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myrandomfandomramblings · 3 years ago

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The Beach - a The Rookie/Chenford Fanfic

“7-Adam-11, show us responding,” Jackson said over the radio as Lucy leaned back against her headrest defeatedly.

“I didn’t think I’d ever say this but I really don’t want to go to the beach.” “Like ever again,” she added even as she took the first turn towards their destination.

LA was 4 days into a record heat wave and over that time Lucy had learnt a few important things 1) Unsurprisingly, extreme heat causes everyone to flock to the ocean. 2) It also makes people extremely irritable. 3) Lots of irritable people packed together in large groups leads to chaos and 4) wool uniforms are not ideal attire for patrolling beaches in temperatures around 100.

So after 4 days she was over it. She had spent Monday with Jackson getting sworn at, honked at and nearly run over as they directed traffic at the busiest beaches in the city. She spent Tuesday with Tim breaking up beach brawls, confiscating contributing alcohol and watching bikini clad woman flirt with Tim. At least 8 different woman had asked him to rub sunscreen on them or suggested he take off his shirt to cool down. She had rolled her eyes so much she had given herself a headache. Although it may have been the sun. Yesterday, her and Nolan and responded to a report of a missing child who was feared drowned or kidnapped but turned out had followed the music of an ice cream truck four blocks and was found, about 30 minutes after the officers arrived, happily eating a fudgiscle. However, they were kept at the beach for the remainder of their shift by various citizens with complaints ranging from seagulls, wasps and possible sharks to thieves, streakers and possible melanoma.

Now her and Jackson were headed back to a beach where the adjacent shrubbery was currently being consumed by a blazing bush fire, which was in all likelihood human caused and spreading fast. Therefore all hands were on deck as the LAPD worked with the LAFD to keep civilians safe, extinguish the fire and investigate its cause.

The rest of her shift passed in a blur as they interviewed witnesses, cordoned off the area, issued evacuation orders, ensured those who needed it got medical attention, joined a production line passing large buckets of water from the ocean to where the fire was burning and debriefed with their team which included Nolan and Tim, and Lopez and Harper. Luckily in the end, the fire was successfully extinguished, those living nearby were safe and happily back in their homes and the perpetrator, a cigarette butt flicker, was caught. But not until nearly 11pm by which time the entire team was exhausted, scorching and covered in soot and ash. With their job done the team of 6 headed away from the scene back along the beach to where they had parked their shops. They were right on the sand where they left them to create a barrier preventing people from wandering toward the fire and the beach around them was abandoned. Likely due to a combination of the late hour, the fire itself and the fact that the stretch of beach they were on was only accessible by walking about a mile from one of the main beaches on either side or by scrambling down the steep cliff behind them.

“Anybody want a cold one,” Nolan asked when they reached the vehicles, “well a hot one I guess” he amended as he pulled out a six pack he had confiscated earlier in the day from the trunk of his shop. Everybody made a face at the offer of hot beer but since the only light around came from the shops headlights shining in the opposite direction Nolan didn’t see them.

“Screw it, I’ll take one,” Angela said.

“Wesley and Patrice took the baby to meet the extended Evers clan so I have nowhere to be and now that I’m no longer breastfeeding I can have whatever I want. Even if that’s gross beer that’s been sitting in a hot car all day,” she explained.

“If we dig a hole near the water line it will fill with cold seawater and we can make a makeshift beer fridge,” Jackson suggested but Angela had already opened her can and was sipping away.

“I’ll help dig the hole,” Nyla offered. “I’d rather hangout here then go back to the station to do paperwork and Lila’s with her dad so I also have no where I have to be.”

“I’ll call Grey and tell him we’re clocking out and will do the paperwork in the morning,” Tim offered.

“Your staying?” Lucy asked a little too excitedly, “what about Kojo?” she quickly added.

“Tamara called several hours ago and offered to give him dinner, take him for a walk and put him to bed.”“She saw the fire on the news and rightly assumed we’d have our hands full,” he finished.

30 minutes later they all sat in the sand around their makeshift beer fridge. Shoes, socks and button up shirts discarded and pants pulled up to their knees. 3 flashlights were in the middle of the group, pointing skyward, their handles buried in the sand. They laughed as they went around and told stories.

“How is it still this hot?” Lucy asked a while later. It was after midnight and the temperature had yet to even consider dropping below 90.

She pulled her white t-shirt away from her skin fanning, herself.

“I’m going swimming,” she declared ready to stand up.

“Your going swimming? Right Now? In that?” Tim asked gesturing to her cotton tee and woolen pants.

Lucy shook her head. “I was just going to go in my underwear but now that I think about it I don’t really want to have to drive back to the station in soaking wet underwear.”

Tim nodded as if this is what he expected but Lucy didn’t see him and continued.

“I guess I’ll just skinny dip,” she concluded.

Tim managed to both spit out and choke on the sip of beer he had just taken.

Everybody else’s faces were turned towards Tim and wearing amused expressions but they were saved his annoyance due to the limited light and the fact that his attention was still fully on Lucy.

“What?” She asked Tim, “It’s not a big deal. It’s dark. Plus everybody here has already seen me naked.”

“Well except you,” she added, which earned another spit take from Tim.

Lucy rolled her eyes but couldn’t suppress a smile. She loved seeing Tim flustered, especially when it was her doing.

“What?” He finally managed to ask in a strained voice after a few harsh coughs to clear his throat.

“Everybody here’s seen Lucy naked but you,” Lopez offered, “although that was bound to change sometime soon,” she added.

Lucy and Tim both turned to look at her wide eyed. Nolan and Nyla were both hiding smirks and Jackson wore an expression of mainly panic as he spoke.

“She’s drunk. She has no idea what she’s saying,” Jackson offered before turning to look daggers at Angela and whisper something in her ear.

Lucy thought she heard the words bet, interference and disqualified but she couldn’t be sure.

When he finished Angela addressed them again. “Sorry, apparently my tolerance took a nose dive since pre-pregnancy. I didn’t mean anything by that I got you mixed up with Smitty and what’s her face,” she finished waving her hand disparagingly.

“Hmm,” Lucy said clearly not buying her lame excuse but Tim still had his mind on other things.

“Why has everybody else here seen you naked?” he asked, his tone almost suspicious.

Lucy laughed. “Are you jealous?”

He fixed her with his best TO look. “No.”

Lucy suppressed the urge to roll her eyes yet again and answered.

“Communal showers at work,” she began gesturing to Nyla and Angela. “Best friends and roommates” she added pointing to Jackson. “Life gets crazy. Sometimes closing doors or throwing on clothes just isn’t a priority,” she explained seeing Tim’s confused expression. “Also we had to help each other into and out of the bath after we were injured.” She didn’t have to specify her kidnapping or the beating Jackson took to take down Doug Stanton. This group knew. “It’s kind of ironic that when everything hurts all you want is a warm bath but when everything hurts it’s nearly impossible to get yourself into and out of a bathtub,” she finishes. “Oh and Nolan and I used to date.” She says it as almost an afterthought, super casual. But all the former TOs still look at her with shock.

“You and Nolan?” Nyla asks with a laugh. “Really?” “No offense,” she adds addressing Nolan.

“Ah, none taken?” Nolan replies, clearly confused by her reaction.

“When?” Lopez asks looking between the two P2s.

“For a couple months while we were in the academy. We called it off shortly after we started at Mid-Wilshire,” Nolan supplied.

“Wow, I just can’t picture it,” Angela continued shaking her head.

“Why would you want to picture it?” Tim spat. Then seemed to catch himself and schooled his scowl back into a blank expression.

“Why’d you call it off, anyway?” Angela asked. Half actually curious. Half just trying to do her friend a solid and take the attention off him.

“Bishop warned me that dating a fellow cop would brand me and could ruin my career,” Lucy answered and thought she saw Tim flinch. It was impossible to tell for sure with just the flashlights, nevertheless she added, “Somethings matter more-“ she was staring right at Tim now “-are worth the gossip, the assumptions, the risk.” As she said it she saw his expression change but she couldn’t read it. “But our relationship wasn’t one of those things. We’re better as friends, anyway,” she finished addressing the whole group but looking at Nolan specifically for confirmation.

“Agreed,” Nolan nodded holding up his beer.

“To friends,” Jackson said clicking his to Nolan’s.

“To friends,” everybody joined in clinking their cans together.

“So who’s coming skinny dipping with me?” Lucy asked as she started to make her way back to the vehicles where she could leave her clothes in a place where they’d stay sand free.

“I will,” said Angela, “pregnancy and caring for a baby really makes modesty go out the window. The two beers I’ve had don’t hurt either.” She began to follow Lucy to the cars.

“I’m in,” Jackson offered, “with you two practically glowing in the dark nobody will even notice me.” He teased as he got up to join them, earning a playful shove from Lucy.

“Nobody’s here to see anything anyway.” She retorted.

“Go ahead. I might join you later.” Nolan said and Nyla and Tim nodded in agreement.

10 minutes later. Lucy, Angela and Jackson’s clothes were inside Jackson and Lucy’s shop and they were out in the ocean. It dropped off quickly so they weren’t that far away from the beach even though the water came to just below Lucy’s shoulders. After four days of blazing heat and the fire on top today, the cool water felt like heaven to her. She dipped and dove through the water, relishing the cool and wiped at her face and hands to remove the soot that had coated them earlier. Beside her Angela was trying to show Jackson what her son does when they put him in the water. This led to reminiscing about childhood summers spent at the beach or in backyard and community pools. And before they knew it they were playing old games from those days. John and Nyla had joined them by this time. Claiming some combination of escaping the heat, joining the fun and more beer as the motivation. They were currently having breath holding contests.

“I win!” Jackson exclaimed as he came up for air to find everyone else already up.

“You cheated,” Lucy argued, “I saw you come up while I was still under. I had my eyes open.”

“I did not. Plus it’s pitch black under there you couldn’t possibly have seen anything.”

“Did Jackson come up?” Lucy yelled at Tim who was still sitting on the shore.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t watching,” he replied casually with a slight shrug.

“Yes you were,” Angela argued, “you haven’t taken your eyes off Lucy since she got in here,” then realizing what she said she quickly ducked back under the water.

Everybody still above the surface froze.

Then after a beat. “So did he come up or not. I need to know if I won,” Nyla asked, all business.

