I have made a collection of items I would love to have under my Christmas tree this year. 

All these gifts are TO DIE FOR and any girl would be thrilled to receive one of these!

LUCY GOES TO GERMANY

Hello lovelies! This weekend I spent my final trip of the year in Cologne, Germany. I arrived mid-day Thursday and checked into my hostel. Normally when I travel I stay at Airbnb's or hotels, but since I am running out money pretty fast-staying at a hostel was ideal. To my surprise the hostel was not scary at all and reminded me of a college dorm. I was fortunate enough to stay with two of my friends in the same room so it was not as awkward being in a room with strangers. Our first night we went to a restaurant and bar called Heller's and had authentic German food with Cologne's famous beer: Kolsch. In Cologne, you are given a beer with a coaster. When you're done with your beer, you have to put the coaster on top or else the waiter assumes you want another beer even if you're not halfway done with your current drink. Speaking of Kolsch, it is cheaper than water in Germany.

BRUNCH AT LE PAIN QUOTIDIEN

I am trying be wiser with my money meaning less eating out at hip and healthy restaurants and more of eating the remainder of food in my kitchen pantry (which by the way, is only filled with rolled oats, banana, chia seeds, green tea, and organic peanut butter). Having banana oatmeal for breakfast everyday can be quite tiring, which is why I decided to spend a little bit of money on myself to eat different food. Even before temporarily moving here, I have been eyeing this restaurant in Los Angeles. Now that I see it in every street corner, I decided to try the popular London food chain Le Pain Quotidien.

LUCY GOES TO BUDAPEST

"You are not where you are from, you are where you're going"

The more I travel, the more I realize I do not belong to one place. I fall in love with every country and city I visit. Growing up I always told myself "LA is my home. I can never leave." But moving to London and then traveling to several countries has confused my mind about where I want to be in the next few years. And this thought of "Where will I be in 10 years?" scares the living hell out of me. But why stress about where my future "home" will be? Home does not necessarily have to be an actual place. Home can be anywhere. Home can be being in between your mothers arms, drinking a cup of coffee walking through the streets of a foreign country, hiking the tallest mountain, or laying down on the floor listening to your favorite tunes. It is where you feel the most comfortable and content. 

LUCY GOES TO ITALY (VENICE X FLORENCE)

U P D A T E: This is a continuation of my week trip of traveling.

V E N I C E 

 I really cannot compare other countries with Italy because of my lack of travel the past years, but there is one thing I can say about Italy that stood out from the others is that is a place where you literally feel disconnected and forget about your responsibilities and worries. On thursday evening, Jillian and I flew to Venice, Italy. Jillian really wanted to partake in the "hostel" experience and we stayed at Camping Jolly. It was not as scary as I thought it would be, but then again we did have our own room instead of sharing it with strangers. Staying at the hostel was actually very beneficial due to the fact they had a shuttle that took you to the water service station that takes you straight to Venice. The boat ride took about 13 minutes but it was the longest 13 minutes of life since I was extremely seasick. We got off on one of the stops and had to walk over a bridge to get to the Venezian streets. Venice was filled with hundreds of tourists that it made me wonder where are the actual Venezians? Throughout the day I compared Venice to Disneyland and how they both feel very unreal when you are there (yes I know Disneyland is a weird place to compare it too). But do actual people live in Venice or was it a place filled with strangers that leave at the end of the day?

LUCY GOES TO MADRID

 D I S C L A I M E R: This week I traveled to Spain and Italy but I decided to make separate posts for them in case I began to ramble on. 

On a rainy Sunday afternoon, I flew to Madrid with one of my flatmates and stayed at my aunt's house. She lived in the suburbs a bit further from Central Madrid so the taxi ride did cost over 70 euro just to get to her house. Her house was absolutely stunning with tons of rooms, a theatre, dining room, etc.

LUCY GOES TO PARIS

I am still in disbelief that I was in Paris for a weekend. Maybe because I never really had the opportunity to travel anywhere growing up or maybe because it still really has not hit me that I am living in Europe. But I was there and it was enchanting.

LUCY GOES TO LONDON

For those of you who have not noticed by my excessive tweets, Facebook check ins, and Instagram uploads I have moved to London for four months to study abroad. For as long as I could possibly remember I have always been obsessed with British culture from British Literature works to British music artists. Just being here for two weeks I am fully convinced that I was born in the wrong country. I do love California dearly (hence the title of this blog), but London is a nice place to get away for a while.

