Last night I booked my flight to New York. I'll be arriving at JFK on January 3, 2007 early morning and it's a nonstop flight which is a relief. Still under $200 and I shall take the Shuttle Bus instead of a cab which will be much more costly. Very pleased to have this all arranged now.

Also I may have found a perfect place to stay in Flushing which is about a twenty minute subway ride to NYU. My mother knows a couple in NY and they may be able to accomadate me staying at their condo and help out with meals etc. From what I've heard it's located in a safe neighborhood and the rent would certainly be reasonable as they are friends of ours.

Early this morning ST came by and we headed to Santa Cruz. We got some coffee... I chose the expresso, milk, whipped cream and scoop of Dark Chocolate gelato all whipped together and it was a bit too much coffee for me but the drink grew on me. We took a short walk alongside the oceanfront and the way the sun glazed and slanted over the waves was just so idyllic and beautiful.

After our morning brew, we headed into town and stolled along for awhile. At Kurios, I bought myself a set of five colorful glittery eyeshadows: Silver, light and darker hue of blue, purple and pink. However, ST and I were really searching for a nice light colored dress so that he could take photos of me in it but the little shops and secondhand stores that we checked out yielded no results.

We decided to have lunch then go to the Capitola Mall which will have many more choices. I chose the place to eat: Saturn Cafe, a great Vegan place. I got Chix (fake chicken) patty with onion, lettuce, etc and mushrooms smothered with cheese and these deliciously crispy thin-cut fries. Mmmm, and though they have the best desserts, I was too full to indulge in that.

Before making it to the mall, I got myself a Thai Tea boba drink and it was sweetened perfectly and the tapioca pearls were satisfyingly chewy.

Anyway, our first stop at the mall was Wet Seal, and almsot immediately I picked out a gorgeous dress of metallic lace with satin trim. It's all shimmery silver with a tasteful silver belt detail and black sash that ties in the back. It fits so nicely and it wasn't expensive so we made our purchase. Stopped by the Candy Shop before leaving and got some sour cherry and coca cola chewys.

After, I wanted to catch a movie at the Northridge Mall because they actually have kettle korn there and it's just so good! We decided on Awake, with Hayden Christianson and Jessica Alba. Both of them did a great job acting and it was a pretty intense film. It's about someone who needs heart surgery to be done and though he's not supposed to be conscious, he's actually awake and there's no way to tell the doctors. Incredibly scary thought.

When the movie was done, went back to my place and ST had brought a SanDisk Card Reader to upload my new Las Vegas pictures on facebook since my cord doesn't work. I'll probably buy one of those readers before leaving for NY because they're really efficient and works well.

Anyway, the photos turned out beautifully. I got a lot of shots of the hotels, water fountain show, outdoors, nightlife scenes, and some decent ones of myself and my parents. They're all very colorful and busy, lively shots.

ST stayed over for dinner, which was healthy and delectable. We had tofu and pea soup; special sausages; fish and the main course: Rice with fava beans and Chinese sausage. It was a success.

Tomorrow I shall be in Monterey to get my haircut at Artisan's. I have a couple of magazine pictures of what I want my hair to look like so I will come prepared. I'm looking forward to having a new look and soon after that will be using a home kit to dye my hair a lighter, coppery shade.