“He floated to the surface but didn’t lift his head up. He won,” Tim offered defeatedly.

“Told you!” Jackson bragged.

“Rematch. 3,2,1 go,” shouted Nyla as everybody ducked back under the water. Lucy a split second behind everybody else as her attention was still on Tim.

She came up about 30 seconds later just as a wave was passing by her and managed to swallow a good serving of water. She coughed and sputtered but before she knew it Jackson and Nolan were beside her and she was assuring them she was Ok just needed a bit of time to catch her breath. As she swam towards the shore to rest in the shallows she noticed Tim was just sitting back down and his pants were wet to just above the knee. But she didn’t let herself focus on it.

She swam to just in front of where he sat laying on her stomach on the ocean floor, head just above the water.

“You OK?” He asked shifting his eyes to her for the first time since she swam up.

“Ya fine, just swallowed a little water,” she assured him.

“Looks like you guys are having fun out there,” he nodded indicating the group still farther out.

“Ya the water feels amazing. You can’t honestly tell me that you aren’t hot.” She had meant it literally. He was sitting in above 90 degree weather with wool pants on. But then she realized he had taken off his white shirt and his muscled chest and stomach were currently on full display and the word took on an entirely different meaning. She was thankful for the darkness as it hid her blush but even that couldn’t hide the fact that she was definitely staring.

“The ladies on the beach the other day will be so disappointed they’re missing this,” she teased gesturing to his bare upper half, hoping to give a probable explanation for the staring.

He gave a short laugh. “Not as disappointed as the meat bags who were wolf whistling at you will be that they’re missing that.” As he gestured at her he finally let himself actually take her in. Her hair was still up in its low work bun leaving her entire back exposed. The upper half of which was completely taken up by a tattoo, he had never seen before, although the light was too limited for him to make out the design. The rest of her body was hidden in shadows except her face which was now free of soot and make-up making her look young and vulnerable. Freckles brought out by the last few days of blazing sun were speckled across the bridge of her nose. Her mouth was twisted in thought and her eyes sparkled in the light of the flashlights. She really was beautiful.

While those thoughts flew through Tim’s mind Lucy was thinking about his comment about the wolf whistlers. That had happened at the very start of their shift and lasted no more than two seconds. Lucy wasn’t even sure they had been whistling at her and she had completely forgotten about it until Tim brought it up just now. Funny that he would remember.

They were both pulled out of their thoughts by a sudden commotion further out in the water:

“DID YOU NOT THERE IS NO PIE!”

“DO NOT THERE IS NO DIE!”

“DO OR DO NOT THERE IS NO TRY!”

Were being yelled over each other.

“What are they doing?” Tim asked looking at the group out in the water.

They were in a circle. Jackson had just given Nolan a high five then they were under again.

“I think they are playing the guess what I said under the water game,” Lucy chuckled.

Tim was about to reply but he was cut off by “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood” being shouted in unison followed by bickering about who said it first.

“I’m going back out to join them. You going to come?” Lucy asked turning her attention from the group back to Tim.

“I don’t need to be a part of that.”

“Come on Tim. You’re hot and dirty.” She still meant it literally. Really. He was covered in soot. Stupid double entendres.

He raised is eyebrows.

“Just get in the water,” Lucy said splashing water at him to vent her frustration with how flustered she was getting.

He wiped the water from his face and a small smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “Fine.”

Lucy beamed back at him as he stood up and walked back to the shop to discard his remaining clothes then turned her attention back to her friends.

“It’s not Angeles Direct, you’ve already guessed that three times,” Nyla was saying to Jackson

“That’s what it sounds like,” he argued “and it’s definitely closer to that than ‘embroidery period.’”

“That was my first guess. I heard wrong,” Nyla shot back.

“Oh ya cuz ‘and was dressed’ and ‘indoors divest’ were so much closer.”

Any further argument was cut-off by Nolan. “I’ve got it: Angela’s the best,” he said confidently.

“Yes and yes,” Angela confirmed.

“Your turn Nyla.”

There was a brief silence as they all went back under the water followed by a flurry of screamed “this is stupid.”

“Happy now?” Came a quieter voice beside her and Lucy nearly jumped out of the water. She had been so wrapped up watching her friends she hadn’t even noticed that Tim had made his way back down the beach and was now sitting beside her in the water.

She smiled and nodded. “Aren’t you?”

He gave a non-committal shrug. “We’ll see after I get roped into whatever’s going on out there,” he offered but there was no bite to it. He was even smiling, although mostly with his eyes, as he looked at their friends.

“Well let’s go find out,” Lucy replied as she led the way into the deeper water.

As they approached the group they watched them go up and down and listened to their guesses.

“And further than game”

“Comforters at game”

“Temperatures endgame”

“Stanford is endgame”

“Checkers is a game.” “At least that’s a real sentence”

“Bradford has game?” “That can’t be right he most definitely doesn’t”

Then just as Tim and Lucy joined the group “Chenford is endgame!” Shouted by Angela who upon realizing Tim and Lucy had joined them turned to Jackson.

“This ones not on me it was your sentence.”

Jackson stood stunned for a second looking desperately between Tim, Lucy and Angela then swiftly closed his eyes and yelled “MARCO.”

There was a brief silence then Nolan yelled “POLO” and everyone was swimming away from Jackson at top speed. Everyone except Tim who was giving Lucy a look that said. “See what you got me into? I told you so.”

But she was busy swimming off with the others, grateful for the distraction. So he rolled his eyes and joined the game. The water did feel amazing although he wasn’t about to admit that to her.

Calls of MARCO POLO and laughter filled the air as everybody took their turn being it: Jackson tagged Nolan who tagged Lucy who tagged Nyla who tagged Jackson who tagged Tim who tagged Nolan who tagged Angela who tagged Jackson who tagged Tim who tagged Lucy. Well he meant to tag Lucy. He reached his arm out and jumped towards her “POLO” but she was closer than he thought and instead of the tips of his finger tagging her shoulder he jumped right into her. He hit her hard and she responded to being knocked off her feet and down into the water instinctively by reaching for the nearest thing to prevent drowning, which happened to be him. So when he opened his eyes her arms were around his neck and her legs around his hips and her face was only about an inch from his own as she coughed up water for the second time that day.

“Are you ok?” He asked moving a piece of hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear.

She nodded but continued to cough as he absentmindedly stroked her back.

“You caught me by surprise,” she breathed “I didn’t know we were playing full contact Marco Polo.”

He let out a relieved laugh, “I’m sorry.”

“A real Tim Bradford apology I never thought I’d see it in person,” Lucy teased earning an eye roll from Tim. This close Lucy could see all the different shades of blue in his eyes even in the dark.

“It was an accident.”

“So it wasn’t some sort of Tim Test to see how I would handle a fight in the water?”

“No. You got your last Tim test a year ago when you stopped being my rookie.”

“I can’t believe it’s been a year already,” she said. “Then again we’ve been through enough for an entire career,” she added as her hand reflexively moved from his neck where it was playing with his hair to the tattoo on her her ribs.

That’s when it dawned on her just how close her and Tim were, pressed together without a shred of clothing between them. She had felt so comfortable and content she hadn’t realized the gravity of the situation and what it could lead to. She was about to put some space between them when his hand covered hers over the tattoo marking her supposed day of death. The day he saved her from being buried alive. Although he would say it marked the first day of the rest of her life. The day she saved herself.

And the desire to move away died in an instant.

“I kept it,” she said quietly, “because of what you said.” “Because it’s a reminder that I’m a survivor. And that my team will always have my back.”

Tim was looking at her with an expression more open than she’d ever seen. “I have one of those,” he replied softly lifting her hand up and moving it to rest on his lower left abdomen. She was confused at first but as she felt the skin beneath her finger tips she realized it was scarred. The scar from when he was shot on her second day and she pulled him out of the line of gunfire.

She smiled and looked directly into his eyes.

“It’s a good thing we have each other in our lives,”

“Sure is,”

She was just about to lean in and close the distance between them when a voice interrupted.

“Hey you two. Keep it PG or get a room. This is a family outing.” It was Nyla.

Lucy laughed as she untangled her self from Tim and in that moment she realized two things. 1) this was most definitely her family and 2) she would very happily come back to the beach. Maybe next time she’d just bring Tim, maybe even as her boyfriend.

#the rookie #chenford #lucy chen #tim bradford #nyla harper #angela lopez #jackson west #john nolan

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i-am-your-taxidermy · 7 years ago

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#blog for blogger

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theantibridezilla · 5 years ago

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Test Drives: Pixi Beauty & Morphe Brushes

Okay, if you saw my Instagram post from earlier this week, you know that I got a new beauty delivery from Pixi Beauty (where I’m an influencer). The brand just launched a new series of Pixi Pretties, a collab focused collection where Pixi thinks up new beauty or skincare finds with influencers.

This time, the Pixi Pretties were all about makeup, and in particular, there were two highlighter collections that I was eager to try. So, I decided to create a look and do a Test Drives post. As usual, I’ll say what was gifted versus purchased and full makeup details will be at the end.

Pixi Beauty Glow-y Powder in Wednesdays & Fetch (gifted)

The premise behind these two highlighters is that you have a fairly large pan of one specific highlight that could literally be used from head to toe. So, want to give your decolatage some oomph? Swipe on some Glow-y Powder. Want to give your legs that sun kissed effect? Swipe on some Glow-y Powder. While it’s billed for your face, you could definitely rock this as a body bronzer.

What I liked:

If you think that drug store brands can’t deliver on color, then you’re wrong. Even though yes I am a Pixi Beauty influencer, I’m also an honest reviewer. Both hues deliver very bold color as I used both on my cheekbones, and used Fetch (the bronzier rose gold hue) on the bridge of my nose and on my brow bones. You get great color payoff without needing to use a ton of product. Plus, this is a sizable pan, with each highlighter weighing in at 0.33 oz, making it a great investment. And you’ll appreciate that you don’t get fall out when applying this product. Of the two, Fetch was my favorite. It was a bit more subtle and more complimentary for my skin tone.