I arrived to London on August 25 with a large suitcase, a carry-on and a couple of pounds to last me for at minimum two days.I could not believe the drastic temperature change. I am used to being at home dealing with the excruciating heat and tanning easily but this was completely different. Every Londoner was layered from head to toe holding up umbrellas to stay dry from the rain while I wasn't even wearing a jacket to keep warm. My shuttle driver had a very strong accent with a low voice so I could not understand what he was telling me. During the drive he was pointing out important places but because I had no idea what he was saying, I would just nod my head.

I arrived at the Grange Blooms hotel and the hotel was quite small with only about six bedrooms on the floor I was staying in. I had researched Grange Blooms Hotel right after I booked it to only discover that it is one of the top 5 haunted hotels in London. I was beyond nervous and was not planning on staying there for the rest of the day. Yet, as soon as I got into my room, I realized (finally) that I was burning. Maybe it was the lack of food I had eaten for 13 hours traveling or the coughing woman next to me, but I was now sick. Now being sick was the last thing I thought I would be especially considering that I get sick maybe once or twice a year. I called my mother, my best friend, my cousin, and my grandma to only realize that it was around 3 am in California. I began to obnoxiously cry that I wanted to go home because I was alone in a foreign country and have never actually been alone. I slept majority of the day to feel better and to forget that a ghost could be haunting my room at the moment as well.

The following day I went to the main office of my program. There are about 105 students in my program and we were each given an envelope and a list of our roommates. Now maybe I am being biased but my flat is insanely huge and beautiful. In total there are 12 girls and it may be a struggle to fit all our food into the two refrigerators, but we all get along so well. There are perks of having 11 flatmates such as being able to walk to class with someone or planning traveling tips. You're never really alone here. Each of my flatmates have vibrant personalities and are willing to try new things and make their most out of this experience.The first couple of nights we went out to local pubs and clubs and met a bunch of British locals and Europeans visiting for the weekend. What's funny here is how much British people obsess over American accents. I've been asked by multiple people to speak just so they can hear my accent. I was shocked about the music being played here because it's more of throwback songs and to my surprise I learned that other parts of the world get American music way later. 

 

In just a short week I have visited Buckingham palace, Big Ben, Shakespeare's Globe, London Bridge, London Museum, London banks, etc. Maybe these are the most common tourist sites but I am technically a tourist so I have to experience such things. I have also tried different kinds of food and drink such as VEGGIE fish and chips and British tea. In addition to travel and food, I have finally gone to one of my favorite stores Topshop and was lost the entire time. The stores here are MASSIVE and it's quite difficult to find what you want. And also who knew that stores could contain a salon, a cupcake station, and a juicery. The culture here is very fast paced and it can be difficult to make friends with British people (besides meeting them in social settings). I've walked A LOT here. Back home a mile sounds like too much of a far walk but a mile here is considered short. I only have two complaints about London. First, I am not a huge fan of riding the tube. For one, I am TERRIBLE with direction and not knowing the names of each street makes it a lot more difficult for me. I also do not like how overcrowded and hot it can be. Majority of people are wearing heavy coats so just imagine how hot it gets inside the tube. The second thing I do not like is self-check out at grocery stores. I know I should not be relying on people to do things for me but scanning and bagging my groceries is REALLY difficult. The cashiers also ask for your signature on your credit/debit card after signing the receipt. I don't really understand the meaning behind checking a signature especially because my signature can range from a 6 year old girl who just learned how to write or a teenage boy. But these "complaints" are very small compared to all the things I love about London.

This place definitely feels unreal and I am loving each moment of it. I have come to the conclusion that it takes a certain individual to leave everything behind and learn about a new culture all while having to make friends again. You have to be brave and be kind to do a study abroad program because making connections with others will make the experience a lot more worthwhile. I do not know what is ahead of me the next four months, but I am excited for the ride.

xoxo,

ABOUT KALIFORNIA KISSING

Hello hello! My name is Lucy Lopez and welcome to my blog Kalifornia Kissing! I am a 20 year old college student studying at the University of California- San Diego. When I am not in SD or traveling other parts of the world, I am based in Los Angeles. I am currently a fourth year studying to get my B.A. in Communications while minoring in business with a focus in marketing. My dream is to one day work in PR and social media marketing for a top fashion company. Things I enjoy doing are traveling, attending concerts, boxing, hiking, reading, trying out new restaurants, and shopping. I'm very passionate about writing, creating content, and sharing stories with others.

