlfriends already! Ha.

Hot Tub Cruisin’ (@ Mission Bay)

Chel’s grandma always told her that she changes boyfriends like she changes panties, and this is the final one. Congrats to the bachelorette!

S/O to our captain, Shi! You the real MVP.