What could be better:

Wednesdays (the pink hue) is extremely chunky. And even if you’re very sparing with application, a little goes beyond a long way. My days of being into chunky highlight (a la Jeffree Star’s Skin Frost) are over because I’ve toned back my makeup apps and prefer a more subtle approach. So, while I can’t knock Pixi for creating a bold highlight, Wednesdays isn’t necessarily for me. Plus I felt like it was a tad frosty.

Pixi Beauty The Layers Highlighting Palette (gifted)

Okay, so the principle here is that you have a total highlight palette with a range of shades that can be layered to create some great multidimensional effects. Depending on how you highlight, you can completely skip contouring and just focus on playing up strategic areas of your face. Colors include two shades of gold, a soft pink shimmer, a bronze shimmer, and a purple shimmer. I opted to use the purple shimmer (called Zipper) in place of my tried and true Kevyn Aucoin Neo-Limelights Ibiza highlight.

What I liked:

To be honest, I wasn’t crazy about this one. I’m going to have to use this again in a follow up Test Drives piece where I play with the other colors. I appreciate what Pixi tried to do here, but that purple wasn’t doing it for me.

What could be better:

Like I said, I wasn’t wowed by Zipper (the purple shade). It was chunky, chalky, and frosty which weren’t doing my skin tone any favors. While it did offer a slight shimmer, it really couldn’t compare to my Kevyn Aucoin Ibiza highlight which is sheerer, warmer and features a softer shimmer that isn’t chunky. While yes, you do get color payoff with this Pixi highlight, it just wasn’t a fit for my skin tone so I wasn’t a fan.

Morphe Beauty 9D Painted Desert Artistry Palette (purchased)

I bought this palette a few months ago and have used it a hand full of times. I’m not new to Morphe’s palettes, but I liked that this was a smaller nine-pan collection that was travel friendly. In fact, when I went to Seattle at the end of August for a friend’s wedding, this was the one eyeshadow palette I took with me and used for this look. In today’s look, I ended up using the bold center red hue and the muted pumpkin shade to the right, and then topped it with Kevyn Aucoin’s Rose Gold liquid shadow.

What I liked:

Like I just mentioned, I loved the travel-friendly nature of this palette. I was able to take this with me in my carry on bag (because I never put my makeup in checked bags) and it didn’t take up very much space in my makeup tote. But what I really love is that the Painted Desert palette is a great collection of earthy neutral shades that are going to complement a wide range of skin tones. Plus, it’s a mix of matte and shimmer, as well as dark and light shades so you can create a complete look including a classic smoky eye without needing any other shadows.

What could be better:

Honestly nothing. This is a great collection that literally has something for everyone — I highly recommend it.

The Verdict:

Alright so I had a lot to work with today so let’s break it down bit by bit. Of the Pixi Beauty Glow-y Powders, Fetch (the rose gold hue) was my fave. It was subtle yet still able to provide bold payoff without being excessively chunky. I liked the idea of the pink Wednesdays hue, but that chunk factor was just team too much for me. Likewise, I really wanted to like the Zipper purple hue in The Layers Highlight Palette, but the color was too frosty and pale to work for my skin tone.

I’m not ready to write this palette off yet because I only tried one shade. So, you’ll definitely see it again in a future Test Drives article. And of course, the Morphe 9D Painted Desert Artistry Palette was a great buy. I think this has a lot of mileage for a wide depth of skin tones, making it a great and affordable essential that you should have in your makeup kit.

Final Thoughts:

Incidentally, no I did not cut my hair. This is an older full lace wig that I’ve had since 2015 where I had attempted to color the ends a bold pinkish hue and it didn’t take properly. I’m currently debating cutting my natural hair to an angled lob (long bob) so that it’s not too short when I’m wearing my hair in its more natural state. So, I decided to chop this wig down significantly so I could take shorter hair for a test drive. As usual, full makeup details are below.

And check out more of my Test Drives here.

Full Makeup Look

Primer: Wet ‘n Wild Mega Jelly Primer & NYX Eyeshadow Base in nude Foundation: Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Long Wear Foundation in 420 Brows: NYX Cosmetics Love Contours All dark brow pan Eye Liner: Wet ‘n Wild MegaLiner Liquid Liner in Black Eye Shadow: Morphe 9D Painted Desert Artistry Palette for base, red and orange hues, Kevyn Aucoin Emphasize Eye “As Seen In Palette Rose Gold liquid shadow for center lower lid, inner corner is Naked Cosmetics Sierra Nevada loose powder Lashes: Kawaii Girl Cosmetics Ebisu Concealer: IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye in Deep Rich (for under eye) & Kevyn Aucoin Etherealist Super Natural Concealer in E08 (for contour) Contour: Black Radiance True Complexion Contour Powder Palette in Medium to Dark Setting Powder: Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder in Deep Blush: Morphe Brushes Blushing Babes in Pop of Poppy Highlight/Bronzer: Pixi Beauty Glow-y Powders Wednesday & Fetch + Pixi Beauty The Layers Highlighting Palette in Zipper Lips: Top secret liquid lip from my upcoming collection for Spring 2020!

#test drives #beauty #makeup review #product review #beauty review #highlight #highlighter #eye shadow palette #pixi beauty #pixi pretties #morphe brushes #bridal beauty #wedding beauty #makeup #the anti bridezilla

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buttonpusherdiy · 5 years ago

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2000 Trees 2019 : Festival Review

Words by Daniel Wilkinson

It's early July and I'm making my yearly pilgrimage to a beautiful farm devoid of phone signal for a weekend of top tunes, no sleep, and toilet queues at everyone's favourite Reuben-themed festival 2000 Trees.

Thursday started late, after waking late, bombing down the M5, negotiating the new site layout and hauling a barn-sized tent up the hill to where my local friends had set up many hours before.

Our first band of the weekend Conjurer are immense. They've built up a huge fan base on word-of-mouth and reputation, massive songs and hard work (just check out their tour schedule this year). Their live show is faultless, their songs rise and fall, twist and turn, yet remain cohesive and catchy.

After finishing off too much cider and putting up the tent we wobbled over to the much expanded Forest Sessions stage for Press To Meco. The Forest is far more popular than it was probably meant to be – the clearing in the trees with the tiny stage for intimate acoustic sets regularly draws crowds that would struggle to fit in many small venues and PTM played their chilled-out set to an equally large crowd squashed between bark and bush.

Press to Meco : Photo Credit - Gareth Bull

Xtra Mile acts Jamie Lenman (of Reuben) and Frank Turner (of Million Dead – but everyone knows both these things right?) are pretty important to 2000 Trees and it's attendees, having camping areas unofficially then officially named after them, the festival wouldn't be complete without a set from at least one of them in some form. They are both welcomed to the stage like somewhere between Gods and old friends, playing hits old and new before I collapsed embarrassingly early, face down in my tent.

Jamie Lenman : Photo Credit - Dominic Meason

Friday begins like all good festivals mornings - painful and early; to the sound of peacocks and the taste of fresh watermelon.

I'm pretty late to the Slow Crush and Brutus show, metaphorically, and just about managed to not be actually late to Slow Crush's early set at the Neu Stage. Their heavy brand of shoe gaze works well first thing in the “morning”, the ethereal guitar work from their recordings sounding just as strong live and generally being a nice way to start the day. Their set was punctured by another Belgian lot's soundcheck blasting over from the Main Stage and almost of a good chunk of their crowd thinking Brutus had started early.

I missed Brutus during previous festivals having only gotten into them this year and was pretty excited for their set immediately after Slow Crush's, more specifically hearing them play Cemetery off this year's release “Nest”. They did not disappoint ripping through album opener “Fire” and then on to “Cemetery”, where drummer-vocalist Stefanie manages to turn her vocal performance up to 11 while drumming like a beast and remaining note-perfect on song's more melodic ending.

The final act of Friday's Belgian Trio, Raketkanon, were enjoyed from under one of the eponymous trees, safe from a very enthusiastic crowd and vocalist Pieter-Paul Devos's dingey-based crowd surfing.

During a gap in our otherwise busy schedule we checked out Gouge Away on the recommendation of tour-mates Slow Crush. Another new act for me they brought some energetic hardcore to the Cave before we headed over to the Axiom for Crazy Arm's blend of folk, punk, classic Springtstein-esque classic rock. I've enjoyed them in previous years playing the random busker stages after dark and they lost nothing being amplified and upgraded to a larger stage.

The Wildhearts were the Wildhearts; brash, melodic, charismatic, and were joined by Frank Turner for “Let 'Em Go” off their latest album (Turner sighting 2). Rolo Tomassi were brash, melodic, charismatic, a whirlwind of abrasive riffs and screeched vocals giving way to more melodic newer material.

Rolo Tomassi : Photo Credit - Joe Singh

Skinny Lister are another one of those bands I love to see live, especially in a festival scene, their pop-folk being easy on the ears and to have a little dance to with the little people. By the time Cancer Bats started in the Cave I was about ready to finally eat some food that day and was able to grab some authentic Italian pizza that had been taunting me all day, the stall conveniently situated next to the stage so we could enjoy both.

Cancer Bats - Photo Credit - Gareth Bull

Frank Turner sighting number 3, Möngöl Hörde, were Friday's headliner of choice, packing out the Axiom with Turner looking like a human mirror ball. Much less serious than his solo work and much more aggressive, my cider-ravaged self may have enjoyed this more on better days.

Saturday began at my parents house because I'm just old now and had you suffered like I suffered on Friday you'd take the opportunity to sleep in a real bed!

Vukovi started Saturday on a recommendation, bringing a lot of energy and some catchy tunes to the Main Stage, singer Janine Shilstone announcing this was her “first dingy” as she surfed the lunchtime crowd in an inflatable. Sunshine Frisbee Lazerbeam were next, being a big fan of Johnny Foreigner. After that we caught Sœur's second full set of the weekend. Sœur are just grand. Melodic, grungy music not unlike the Pixies meets Shakespeare's Sister, wicked musicianship and stage presence, and the reason I only caught about 2 songs from John and John of John.

Soeur : Photo Credit - Gareth Bull

A were this year's blast from the past and I confess I've been a fan since I was fresh-faced and short-haired. Despite playing quite youthful Rush-flavoured pop-punk with lyrics bemoaning their elders technological illiteracy and keeping things “punk”, A came out embracing the fact that they are now much older, with children and mortgages. Jason Perry asked the crowd to cheer so his children sitting stage-side wouldn't think their “old man” was a failure, chided bassist Dougie Poynter for finishing his run with the band because “they don't pay enough”, and confessing his Just Eat jacket was worn entirely for the attention. And they managed to organised what might possibly be the slowest and least aggressive circle pit ever.