Kalifornia Kissing is an online diary labeled into different categories such as fashion, travel diaries, lifestyle, and beauty tips. I started this blog as a creative outlet to communicate with others from different parts of the world. I love to inspire and be inspired and that is what I am hoping to get out from this blog. Thank you so much for giving me the chance to connect with you!

xoxo,

LUCY GOES TO SAN DIEGO X SANTA CLARA

Hello beautiful people of the internet!

A couple of days ago I went to San Diego and Santa Clara with a group of friends to see One Direction in concert. We left Thursday morning and came back Sunday night. The best part of this trip was that we had the destination and a hotel, but we had no concert tickets. But that just makes the whole trip even more exciting and stressful but still exciting! Of course me being terrible with saving money did not have enough to buy food so I brought a cooler and packed a bunch of healthy snacks for all of us.

SAN DIEGO | JULY 9
For those of you who don't know, I go to college in San Diego and spend the majority of my time there. Even though I've been gone for a couple of weeks since school ended, I was missing the place and it was so nice to be back. When we got to San Diego, we began searching online for tickets. My friends and I normally like to get floor tickets, but because it was the day of the concert, tickets were selling out fast. Our stress levels were increasing and everyone was going insane looking for tickets. We finally found tickets for each of us, but we did not all sit next to each other. The traffic was massive and it took a while for us to get to the venue making us arrive right when the first song began to play. Clouds is my favorite song of the album so when I heard Harry singing, I began to run and of course fell flat on my face in front of a bunch of people. I don't even know how I got up and was able to walk. I think I was so embarrassed and cared more about seeing One Direction than if I had gotten badly hurt. My friend Skaih and I sat right in front of the cat walk where we were able to see all four boys clearly. I could say that Skaih and I had the best seats in the house because One Direction tends to use the cat walk a lot. I just remember walking to my seat and I saw Niall Horan standing basically right in front of us playing his guitar. The majority of the show Niall and Liam stood in front of us which was AMAZING. For the final two songs, we met up with the rest of our friends and danced around barefoot (wearing heels at concerts can be DREADFUL) while the security guards watched us in confusion. Normally they would have asked us to get back to our seats, but because it was the final songs, I guess they let it go.

Going home was a nightmare. It took about 6 hours to finally reach Los Angeles and I finally was able to sleep at around 6:30 am. Apparently there was road construction happening, which was not a good thing, especially considering the amount of cars driving to Los Angeles because a bunch of fangirls came to see One Direction.

SANTA CLARA | JULY 10-JULY 12
I woke up the next morning around 11 am because we had to leave to Santa Clara for the following concert. During our drive, we listened to One Direction and talked about our different experiences from the previous night. We hoped that Santa Clara would not be as stressful as it was in San Diego. When we arrived in Fresno, we stopped at Dutch Bros and I got the Carmelizer which I can say tastes like HEAVEN. Dutch Bros has to be one of the best places that sells coffee and I definitely recommend for everyone to try it. Although I wanted to stay healthy during this trip, I caved in by going to in-n-out, eating large amounts of quest bars, chocolate, and hot Cheetos. Maybe next time I'll be able to control myself, but because of how long the drive was, I needed to indulge in something unhealthy. We finally arrived at our hotel and it was an interesting one. The hotel resembled a college dorm and there was absolutely no AC. It was probably one of the most uncomfortable sleeps I had in a while but I did not sleep long. It was finally the day of the concert and we needed to act fast. We already learned from the San Diego concert that waiting last minute is not the smartest thing to do because who knows when people will buy tickets. We looked on different ticket websites to find the best and affordable floor seats. I had already spent a good amount of money on food, gas, and the previous concert so I was afraid I would not be able to find a ticket that was in my price range. the stars were in my favor that day and I was able to find a floor ticket that was pretty close to the catwalk and was in my budget. Considering that we bought our ticket so early in the game, we had enough time to take a nap, shower, and get ready. It felt so weird that we had so much time because two days ago we literally had just an hour to get tickets, change, and drive to the venue. So if there is one stadium I am completely in love with, it is the Levi's stadium. Considering that it is pretty new, it is very modern so there are a lot of cool techy things and it's overall just breathtaking. I felt a bit embarrassed being at the venue because I was wearing a crop top with my ripped motto jeans while everyone else in the venue had sweaters. It was 70 degrees...wasn't it supposed to be kind of sunny? Unlike San Diego, we actually arrived to the venue pretty early so we had enough time to walk around, take pictures, and relax. Finally the intro began to play as the lights turned off and the crowd went wild. I was once again finally seeing my favorite boys perform. I was not as close as I was the night before, but I still had an awesome view of all four boys.

