Alyssa's 340 Blog

Remebering Kaia       Last Tuesday on February 13th, my fifteen year old cat Kaia passed away. I never thought I would be able to have a connection with an animal like I did with her. She had been sick for a while, but I never really believed the day would come when she wouldn’t be in my life. I grew up with her and had gone through many stages of my life with her by my side. While I have been very sad, I have been thinking about some of my favorite memories with her over the years.       I was eight and my family and I were flying back from Disney World and talking about names I wanted for a cat if I got one. I had been obsessing over getting a cat my whole childhood because I always loved animals. When my grandpa picked us up from the airport and brought us home, two little kittens were huddled in the back of a crate waiting for us to arrive. We named them Kaia and Bitty. Kaia because it was the first letter of all the members of my family combi...

  When I started this book I was not sure what to expect. All I knew is that I saw America Ferrea in the Barbie movie and was very interested to learn more about her life. I was expecting to hear excerpts about the celebrity and their experience with culture in the entertainment industry, but I got much more.  One of my favorite chapters followed the story of Padma Lakshmi. I always see her on the food network and was amazed by her cooking skills and calming persona. I was shocked to learn about her childhood story of moving away from her faith because of a fatal accident, and finding her way back years later when she had children of her own. I also enjoyed listening to Wilmer Valderelam. I loved him in “That 70’s Show” and I did not know that he was not fluent in English prior when he first started the role. He said that the show was the best language training he could have asked for which I thought was amazing.  I enjoyed this book because it followed so many differen...

  Dishing Out Magic My Perfect Day of Eats at Disneyland, Ranked When you think of Disneyland you think of rides, screaming kids, and of course Mickey Mouse. While Disney dishes up classic theme park dishes like churros, and corndogs, over the last decade, they have positioned themselves as a culinary powerhouse. All over the property you can find hand decorated pastries, gourmet tacos, bao buns, and delicious cocktails.  Why am I qualified to speak on this topic you may ask? Well, I was born into a Disney family and have done everything from Disneyland, Disney World, Disney Cruises, and even stayed at the Disney Resort in Hawaii. I have been an annual passholder ever since my family moved to Los Angeles and go about 10 times a year. That being said, I have tried countless snacks, meals, and drinks and have tried almost every restaurant on the property. In the following article I will be ranking some of my favorite, and not so favorite foods you can find in Disneyland. I will ...

  The book I chose to read is “American Like Me: A Reflection Between Life and Cultures ” by America Ferrera. I chose this book because I thought it would be easier to read in segments and I was excited to read about many celebrities' experiences dealing with assimilating to American culture while being authentic to their personal culture. I was also interested to learn more about America Ferrera because I saw her in the Barbie movie and her role was very inspiring as a woman who had large aspirations and goals. I was curious to learn more about her life and her rise to fame as well as some other celebrities I have never heard of.  I am hoping to learn about different celebrities' experiences with fitting into Hollywood while trying to be authentic to themselves and their culture. So far I have noticed how most of the stories are mostly about experiences the person had as a child that was very impactful to their identity or shaped who they became. It has been very fascinati...