MØL were quite the opposite, a mix pummelling blastbeats and dark atmospheric passages contrasting the afternoon sun, the only smiles to be seen plastering sweaty bodies emerging from the pit.

The Skints are one of the few things I remember from my first 2000 Trees, watching them from my tent far too early in the day while feeling very sorry for my alcohol-ravaged self. While a reggae band might stand out on the bill they were the perfect band for everyone from crusty hippies to small children to cynical teenagers to have a little dance to in hot evening, with a great sound, tight musicianship and well-crafted songs.

2000 Trees regulars and local-ish lads The St Pierre Snake Invasion were back with their new album playing the Cave at more respectable time than their usual allotted slots. They powered through their well-received set including album closer “I Am A Lonely Tourist”. For this particular track they were joined by a rather overwhelmed 5-year old named William who, after much encouragement and fist-bumping from frontman Damien Sayell, blasted his kazoo and shouted along like a champ to rapturous applause.

The St Pierre Snake Invasion : Photo Credit : Ben Morse

Clashes often give rise to the question: do you go for something reliable or try something new? Instead of trying to answer that we did both. Every Time I Die played their only UK set of the summer on the Main Stage, spurring on many a crowd surfer and circle pit. Once we'd had enough of that we strolled over to the Axiom for Wicca Phase Springs Eternal. The gothy trap project of Tiger's Jaw's Ben Walsh was a bit of an outsider on this year's line-up but was well received by the small crowd swaying along.

I went to see The Armed expecting something akin Employed To Serve and The Locust (as the timetable suggested) but didn't quite get either the technicality of ETS or the madness of the Locust. They did however a great stage presence even if their vocalist spent most of the set in the crowd stretching the limits of the microphone cable, and Groot handing out pastries.

The Armed : Photo Credit - Ben Morse

Deaf Havana closed the festival with a flashy light show and some big tunes. I've never been one for the headliners, the exceptions in recent years being Refused and At The Drive-In, but I found myself swaying and nodding along with an enthralled crowd, James Veck-Gilodi's voice soaring over the dark Cotswolds countryside.

Our final night of 2000 Trees was finished off in a typical fashion with chips, silent disco, and a guy playing a Jailhouse Rock/Killing in The Name Of mash-up on the Camp Reuben stage.

Until next year!!!!!

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endlessarchite · 6 years ago

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Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House…

By now you know that we’re nothing short of OBSESSED with the results of painting our brick house white last fall. It has probably been one of our favorite makeovers in our 13 years of homeownership. So for anyone else who might be considering doing something similar, we wanted to share some advice and some exciting news! And also some spring pics of the house, because it’s the first time we’ve gotten to see her with the white flowering dogwoods out front and it makes my heart wanna burst.

Wait but first I should passionately proclaim that we don’t think that all brick should be painted. We still very much love an unpainted brick home or a natural brick accent, especially when it’s beautiful historic brick – like the 100-year-old brick chimneys that we exposed at our beach houses – or the wide reclaimed brick steps that we added to both of them.

But then there was the brick on this house, which wasn’t particularly old or charming (it was from the early eighties and sported a blotchy maroon and dark brown color, with yellow-beige mortar that was applied with little messy triangles in some of the corners). You can see what I mean below:

See how the white swatch of paint immediately neutralized all of our issues with it, and basically brought this brick back into that “ahhh, it looks so historic and stately and classic” arena? The point is that there are a ton of different types of brick, and some of it is gorgeous and amazing just as it is, and some of it isn’t even close to what you would have chosen – and you don’t have to live with it that way! If you’ve disliked yours for a while, our first suggestion is just to trust your instincts and think deeply about it. If you’re not quite sure you want the painted look, don’t do it! But if you’re 110% sure like we were when we finally went for it, well, it’s a good indication that you’ll love the result. Whenever we see old pictures we’re like… “yeah, zero regrets… except that we didn’t do it sooner!”

Even if you’re sure you want to go for it, we know it’s not a decision to make lightly. Believe me, we went through a whole smorgasbord of concerns and reasons NOT to do it over the years, like:

What if we regret painting the brick?

What if we don’t like the color?

What will the neighbors think?

What if it’s much harder to maintain?

What if it’s wildly expensive to do?

But again, now that we’re on the other side of the project, we can assure you that NONE of those concerns were founded. In fact, we’re faaaar more in love with the “after” than we ever expected to be (you can see how much it cost & learn more about the process here).

And if you followed along with our decision-making process last summer on the podcast, you know a big reason we finally worked up the confidence to take the plunge was finding the right paint product. It was actually one a bunch of you guys recommended to us, called Romabio Masonry Flat (at the time it was called Boidomus I).

We hadn’t heard of it before, but learning that it’s a breathable mineral paint specially made for brick and other masonry, so it won’t crack or peel like latex paints tend to do overtime (because it doesn’t seal brick at all – it lets it breathe) – well, that really piqued our interest. And the more we learned about it, the better we felt moving forward with the project, like:

it has a 20-year warranty

it’s eco-friendly

it’s naturally mold resistant

it’s what they use to paint historic brick buildings in Europe

it has this BEAUTIFUL matte finish that looks so classic and never too garish or shiny)

As our pro painter later told us: “it’s like painting brick with brick.”

You can read more about why we chose it here.

Romabio didn’t sponsor our makeover (we paid for everything ourselves!) but we did get to know the husband-and-wife duo behind Romabio throughout the process, because I’m a gal who asks 10,000 questions. Ha! And then after we finished our house painting project last fall, and we loved the result so much, they came to us a few months later and asked if we’d ever want to curate a paint color collection to help simplify the decision-making process for other homeowners. Took us about two seconds to say: “Um… YES!”

Choosing a paint color can feel agonizing for any space, but we had just experienced firsthand how nerve-wracking it was to pick one for our exterior. So the idea of getting to help other people choose the right one without worrying and second guessing themselves quite so much sounded great. Plus I’m a lady who likes to play with paint swatches and imagine what I’d do to every single house I walk or drive by on the street – so basically it was a dream project to pull together a collection of our fifteen favorite exterior paint colors for brick or stone. Literally the ones we would use if it was our house that we were painting (oh to have 15 houses to try these all out on…).

Note: Mineral paint can only go so dark because it’s made from natural materials – aka: minerals. So that’s why you don’t see anything suuuper dark in the collection. Also, dark colors have a tendency to fade outside and Romabio wants everything they make to be super durable and easy maintenance – remember they have a 20 year warranty ;)

We took a lot of our inspiration for the collection from many of the historic painted brick houses in our hometown of Richmond, Virginia. Specifically a gorgeous neighborhood here called The Fan. There are literally blocks and blocks of painted brick eye-candy to soak in, covering just about every color in the rainbow. We love strolling through that neighborhood just for kicks, so it was pretty fun to take a bunch of trips there with our paint swatches in hand and call it “research.”

Speaking of paint swatches, we used Romabio’s stock color deck as a starting point while we walked around downtown, and we began zeroing in on some classic no-fail neutrals (think greiges, khakis, sand tones, and chocolates) as well as some options for those who want a bit more color (misty blues, mossy greens, even a subtle blush pink). The paint blobs in our collection might look somewhat muted or subdued on your screen, but anything with too much color saturation can quickly read as “too crazy” or “too bright” on an entire house’s exterior, especially when the sun hits it. So things needed enough gray or tan (aka “muddiness”) in the color to keep it classic and stately.

Once we zeroed in on a few dozen favorites, Romabio sent us painted swatches so we could tinker and fine-tune (lightening some, graying others, and eliminating too-similar options). Our goal was to simplify the decision-making process, after all, so offering 10 slightly different blues felt like it would defeat the purpose REAL FAST. So if you want a light warm gray, we gave you one (Instant Chateau). Looking for a deep gray blue? Navy Steel is your guy. We did a couple rounds of narrowing and adjusting (always taking things back to The Fan for a real world gut check) so we could be certain we LOVED EVERY. LAST. COLOR

During some of our paint color reconnaissance missions, we also witnessed some examples of what can happen when you don’t use masonry paint on your brick. Not only can latex paints sometimes give you that extra shiny finish, they can also peel and crack over time since the brick can’t breathe and it traps in moisture which is actually damaging to the brick as well as the paint job.

Before locking in our final color selections, we painted sample brick boards with every option to help us better picture what they’d look like on a brick house (you may have caught a sneak peek of these on Instagram). And, well, WE LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH I KINDA WANT 14 MORE BRICK HOUSES TO PAINT (#JohnSaidNo).

The final step was naming them all, which was THE MOST FUN (you guys know I’ve always wanted to name nail polish and paint swatches). And since we love an outtake, here are some names that we left on the cutting room floor (but laughed at for a while before we cut them):

Green Day

Villa Rosa (RHOBH anyone?)

Theon Greyjoy (GOT anyone?)

Red Wedding

Rachel Green (Friends anyone?)

Moss Gellar

And probably our favorite: Mossy “Mossdemeaner” Elliott

In the end, we were aiming for names you’d be proud to put on your house (I think “So Succulent” is my favorite) and we also worked in a few nods to the town that inspired us (like River City and Richmond White). Actually, Richmond White is the exact white color that we used on our house. It’s not too stark and blinding or too yellow – it’s just about the perfect tone, even if you mix it with bright white trim (which is what we have on our house thanks to white vinyl wrapped windows that can’t be painted).

You may remember that to land on our final white paint color for the project, we agonized. We took home dozens of swatches, narrowed it down to four colors, and then had Romabio color match the Masonry Flat Paint to a few Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore colors, which we then painted onto the house to make our final pick. And then we had Romabio color match that swatch again to make us big buckets to cover the whole house. Whew.

But since color matching isn’t an exact science across different paint brands (the different pigments and bases in each company’s formula make it difficult to get the exact original color – more on that here), we wanted to give you guys a foolproof way to replicate the exact white that’s on our house without worrying about any margin for error due to the color matching process. So now you can just ask for “Richmond White” which is the true color we used (it’s the original formula they created for our house using their own pigments & bases).