After our trip we indulged on some late night Jack in the box and were able to get at least 7 hours of sleep. Now I know people wonder why the heck does this girl go to see them same band multiple times when it's the same show? But, you know, it really is not the same show. Sure they sing the same songs but it's different each time. Maybe Harry does a dance for a certain song, maybe Liam changes a vocal chord, maybe Louis says something different the night before, maybe Niall makes a joke. There are so many possibilities that can happen and I just want to be there for all of them. Call me crazy, obsessive, or spoiled but I saved up all this money from paychecks, random dollars in my purse, not buying lunches. No one helped me pay for them which is why I felt that OTRA was a lot more rewarding then previous One Direction concerts.

And there it is! My second post (FINALLY) about an unforgettable trip with the greatest of people. Looking forward to next summer!

xoxo,

2015 NEW YEARS RESOLUTION

I've been wanting to start a blog for years and I have decided that now will be the perfect time. I think the reason why I never started was because I had no idea what to post. It is 3 days into January and what better way to start my blog then mention my 12 resolutions for the New Year.

I normally don't really accomplish all my resolutions (e.g. I put I would become famous. Never really happened for the past 3 years but hey, it was worth a shot). This year's resolution is more about loving myself and others more, taking care of myself, and just improve.

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION 

1. Get fit: Now I normally put this and I do workout but this year I want to discover what really  works for me and what will help me reach my goal.

• Going to do Kaylaitsines for 12 weeks
• cardio barre on wednesdays this quarter 
• go running/ hiking/swimming/even walking

2. Eat healthy: Last summer I began eating really clean and saw improvements in my hair, skin, and body. Like every college freshman I gained the freshmen 15 (do I regret those milkshakes? maybe....maybe not) and spent all summer trying to improve myself. I started lacking in my eating habits when I went back to school so this year I am going to focus in improving. 

• no dairy products (it will help me stay away from all the yummy sweets)
• drink tons of water!
• eat mostly fruits and veggies
• meatless mondays

3. Do good in school: I'm really trying to improve my GPA

4. Start my blog/career: Well this is it!

5. Be more active in my sorority/ speak up more: I tend to be really shy and don't say what's on my mind even if i think TONS so this year I want my voice to be heard. I always want to step out of my comfort zone and get closer with other sisters.

6. Do not be afraid to wear what you want to wear.

7. Get a job- I REALLY NEED ONE.

8. Love myself- I struggle in liking myself and find things that are wrong with me. This year I want to be able to accept myself even more. I need to understand that body image and how attractive a person is does not define them. What defines a person is their character. However, this is easier said than done. 

9. Visit cool places in San Diego. Going out to parties on weekends are cool and all but I would like to explore more of my current home. Everyone talks about San Diego and I need to discover the beauty within it.

10. Be the coolest big ever- For those unfamiliar with sororities, we have this thing where an older member (me since it's my second year in my sorority) becomes a "big" sister to a new member and you show her the ropes of your sorority, Greek life, and develop a long lasting friendship. Hopefully I get to show my little how much I care for her and make sure she has a great first year!

11. Save money- I struggle with saving my money. I'll have 50 bucks in my card and it will be down to 4 dollars due to online shopping. I have tons of things I want to do this summer and need to start saving now (what am I doing for summer? that will be a future post ;) )

12. Get ready for London! I am going to be studying abroad this upcoming fall and I have chosen to go to London. I am very excited to visit such a beautiful place and take tons of pictures. I will also be traveling across Europe which is even more exciting! 

Well I hope you guys enjoyed my New Years Resolution. Hopefully I'll complete them this year 

Xoxo,