Night Life.

California Academy of Sciences located at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco is one of the most popular museums in the world.  It houses a planetarium, natural history museum, aquarium and a 4-story rainforest. Last Thursday night, Paulo and I were finally able to go see it. I've been wanting to go for the longest time but never got the time to do so. Our weekends here are always crazy busy and checking out new places in the city has always been at the bottom of our To Do List. Luckily, my friends got us tickets so we were able to go to their Thursday night drinks, music and educational sightseeing event called Nightlife. It was fun and very interesting. You enter (21 and up), buy a drink and go around the museum appreciating world history and natural science. I found it a very fresh idea to mix cocktails and late night museum visits and how good a combination champagne and glow in the dark jellyfishes make.

An Instagram Pic of the Aquarium.

Paulo & I looking amazed.

The aquariums were breathtaking. They had a huge one dedicated to our Philippine Coral Reef. One of the most beautiful in the world. I felt so proud knowing it was one of the biggest and most beautiful ones there. I stared at it for the longest time and it made me want to buy myself a small aquarium for our home.  I love how sea creatures are so calming. The Jellyfishes were another story. They were glowing in different colors and were so mesmerizing. Exactly how they reproduced it in Finding Nemo. 

Bright Big Jellies.

Me with the little jellyfishes.

The natural history museum was also as interesting. But I don't know, I wasn't as excited with it as I was with the aquariums. The Living roof was also impressive. They had red lights all around and I'm sure the view would've been fantastic had it not been so dark and late at night. I owe it a visit one weekend. They said the view is spectacular. 

Natural History :)

We ended at 10 pm. Pretty early for a night out with drinks. It wasn't so bad though since we were able to go around the whole place and it wasn't as busy and crowded as I thought. There were no lines and everybody was just very relaxed. We weren't exhausted and nobody got a hangover. My friends and I agree that it would be the best place to bring someone on a first date. No pressure, fun, good music and the best part is, you'll never run out of interesting things to talk about. You'll learn tons of new things like how it's like to be killed by an anaconda, how a starfish actually feels, how to make felt orchids or how to dissect a bird. The list goes on and on. 

Too bad I missed it. I would have to wait another 30 minutes.

It was fun. I spilled my drink a couple of times while walking, tried taking pictures of my friend kissing a fish, wondered why these two certain fishies were always swimming together and missed that crucial moment the Foucault's Pendulum hit that thin metal cylinder. By a split second.  

But all in all, I had a great time. Even if, yeah, I only took very few sips of my mimosa. :)

Working Out.

I finally went to the gym yesterday night and although I worked out for only 15 minutes max it felt really good sweating a little. I didn't go overboard working out since I didn't want to exhaust my body too much. I know, excuses right? The husband was running and sweating like crazy in the treadmill while I, beside him, was walking in slow-motion looking all fresh and dry (imagine the wind on my hair like in some deodorant/perfume/soap commercial). I wanted to die. It was embarrassing. Was I the only unfit loser there? Ok, so I would jog for a minute or two and then I would stop to catch my breath and feel my body getting a little dizzy from all the effort i was exerting. I could feel my muscles contract and this uncomfortable sensation of wanting to pee. (Do you get that urge to pee too or am I just weird like that?)

So after my rosary, I stepped out of the treadmill and went to the side of the gym to read some gossip magazines while I waited for The Husband to finish. (Saw something in Star Magazine by the way, which excited me. The topic? Another entry, another time--if I can even blog about it!) Anyway, I waited there and got a chance to see everyone at the gym working their asses off for what may seem like hours and hours. I wondered if this was all worth it? Spending your weeknights exercising, not at home but in another place, with strangers working out, staring in front of a mute TV the entire time. I was working out and I couldn't even focus on the television for a long time. Aside from the fact that I hate reading subtitles, Toto's pizza place was right in front and all I could think about were those lucky people who ordered pizza and were on their way home to devour their prize in a happy carb feast. It didn't seem fair. Even the thought of finishing 5 miles and being all healthy didn't excite me one bit to motivate me to work harder. And to think with all the work I did, I wasn't even able to finish a mile! Wait, why am I saying this? I shouldn't even be surprised.