You can visit the Romabio website to learn more about our color collection with them and soak up all the info on their masonry paint (why it’s so much more durable than latex paint, and what you can & can’t paint with it). And you can order all 15 colors on Amazon. WOOT! Just be sure to check Romabio’s info about what materials it works on and to see if you need a primer or not (for example, already painted brick needs this primer – and you can always call Romabio with questions at 678-905-3700).

Oh and it works on interior brick too (like your fireplace – and you’d probably only need a 1 or a 2.5 liter bucket!). They can also make any of these colors in their standard interior wall paint if you see one that you’d love indoors (just call them for that and they can ship you interior paint in the exact color).

Over on their website we also shared some tips about how to choose an exterior color that works with your existing trim & roof colors, and even pulled together some fun door color ideas to go with some of the colors in our collection.

And if you have any technical questions about the paint, its application, or how to get a small bucket to test any color before diving in, just ask the folks over at Romabio. We picked the colors, but they’re the actual paint pros ;)

Also, if you guys use any of our colors, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND US PICS (you can also tag them with #YHLforRomabio so we’ll see them on Instagram). I can promise I won’t cry over them.

Just kidding I totally will.

The post Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House… appeared first on Young House Love.

Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House… published first on https://bakerskitchenslimited.tumblr.com/

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truereviewpage · 6 years ago

Text

Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House…

Even if you’re sure you want to go for it, we know it’s not a decision to make lightly. Believe me, we went through a whole smorgasbord of concerns and reasons NOT to do it over the years, like:

What if we regret painting the brick?

What if we don’t like the color?

What will the neighbors think?

What if it’s much harder to maintain?

What if it’s wildly expensive to do?

it has a 20-year warranty

it’s eco-friendly

it’s naturally mold resistant

it’s what they use to paint historic brick buildings in Europe

it has this BEAUTIFUL matte finish that looks so classic and never too garish or shiny)

As our pro painter later told us: “it’s like painting brick with brick.”

You can read more about why we chose it here.

Green Day

Villa Rosa (RHOBH anyone?)

Theon Greyjoy (GOT anyone?)

Red Wedding

Rachel Green (Friends anyone?)

Moss Gellar

And probably our favorite: Mossy “Mossdemeaner” Elliott

Also, if you guys use any of our colors, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND US PICS (you can also tag them with #YHLforRomabio so we’ll see them on Instagram). I can promise I won’t cry over them.

Just kidding I totally will.

The post Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House… appeared first on Young House Love.

Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House… published first on https://aireloomreview.tumblr.com/

0 notes

interiorstarweb · 6 years ago

Text

Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House…

Even if you’re sure you want to go for it, we know it’s not a decision to make lightly. Believe me, we went through a whole smorgasbord of concerns and reasons NOT to do it over the years, like:

What if we regret painting the brick?

What if we don’t like the color?

What will the neighbors think?

What if it’s much harder to maintain?

What if it’s wildly expensive to do?

it has a 20-year warranty

it’s eco-friendly

it’s naturally mold resistant

it’s what they use to paint historic brick buildings in Europe

it has this BEAUTIFUL matte finish that looks so classic and never too garish or shiny)

As our pro painter later told us: “it’s like painting brick with brick.”

You can read more about why we chose it here.

Green Day

Villa Rosa (RHOBH anyone?)

Theon Greyjoy (GOT anyone?)

Red Wedding

Rachel Green (Friends anyone?)

Moss Gellar

And probably our favorite: Mossy “Mossdemeaner” Elliott

Also, if you guys use any of our colors, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND US PICS (you can also tag them with #YHLforRomabio so we’ll see them on Instagram). I can promise I won’t cry over them.

Just kidding I totally will.

The post Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House… appeared first on Young House Love.

Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House… published first on https://novaformmattressreview.tumblr.com/

0 notes

additionallysad · 6 years ago

Photo

Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House… http://bit.ly/2IXrAfq

Even if you’re sure you want to go for it, we know it’s not a decision to make lightly. Believe me, we went through a whole smorgasbord of concerns and reasons NOT to do it over the years, like:

What if we regret painting the brick?

What if we don’t like the color?

What will the neighbors think?

What if it’s much harder to maintain?

What if it’s wildly expensive to do?

it has a 20-year warranty

it’s eco-friendly

it’s naturally mold resistant

it’s what they use to paint historic brick buildings in Europe

it has this BEAUTIFUL matte finish that looks so classic and never too garish or shiny)

As our pro painter later told us: “it’s like painting brick with brick.”

You can read more about why we chose it here.

Green Day

Villa Rosa (RHOBH anyone?)

Theon Greyjoy (GOT anyone?)

Red Wedding

Rachel Green (Friends anyone?)

Moss Gellar

And probably our favorite: Mossy “Mossdemeaner” Elliott

Also, if you guys use any of our colors, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND US PICS (you can also tag them with #YHLforRomabio so we’ll see them on Instagram). I can promise I won’t cry over them.

Just kidding I totally will.

The post Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House… appeared first on Young House Love.

#additionally sad home renovations

0 notes

billydmacklin · 6 years ago

Text

Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House…

Even if you’re sure you want to go for it, we know it’s not a decision to make lightly. Believe me, we went through a whole smorgasbord of concerns and reasons NOT to do it over the years, like:

What if we regret painting the brick?

What if we don’t like the color?

What will the neighbors think?

What if it’s much harder to maintain?

What if it’s wildly expensive to do?

it has a 20-year warranty

it’s eco-friendly

it’s naturally mold resistant

it’s what they use to paint historic brick buildings in Europe

it has this BEAUTIFUL matte finish that looks so classic and never too garish or shiny)

As our pro painter later told us: “it’s like painting brick with brick.”

You can read more about why we chose it here.

Green Day

Villa Rosa (RHOBH anyone?)

Theon Greyjoy (GOT anyone?)

Red Wedding

Rachel Green (Friends anyone?)

Moss Gellar

And probably our favorite: Mossy “Mossdemeaner” Elliott

Also, if you guys use any of our colors, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND US PICS (you can also tag them with #YHLforRomabio so we’ll see them on Instagram). I can promise I won’t cry over them.

Just kidding I totally will.

The post Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House… appeared first on Young House Love.

Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House… published first on https://carpetgurus.tumblr.com/

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lowmaticnews · 6 years ago

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Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House…

We know it’s not a decision to make lightly. Believe me, we went through a whole smorgasbord of concerns and reasons NOT to do it over the years, like:

What if we regret painting the brick?

What if we don’t like the color?

What will the neighbors think?

What if it’s much harder to maintain?

What if it’s wildly expensive to do?

it has a 20-year warranty

it’s eco-friendly

it’s naturally mold resistant

it’s what they use to paint historic brick buildings in Europe

it has this BEAUTIFUL matte finish that looks so classic and never too garish or shiny)

As our pro painter later told us: “it’s like painting brick with brick.”

You can read more about why we chose it here.

Choosing an exterior paint color can feel agonizing for any space, but we had just experienced firsthand how nerve-wracking it was to pick one for our exterior. So the idea of getting to help other people choose the right one without agonizing and second guessing themselves quite so much sounded great. Plus I’m a lady who likes to play with paint swatches and imagine what I’d do to every single house I walk or drive by on the street – so basically it was a dream project to pull together a collection of our fifteen favorite exterior paint colors for brick or stone. Literally the ones we would use if it was our house that we were painting (oh to have 15 houses to try these all out on…).

Speaking of paint swatches, we used Romabio’s stock color deck as a starting point while we walked around downtown, and we began zeroing in on some classic, no-fail neutrals (think greiges, khakis, sand tones, and chocolates) as well as some options for those who want a bit more color (misty blues, mossy greens, even a subtle blush pink). The paint blobs in our collection might look somewhat muted or subdued on your screen, but anything with too much color saturation can quickly read as “too crazy” or “too bright” on an entire house’s exterior, especially when the sun hits it. So things needed enough gray or tan (aka “muddiness”) in the color to keep it classic and stately.

Once we zeroed in on a few dozen favorites, Romabio sent us painted swatches so we could tinker and fine-tune (lightening some, graying others, and eliminating too-similar options). Our goal was to simplify the decision-making process, after all, so offering 10 slightly different blues felt like it would defeat the purpose REAL FAST. So if you want a light warm gray, we gave you one (Instant Chateau). Looking for a deep blue? Navy Steel is your guy. We did a couple of rounds of narrowing and adjusting (always taking things back to The Fan for a real world gut check) so we could be certain we LOVED EVERY. LAST. COLOR

Green Day

Villa Rosa (RHOBH anyone?)

Theon Greyjoy (GOT anyone?)

Red Wedding

Rachel Green (Friends anyone?)

Moss Gellar

And probably our favorite: Mossy “Mossdemeaner” Elliott

In the end, we were aiming for names you’d be proud to put on your house (I think “So Succulent” is my favorite) and we also worked in a few nods to the town that inspired us (like River City and Richmond White). Actually, Richmond White is the exact white color that we used on our house. It’s not too yellow or too blue – it’s just about the perfect tone, even if you mix it with bright white trim (which is what we have on our house thanks to white vinyl wrapped windows that can’t be painted).

Also, if you guys use any of our colors, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND US PICS (you can also tag them with #YHLforRomabio so we’ll see them on Instagram). I can promise I won’t cry over them.

Just kidding. I’ll definitely cry over them.

The post Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House… appeared first on Young House Love.

Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House… published first on https://landscapingmates.blogspot.com

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vincentbnaughton · 6 years ago

Text

Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House…

Even if you’re sure you want to go for it, we know it’s not a decision to make lightly. Believe me, we went through a whole smorgasbord of concerns and reasons NOT to do it over the years, like:

What if we regret painting the brick?

What if we don’t like the color?

What will the neighbors think?

What if it’s much harder to maintain?

What if it’s wildly expensive to do?

it has a 20-year warranty

it’s eco-friendly

it’s naturally mold resistant

it’s what they use to paint historic brick buildings in Europe

it has this BEAUTIFUL matte finish that looks so classic and never too garish or shiny)

As our pro painter later told us: “it’s like painting brick with brick.”

You can read more about why we chose it here.

Green Day

Villa Rosa (RHOBH anyone?)

Theon Greyjoy (GOT anyone?)

Red Wedding

Rachel Green (Friends anyone?)

Moss Gellar

And probably our favorite: Mossy “Mossdemeaner” Elliott

Also, if you guys use any of our colors, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SEND US PICS (you can also tag them with #YHLforRomabio so we’ll see them on Instagram). I can promise I won’t cry over them.

Just kidding I totally will.

The post Because You Know We Love A Painted Brick House… appeared first on Young House Love.

0 notes

robertkstone · 7 years ago

Text

Celebrity Drive: Todd Hoffman of Discovery’s ‘Gold Rush’

Quick Stats: Todd Hoffman, star of Discovery’s Gold Rush Daily Driver: 2017 Ram 2500 (Todd’s rating: 9.5 on a scale of 1 to 10) Other cars: see below Favorite road trip: Breckenridge to Fairplay, Colorado. Car he learned to drive in: 1980s Honda Civic First car bought: 1980 Chevy Monza

Although most people think the gold rush has come and gone, Todd Hoffman never got the memo. Hoffman has shown that one can still find success in gold mining in this day and age—and have a hit TV show to boot.

Photo courtesy Discovery Communications

When he’s not mining for gold and being filmed for Discovery’s Gold Rush, Hoffman always has a car project waiting for him. “I’ve got a lot of half-done projects sitting at home,” Hoffman tells Motor Trend.

In his projects, Hoffman seeks to preserve classic cars and their history yet adds newer parts below the hood. With his recent announcement that this season will be his last, Hoffman and his dad, Jack, might have more time to tackle car projects now that they won’t be on the show’s filming schedule.

1972 Chevy Camaro

Rating: 9

Hoffman is proud of the restoration of his split-bumper 1972 Chevrolet Camaro. “I put an LS motor in it; it’s a resto mod.” he says. “The newer Camaros—you’re kind of sitting down in. It feels like you’re too deep into the car and the windshield’s too small.”

For Hoffman, he appreciates the better visibility of older Camaros. “They’re cool,” he says. “A lot better than the newer ones. I would never buy a newer Camaro, but I sure like the older ones.”

Hoffman bought the Camaro specifically so he could complete the project. “I found a project that was half done and was able to finish it,” he says.

He says although he was born in 1969, this 1972 Camaro isn’t really about nostalgia and the cars he grew up around. “I didn’t make out with a bunch of girls in the back seat of one of those,” he says. “It’s more like I just liked the look of it. The guy had started on the project, and I was able to make a good deal on it and finish the project.”

Hoffman also wanted something to be able to just cruise around in. “It’s got a 400-something-horse engine in it,” he says. “It’s more of a driver. I didn’t want it to be like a drag racer. Some of the parts are new, and some of the parts are old. And some of the parts are new but look old.”

Hoffman likes old cars because they’re good project cars to work on with his dad. “We like to fix up old trucks,” he says. “My dad’s doing a 1959 Chevy Apache truck. And I just finished a 1949 Chevy truck 3100 five-window, and I turned it into a lowrider.”

1949 Chevy 3100 five-window truck

Rating: 10

“There’s a style that I like on the old trucks,” he says. “I like an old-patina truck that looks like it came out of the barn, has all the scratches and the old paint, but then it’s got brand-new running gear, brand-new engine, tranny, the interior’s all fixed up nice, but you leave the outside the way it was. The best of the old and the best of the new.”

Hoffman gives it a perfect 10 because he says it’s unique. “You do them differently, and you leave the old character,” he says. “You can see where some farmer welded on the bumper—he welded a little hook on there. You leave that kind of stuff.”

He loves the car’s lowrider vibe. “You hit the remote control, and you can lay it right on the ground, man,” he says. “The frame and everything—you can let all the air out and just lay it out on the ground. It looks cool. I chopped the frame, redid all the frame, put a new engine in it, new transmission and then a full Airtekk Air Ride system on it. … It’s kind of tricky. It’s not easy. There’s a lot to it.”

2017 Ram 2500

Rating: 9.5

Hoffman’s 2017 Ram 2500 diesel can be seen on Gold Rush. He’s particular on this choice of vehicle as well as the differences between a Chevy and a Ram truck.

“I’m really happy with it,” he says. “I got the Mega Cab short bed, but I use it mostly almost like an SUV. But I like Chevy Suburbans for my wife and everybody else. I got the Longhorn edition, so it’s got lighter tan leather in it. It’s nice.”

Hoffman rates it a 9.5 on a scale of 10 and also appreciates the Mega Cab truck’s spaciousness.

“[With four big guys inside], it’s nice to have the back seats lean down,” he says. “The back seats have heaters. … If you’ve got a little bit of a beer gut, it’s always nice to kind of lean back a little bit.”

There aren’t too many things he dislikes about the truck. “It actually rides pretty good, but it is still a little bit stiff,” he says, adding that he is happy that the big diesel truck gets 17–18 mpg.

2011 BMW X6

Rating: 9

“It’s fast, it’s sporty, but … it’s a small SUV—it’s only got four seats in it,” he says. “If you want to take another couple out and to get around town, it’s nice for two couples. What I’d like to buy at some point is a Porsche [911] Turbo, somewhere between 2013 and 2016. I like the Cabriolet [models]. That would be a wish.”

Hoffman loves his X6, giving it a 9 on a scale of 10, and says it’s nice even though it’s six years old. “It’s a V-8 twin-turbo, and I don’t know why, but I like that little SUV,” he says. “That’s what I drive around when I’m at home and not mining, and then my [truck] when I’m at the mines.”

There is one slight drawback about the BMW. “The head room—as you’re getting into it, you’ve got to squat down,” he says. “I’ve had a couple buddies who could barely get into it.”

Photo courtesy Discovery Communications

For fans wondering what Hoffman will do with his time without a TV show, he already has a full life even without a show. “I’m trying to work on my cars, I’m trying to stay married, I’m trying to be a good dad, and then I’m trying to sing,” he says. “I have five songs on the Internet. I’ll record a song and shoot a music video.”

One of the songs is a poignant rendition of “Sound of Silence,” as well as a cover of “Don’t Let the Sun.”

Car he learned to drive in

Hoffman learned to drive in his mom’s little 1980s Honda Civic. His dad taught him in it on the streets of northeast Portland, where he grew up.

“It was a stick shift, and it was hard to learn how to drive in it, but we were pretty poor, man, so we didn’t have a lot of fancy cars and fancy things,” Hoffman recalls.

Although it was hard to learn on the manual Civic, it was easy on Portland’s suburban streets. “You try to start out driving in the neighborhood and then work your way into the busy city, but back then Portland wasn’t that busy,” he says.

Photo courtesy Discovery Communications

First car bought

After gold mining in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1985, Hoffman came home with some money that enabled him to buy a circa 1980 Chevy Monza for $1,500. Hoffman says that only a few folks are left who even know about the Monza.

“You never see them on the road,” he says. “It didn’t get me very many dates, but it got me through high school.”

Hoffman would often try to take the eight-cylinder Monza to its limits when he was on the freeway. “I was young,and it was awesome,” he says. “Why did any of us do that stuff? It was a horrible car to go 115 mph in. I’m surprised I’m alive.”

Favorite road trip

“I hate saying this: I have a big RV, a diesel pusher, and it’s fun to get the guys together and go on a road trip,” he says. “It’s fun to drive. It drives like a big Cadillac, but it’s 30 feet long. People don’t think that’s cool, but it’s fun when you pile in the guys and go for a roadie with your RV.”

He’s driven the motorhome all the way to the Yukon to mine for gold. “I like when we were all caravaning up to the Klondike,” he says. “It was fun. Now we mine in Colorado. The beauty up in the Rockies far surpasses the Klondike and whatever’s up north.”

Photo courtesy Discovery Communications

Hoffman particularly likes the drive from Breckenridge to Fairplay, Colorado. “The drives up here are just phenomenal,” he says. “You go up over the Continental Divide, and you come down into the Breckenridge ski area. It’s not a long drive, but it’s a good drive.”

Discovery’s Gold Rush, Fridays at 9 p.m.

Although much of earlier seasons were in Klondike, the current and final season is about finding gold back here. “I’m trying to mine gold in the United States,” he says. “People don’t think that you can do that anymore and it is a real thing. I’m trying to make a living, I’m trying to get as much gold as I can, I’m trying to feed my family, I’m trying to get as much gold for my guys, and in the meantime I’m getting followed around with this camera crew, and it’s just kind of odd. My son is 18 years old, and he’s kind of slowly taking over, and it’s been very fun to work with my family and watch my son. It’s pretty cool.”

Photo courtesy Discovery Communications

This season takes place in Fairplay, Colorado. “There’s some very difficult things that they’re going to watch, but overall it’s how one group of guys deals with adversity, and do we conquer adversity, or do it let run over us?” Hoffman says of this season. “There’s some crazy stuff. We actually put a guy in jail. Probably one of the most insane seasons we’ve ever shot.”

Hoffman sees the show as always being educational, and this season that means seeing more equipment and different equipment to find gold. “Guys love it,” he says. “It’s a worldwide hit.”

In his folksy manner, Hoffman reflects about what he most enjoys about the show. “You know what I like? It’s getting gold, because I don’t know if you’ve noticed what’s going on in the world,” he says. “We’re on the edge of nuclear war with North Korea, and that weighs on the mind of every man or woman at work or home. When there’s adversity in the world, gold goes up. Why? Because it’s a safe haven.”

Photo courtesy Discovery Communications

He said it’s good to have gold in the bank. “It’s a worldwide currency, and you kick the tires on gold,” he says. “That’s why I got into it, is I believe in gold and I want to get as much as I can for my family because you never know what’s going to happen out there.”

Gold Rush airs Fridays at 9 p.m., with the season finale on March 9.