Although The husband claims my little exercise that night was really useless, I beg to disagree, it has actually made me realize how much exercise I need everyday and how I've fallen into the trap of thinking I don't need to be active, yet. But I guess now is the right time to start living healthy and not later when I'm old and too lazy. I know exercising regularly and staying active has a lot of benefits to the mind and body but sometimes it just requires too much of your effort and time and you tend to think it can wait. I don't know if going to the gym is really my thing. It's boring. But I know I need to do something about this whole "being active" thing.

I'm going to try to jog around the park later for just a few minutes. It may not be considered a significant workout but at least I'm doing baby steps. 15 mins can turn into 30 and later a whole hour. But this time I don't want to stay stuck in front of a TV or glass window, or a parking lot with people carrying boxes of take out. I think I want to go see more of the outdoors, expose myself more to nature and the sun.

Now I'm thinking of that gym membership. It won't be cheap if I don't use it. I'll give it a month and see.

Friday Loves.

      I'm so happy it's Friday already. The week went so by so fast I can't wait to have those two days to catch up on sleeping, reading, cleaning, organizing and doing the laundry. The weather outside is perfect and I'm keeping my fingers crossed hoping tonight won't be so cold. Thank God winter will be over soon. Anyway, I've come up with a list of things I love :) Hopefully when the time comes when I don't have to save money and am forced to spend a fortune on some useless stuff I will definitely keep these in mind. 

The Ghost Chair.

      1. The Lou Lou Louis Ghost Chair by Philippe Starck. 

This morning I was thinking of finally getting that Lou lou Louis ghost chair I've been lusting over.     The only problem is I really don't know where to put it here at home since we  have so many things and I'm still wondering how I could fit a desk in our bedroom. I know The Husband will hate me for this but I need a desk and I don't want to put it in our guestroom  because no one ever stays there. But anyway.

Mirror Love.

     2. Venetian Mirror. 

Another thing I really really want is one of those Venetian mirrors. If only I have a decent living room or foyer, it would be perfect. I have so many ideas I'm going crazy. Lord, please make me win the lottery :)

Fresh Gladiolus

    3. Fresh flowers.

  They never fail to bring life and color to your bedroom. I usually buy pink Carnations for our  

   Virgin Mary in the bedroom. I also am in love with all white roses, peonies and gladioluses. 

An old Vogue article.

     4. Magazines. 

Fashion and interior design magazines are my life. I always make sure I get copies of US  Vogue, Elle, Elle Decor, Marie Claire, In Style, Real Simple and Bazaar, Body and Soul and sometimes Oprah. I used to collect Domino  Magazines but was heartbroken when they stopped publishing it. But ahh, the best for me are Preview and Mega. Local magazines, yeah!

Sugar Paper.

     5. Personalized cards and Letterpress Stationery.

I used to make ours on my own but I think I wan't to have a decent one made this year. I've seen sugar paper and some sites from Etsy. But still can't decide on the design. I like them  all!

My Little Secrets by Audrey Kawasaki

    6. An Audrey Kawasaki Masterpiece.

Haay, I always always check her blog and I always fall in love with every piece. She is  amazing. Been a fan for years and years. She never fails to capture my attention. Her works   are fantastic. 

Outfit Inspiration.

  

    7. Phillip Lim's Lace Dress.

Ok, this dress is to die for. I've been drooling and lusting for this since it came out.  Seasons ago. I said I would wear it for my wedding rehearsal dinner or to a wedding but never got my hands on them. Yikes. I wonder if anyone's selling hers? I've seen one at Zara last year but the fit was ehh.... 

    Anyway, the list can go on and on. I have got to run for now. The kids will be up and I need to finish some house chores. Back to reality but at least it's Friday already!!!

photo credits:

allmodern.com

luxist.com

i-seldom-do.livejournal.com

countrysidenp.com

beautifulhairstyles.com

sugarpaper.com