READ MORE CELEBRITY DRIVES HERE:

Pete Nelson of Animal Planet’s ‘Treehouse Masters’

Drew Scott of HGTV’s “Property Brothers”

Dr. Michael Lavigne of Animal Planet’s ‘The Vet Life’

NASCAR’s Kurt Busch

ESPN’s Mike Golic

#IFTTT #PerformanceJunk WP Feed 3

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definitionmusic · 7 years ago

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ILL COMMUNICATION: 2017 YEAR IN REVIEW

NOTE: This post will be long, but hopefully there are some things to be gained from reading all the way through. I plan on writing monthly newsletters consistently this year and this is the jump-off. If you’d like to opt out, please don’t hesitate to unsubscribe or request off. I’m definitely not interested in wasting anyone’s time, unless you like to waste time. If so, stick around, I got you. But yeah, on to the newsletter:

Even though 2017 is over, I wanted to take a second and present a quick-round up of all the amazing projects I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of this year. I hadn’t planned on doing a 2017 review, but reading everyone else’s got me super motivated, and it’s important for me (and probably everyone) to recognize the small victories that I typically look over in pursuit of the next creative venture.

I also wanted to publicly share my goals for 2018 with all of you; the first goal being the writing of this newsletter. I’ve never shared my goals beyond an album release on such a public forum, but I’m learning the more we all share our goals, the greater the chance we may be able to share resources with each other that help us attain those goals.

So without further ado, I present to you highlights from 2017: The Year of Anarchy

For those who don’t know, my professional life is divided into 4 businesses:

Beat Box Records (record shop)

Ill Poetic (me when I rap & produce)

Definition Music (our record label/media platform)

SoundRzn Design (my sound production and visual branding company)

Each of these businesses work hand-in-hand with each other. One thing I’ve learned as a self-employed artist is to create as many revenue streams as possible and make sure they all flow in the same direction; not just financially but creatively as well. Below are some highlights from each.

BEAT BOX RECORDS

Beat Box Records is an amazing shop owned by my friend Bernie Fishman (DJ Inform) in the Barrio Logan neighborhood of San Diego. In 2017, we celebrated our third year in a physical space, closing out the year with a successful 3 Year Anniversary party that invited vendors, DJs and performers (including myself) from all around the SoCal region. In 2017, Beat Box Records and our Barrio Logan neighborhood received national attention this year via coverage from the New York Times as well as the Wall Street Journal. Bernie always stocks the shelves with rare finds and fire funk, soul and jazz records. He’s a huge inspiration as to helping my musical palette widen and my overall ear for music deepen greatly. My record collection at home is definitely picking up nicely ℅ Beat Box. If you find yourself in San Diego this year, swing by and say what’s up. Keep up with us on Instagram HERE.

ILL POETIC

2017 was a huge year for me as an artist. First and foremost, after 10 long years, we finally released my full-length album “An Idiot’s Guide to Anarchy” to the public via our label Definition Music. I’ll speak about this more in later columns, but suffice to say, I spent this entire year deep in the world of project management, preparing for this release. From working with my team on budgets, to finalizing mixing and mastering; from flying out to Ohio to shoot our “Bleach” video to borrowing my neighbor’s car to drive to LA and pick up 33 boxes of vinyl (Thanks Kim!).

I was elated with the roll-out and response to this album. From the premiere of the first single to early reviews; from fan responses of and pre-order sales, everyone made me feel like the 10 years it took to make this record was time well spent. This was a huge relief for me, as I definitely had a lot of fear and anxiety in prepping for this release. As much as I don’t like to focus on numbers (mostly because I’ve never had crazy high numbers) the album charted high on it’s debut with Bandcamp and amassed over 50K views for the “Bleach” video.

The initial “AIGTA” campaign came to a peak with back to back release parties in Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio. Coming back to Ohio to perform is always a huge deal for me, as it’s the only chance in the year I have to see friends and family back home. This trip didn’t disappoint, especially Cincinnati. I received a huge outpouring of love and support in words, hugs, door donations and vinyl purchases; all extremely humbling. I’ve never gotten so much love from the press for a single release as well, from my hometown of Dayton, Ohio, to The Cincinnati Enquirer & CincyGroove in Cincinnati, and Columbus Alive and (614) Magazine in Columbus. PS - these hyperlinked articles aren’t a humblebrag, I’m beyond proud of this record and what we’ve done so far with it, I’m enjoying my moment in the sun :)

In 2018, we’ll continue pushing this record hard. It’s expected that once a music artist releases an album, they move on to the next project, but after 10 years of building to this moment, I got nothin’ but time to push this project until I feel it’s reached its full potential. So expect to see me and/or me + the band coming to a record shop or venue near you. I plan on taking this record and show throughout the country and eventually overseas to various regions. Not accepting anything otherwise.

“An Idiot’s Guide to Anarchy” is Available on 2LP Deluxe Vinyl & All Streaming Platforms

iTunes | Bandcamp | Spotify | SoundCloud

Alongside the “AIGTA” campaign, I launched a recurring event in San Diego, CA, titled SEANCE. My partners on stage, Carlos Fisher & Jesse Claybourne (Ill Atmospherics) made the move from Ohio out to LA, allowing us to grow our stage show out west. This resulted in our SEANCE event, where we select a talented range of professional producers, musicians, vocalists, DJs and percussionists to join us on stage throughout the night to create a live experiences from scratch; blending Hip-Hop, Funk, Soul, Jazz, Deep House, Electronic, Latin, Trap and Psychedelica. Our first events have had a very ‘intimate’ crowd, but the experience has been amazing for everyone, and I’m looking forward to making this a core focus for 2018; first by turning this into a monthly residency and second by booking SEANCE as an act to be booked throughout San Diego and beyond. Learn more about SEANCE HERE.

Lastly, after failing spectacularly at my first attempt many moons ago, I miraculously found myself in a place I swore I’d never go back to….

College.

This summer, my wife and I started back to school full-time. I’m currently attending San Diego City College in pursuit of an Associates Degree in Audio Production / Music Technology. The degree is cool and all, but I’m most excited about finally diving deep into areas of music I’d wanted to study or been too intimidated to previously step into, for example; music theory, jazz studies, world music and Pro-Tools audio engineering, which rounded out my first semester. I’m pretty excited to apply a lot of this knowledge and continue to better myself as a producer, recording artist, performer and entrepreneur.

DEFINITION MUSIC

Though Definition Music has been around for a while, and our relaunch in 2016 really sparked our most recent direction and stream of releases, 2017’s release of “An Idiot’s Guide to Anarchy” is where we began to all throw our eggs in the same basket. We all invested time, energy and (a lot of) money to see this release out the right way and stake our claim as a legitimate platform for quality, progressive music (and soon film) releases. From pressing vinyl, hiring our first publicist and securing the option of physical distribution with Fat Beats, we made huge strides this year that we only plan to intensify in 2018.

2017 also saw the extremely successful Columbus, Ohio premiere of “Poster Grrl” from label partner/artist Ason Intrigue and his Fringe Life Squad as well as Ason’s pop-up solo production EP “Zyghoste” of which I featured on and mastered.

In 2018, my manager and label partner Micshon Harper will be leaving his corporate job of 21 years to move full-time into the music field. Behind the scenes, we’re all drawing in tighter as to really make our platform and next wave of releases and endeavors something truly special.

Keep up with Definition Music via our Website, IG, Twitter & FB

SOUNDRZN DESIGN

Though I worked on some very cool projects (follow my SoundRzn IG to see), I took a step back on SoundRzn to re-evaluate my direction with the company as well as to focus on our label’s major projects (mostly my album as well as sound-designing the above-mentioned “Poster Grrl” movie). I’ve been reading, studying interviews and listening to podcasts about how freelance companies were able to continue to grow beyond their first stage, which is a huge hurdle I faced early in 2017. After much studying and thought, I decided it makes more sense for me to tighten the scope on what projects I choose to take and focus only on the clients and projects that I truly believe in. As financially difficult as this year has been (and ooooh has it been difficult), this is the first year I began actively turning down work even in the face of financial hardship, as I could begin seeing how taking on that work would only hurt me in the end. In 2018, I’m looking forward to providing services for my label partners and honing in on my favorite top long-term clients very specific needs to help them really grow out their visions as well. I still plan to take on new clients, but only if they truly interest me and if I think I can really help them reach their goals as well.

Visit my SoundRzn Portfolio or contact me HERE

I’ll close with this. I compiled the above accomplishments to help keep a good perspective on everything. This year was challenging and heartbreaking in a lot of ways. Without getting too deep into my personal shit, my family faced financial difficulties that often left us wondering if we’d even last in California another month. My wife suffered a host of health-related issues that only compounded with the above-mentioned stresses. Throughout many of the projects I spoke on above, I battled more than ever to maintain the momentum to push forward and not completely give up. I’ve cried out of sheer frustration this year more than the last 5 years combined. I found out a friend and local Columbus, Ohio music legend Nes Wordz passed away unexpectedly, a moment that emotionally crushed an entire music scene.

As difficult as shit has been for me and my family this year, I’m still privileged as hell and I (almost) never lost sight that my problems pale in comparison to that of most. So when it’s all said and done, I’m super blessed to even be here typing this right now. 2017 taught me to take the wins and love them. Take the losses and learn from them. Go through the pain and apply the knowledge you gain to work toward the next day. That’s about all we can do.

If you’ve made it this far, God bless you. Please don’t hesitate to drop me a line back any time. I’m usually pretty quick to respond and always love to connect. If you have any questions, hit me back here as well.

Looking forward to a really amazing 2018 with all of you. Have a good one

Ill Po

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xertasadventures · 8 years ago

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Cebu Trip - The Second Weekend

Getting close to the end of this series. I kinda don’t want it to come to an end but I fear if I don’t write it soon enough I will forget more details of the trip (I mean I was struggling with the first week already x.x)

So without further ado, let’s go!

2-25-17

So for the weekend we were going on a trip around the island of Cebu. This trip was mostly planned by JR and though it would be with some of my cousins, a part of me wished more cousins could be coming, but I guess we would need a bigger van.

A note: The original plan was to just take mass transit to the places we wanted to go to. Anything from bus to cab to jeepney to even riding on the back of a motorcyclists or his sidecab x.x As brave as I can be, I definitely didn’t want to risk losing anything nor injuring myself, so I told JR that I would pay for a van for us to take around for the weekend.

So JR and Patrick went to pick up the van early morning, around 4 or 5am. They picked up QT and Magz before they picked me up, then we picked up Raymon. This would be the crew we would be rolling with for the weekend. Our first destination would be a city called Carcar which is famous for their street market and their lechon. We wanted to get some lechon for lunch since we would be passing by anyway so we got off at the market and went to the lechon stands. Literally, there was a lechon on each stand. The one we eyed was giving free samples so I took a few pieces of skin and omg it. was. SO. GOOD!!! Truth be told, I’m not as much of a fan of lechon as my fellow Filipino Americans, primarily because usually when I get lechon it’s either too hard or too soggy. But the ones in car car are really really good.

After stopping in Carcar our next destination would be Oslob to see the whale sharks. Everyone but my cousin QT and I had seen them, so it would just be us two going out to watch them. However, because it was a Saturday, it was pretty busy and we had to wait about an hour before we could go. I was told by my Dad before we left that I didn’t have to swim with the whale sharks and that I could just sit. It’s not that I was scared of them, and I knew that we would have life vests, it’s just that one of my little weird quirks is that I don’t like being wet with sea water and not being able to take a shower right afterwards. And mind you, this was still before lunch. We still had a long way to go before we would reach the place we were staying over night so who knows when I would get a proper shower. So that’s why I opted to not swim.

As my luck would have it, however, I did get wet. It’s just something that can’t be avoided considering how small the boats are. Thankfully, I left my cell phone behind, but that also meant I couldn’t take pictures. RIP me. At least this made me realize how important having a water proof phone is I suppose, and I’m hoping that the pixel’s third iteration will be water proof (because I’m not going to get the second one because that would be a waste of getting the first one lol)

But seeing the whale sharks up close was really cool. Supposedly there’s a story surrounding the whale sharks - one day this fisherman saw a whale shark near his fishing grounds in Oslob and decided to feed it. I think it was injured too? So after feeding it and helping it out a bit, it swam away, but then the next day it came back with more family/friends. This culminated in the town uniting together instead of stabbing each other in the back so that the town as a whole can make a living off of having people view the whale sharks. I obviously have my reservations about humans making money off of animals (Though I also like seeing them up close at Seaworld) but it’s not like the whale sharks are forced to stay there. They come and go as they please pretty much, which is why we got worried a little because we thought they would leave before we would get to see them.

QT was able to swim in the water with the sharks and had the guy who rowed the boat take some above and underwater pictures with her go pro. After staying there for about thirty minutes, we rotated out and were back on ground.

After visiting the whale sharks at Oslob, we went to Tumalog falls, though it was kinda funny how we got there. We took a road thinking it would take us where we needed to go, but it was actually a wrong way and by the time we realized it, we were up a steep part of a mountain. And our van was a Mahindra one (don’t remember the specific model, just know that it was an Indian car brand). So Patrick had to carefully back up until we reached a spot where he could make a u-turn. He was sweating like crazy, which I can understand because he was probably mad nervous. Mad props to him though for keeping his cool and being able to get us back down safely :D

So yeah, after that, we went the right way and reached the falls... Well, we didn’t reach the falls, we just reached where we could park. We still had to walk to the falls, but before we did, we all switched to our swimming trunks because apparently we would be getting wet. Again, fearing for my phone’s safety, I had to leave it behind, but at least Patrick stayed behind to watch the car and rest up (since he would be driving for a while after the falls).

The walk to the falls was a little long. But I didn’t complain--after all the eating I did I was happy to get some exercise! There was a point where it was kinda steep but we just went slowly and soon enough we reached the falls. Holy. Crap. It was really beautiful. Something out of a fantasy video game or an asian kung fu movie, where the hero goes to meditate underneath some falls. And the reason why we switched to swimming trunks is because we could swim in the lake that formed at the base of the falls. It wasn’t deep considering I could stand and the water wouldn’t go past my shoulders, so it was just awe inspiring being in the water looking at the falls up close. Was it cold? Initially it was, but after taking a full dip my body adjusted and it felt really nice.

We hung out at the falls for at least thirty minutes I think (didn’t really have a sense of time for this whole trip) and when we were done JR took a motorcycle back up while the rest of us walked back. We tried up and got back in the van and were heading to our next stop: Moalboal.

I was able to get like an hour’s sleep in the car while we drove, but when I was awake, let’s just say it’s not like it is in the states. The highway is a two lane road, one lane for each direction. For most of it, you’re allowed to pass using the opposing lane, but you had to be smart about it. Obviously you’re not going to pass if you can’t see the road ahead or if there’s an incoming car. But if you saw the road and there was no incoming traffic, you would overtake the person in front of you. We had to do this several times because we encountered buses which obviously move slow or the motorcyclists carrying people in their side cab. Makes you appreciate having two lanes each direction, but I know there are roads like this in the states as well.

When we got to Moalboal, I was not aware that we didn’t make a reservation at a hotel here. So we had to walk around until we found a spot that had a room with AC available and a backpacker’s room so we could all stay in the same place. I’m usually used to making a reservation beforehand, but at least we managed to find a place with an AC still available. Would be nice if the shower wasn’t shared, but you get what you get I suppose.

After we found a place to stay, we went back to the main area of the beach and just hung out and chilled at a bar-restaurant. We talked about life, about what we did in our jobs. Had a few laughs because of a guy that passed by that one of my cousins waved at funnily, and took pictures when the sun set. When it got dark, we ate dinner at a local BBQ stand where you pick out the BBQ you want cooked and they’ll cook it for you on the spot. A little bit like Picnic Garden except it wasn’t all you can eat - you paid for what you get. After eating dinner, we went back to the hotel we were staying at where we all freshened up and took naps.

When it was close to 11 pm we went out to hang out at a bar. I’ll admit. At this point I was kinda not in a good mood. I had just been woken up from a nap after a pretty tiring day and I’m not the type to hang out at bars, especially ones where it’s pretty loud. My mood got even worse when this white guy questioned me for ordering water at the bar and then kept drinking from my botttle of water while offering me his drink, which looked like a long island iced tea. Yeah, no. If there’s one thing I’m constantly told, it’s to not accept drinks from people you don’t know. It also didn’t help that it wasn’t a smoke free bar so there was second hand smoke around me, but I did my best not to ruin the mood for my cousins. After a while, Patrick and I went ahead because he needed to rest since he was driving tomorrow and I just wanted to get out of there. So we went back to the hotel and slept.

2-26-17

When I woke up, I was texting Jaymie and my friends and just catching up with them since I was up earlier than everyone else. I remember farting a few times, which is actually kinda funny because Patrick was sharing the bed with me, and we were sleeping on different ends, like his head was on one end and mine was on the other. It was just funny because after one fart, I suddenly heard a “what the eff” and just burst out laughing. A moment later, he farted in return and we just couldn’t stop laughing after that XD It’s always good to start a day with a laugh.

For breakfast we just went to a local place that served your regular filipino breakfast dishes. I got longsilog because it’s hard for me to get that in the states. After we ate, we checked out and headed to our next stop, which was the Kawasan falls. I kept thinking I remember being at these falls but I didn’t realize it until we got to the actual falls. The last time I went here was when I was a sophomore becoming a junior in high school when my mom had a college reunion. These falls was one of the stops of the tour and it was here where I lost my necklace from my Quest retreat, which I was really bummed about (Quest was the best retreat I took part in). I was prepared this time though - I didn’t wear my Jedi Order necklaces from Hollywood Disney so there was no way I was losing that (I am one with the force and the force is with me).

But what I didn’t know is that there are three levels or areas to these falls, and the last time I went we only went to the first area. We walked further up and got to the second area where we would eat lunch and hang out for a bit. We swam in the lake, though this time I had to be careful because it was a lot deeper than then Tumalog Falls. At one point, QT urged me to try and swim to another shallow part of the lake, but I had to swim a little to get to it. So I did what I remember from swimming lessons many years ago and made it... half way LOL. Raymon had to pull me for the rest of the way, which was fine because at least I didn’t struggle or drown > . < But again, it was mesmerizing to be in that water looking at the falls. Made me wish I could do that in the states.

Kawasan is another tourist spot, so there were a bunch of other people there that were jumping from a cliff into the lake at the base of the falls as well. Part of me wanted to try, but considering that I can’t swim, I opted not to. I wanted to get home in one piece after all. But if I did know how to swim, or at least knew how to swim better, than I probably would be down to try it out.

We ate lunch at Kawasan, though the food took a while to be cooked because they had a lot of orders, so while we waited we just chilled in the lake. After we ate, we stayed in the lake a bit more then headed back. When we got back to our van, we drove back to Cebu City, though we stopped by the Milk Station to get some eats and ice cream. We also stopped by Carcar again to get some chicharone, another thing Carcar is famous for.

When we got back to Cebu City, we dropped off everyone at their respective places until it was me and Patrick. We then went to Urgello so he could pick up some stuff to shower with since he would be taking a shower at the hotel my family (and most of my other relatives) would be staying at, Quest Hotel. We had the van until the following day, so we just took it and parked it in the hotel garage, then freshened up. It was nice to have a good shower after such a busy weekend. We had to rush a little bit though because Patrick and I didn’t want to miss mass so after we were ready, we went back out, this time with my Dad and went to Church. It was funny because I was the one that chose where we sat and we ended up sitting right in front of the AC. And though it is the Philippines, it was really, really cold x.x I was actually glad to leave the AC for once when mass ended.

After church, we got some barbeque and snacks before heading to my cousin Lisalee’s house for dinner with everyone... Except we were late and everyone had gone their separate ways already. But more of the Dejoras clan was in Cebu by this time, which is always cool :D

When we were done eating dinner, we split ways again, with me and my cousins going to hang out with some of our other cousins outside of a TomTom’s coffee shop. It was basically the people I went on the weekend trip with, plus my cousin JoJo, his wife Jade, Jenny, their younger sister, Jo-anne, Carl, JJ, and his wife Jasmine. Though I was really tired and looking forward to passing out at the hotel, it was really cool and awesome to be with all of them there with no alcohol involved. I like moments like that where I can chill with people and they are rowdy but not because of alcohol and all because of jokes and laughs :) Though I didn’t understand about 1/3rd of what they were saying due to my limited understanding of Cebuano, it was still nice and I kinda wish I did at least know more of the language > . <

When it started getting late, we had to go because Jenny would be leaving early in the morning since she couldn’t take off of work, plus I’m sure those of us that went on the weekend trip were probably really tired. Raymon dropped me off at Quest while Patrick and JR went to return the van. And after doing a few dailies in WoW I headed to bed.

Thankfully, this wouldn’t be the last time I hung out with my cousins on this trip. More to come in the following blogs.

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