Yes, I DO have a final in 4 hours that I'm supposed to be studying for, why do you ask?
This post is late, oh so very late. If I was any later, I'd be pregnant, that's how late this post is.


(...that strawberry's checking out my ass. O_o)

Oxnard is about an hour north of LA, halfway up to Santa Barbara, and is the self-proclaimed Strawberry Capital of the World. I can't affirm the validity of that statement, but I can say this: if God shat strawberries, He probably uses Oxnard as His personal john. We were probably 3 miles outside the city, driving along the coastline where the ocean winds makes damn sure you don't smell anything but the ocean, and we could still smell the fresh strawberries. That's how much God shat.

In fact, Oxnard is one of those cities that all it has going for it is the sheer amount of strawberries produced. Take away the berry goodness and it looks uncannily like Chino. (Not Chino Hills, but Chino.) The festival was held on the campus of Oxnard Community College and... well... it felt like St. Paul's annual harvest festival. That could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how much you like the harvest festival, but personally I was expecting something more unusual. Justin turned to me once during this trip and said, "You know, I keep thinking things will look different everywhere else. But they don't. They look exactly the same."

Seeing how the festival was strawberry themed, they had stuff like:





Which delighted, but also confused us a bit.

This is Tiffany being confused by the strawberry tamale.


There was all this hype about wine and beer made out of strawberries, which really does exist, but they didn't serve that there. They served Strawberry Arbor Mist (with a strawberry in it) and Heineken (with a strawberry in it). I cry foul. >:(



But mostly? There were lots of arts and crafts vendors. Hundreds of them, peddling distinctly non-strawberry-related goods. Almost half of them I've either seen before or seen variations of the same products, because they move from festival to festival, fair to fair, every single year. I recognized the ear wrap people from one of Laguna Beach's many festivals, and Tiffany recognized the same person selling these really cute soap holders (the ones shaped like animals with the huge mouths that you can put your bar of soap in) who was at UCR the week before.

The other half makes for really good browsing, at least for us shopping-inclined females. There's this Hawaiian style hanging chair/hammock that made me feel like I'm back in my mom's womb, suspended in embryonic fluid. :D It was really comfortable.



That sign kinda tore at my soul. D:

The only reason anybody could convince me to go back there again: STRAWBERRIES. Good lord, the strawberries are the best I've ever had. You know how they say that chocolate gives you a longer endorphin rush than sex? The chocolate-covered strawberries practically knocked me out, it was that good. I was walking around in post-coital haze for an hour, swear.

We left the festival with a crate of delicious, delicious strawberries so heavy that the handle broke! The lady was nice enough to give us another crate with a studier handle. It was dirt cheap, too. :D

Then we figured, since we're in the area (read: same region and less than the normal two hours away, lol) we might as well go up to UCSB. Yeah, the decision really was that flippant. Oh, SB? Sure, let's just spend the rest of the day there, lolz.

Cindy and Mandy gave us a tour of the campus, which, btw, is breathtaking. Almost painfully so. Even on a weekend, with very few people walking around, there's still so much LIFE in the architecture, in the landscape, in everything.

There are also signs like this around:


Cindy said how she would choose UCSB over UCLA or UCI any day, simply based on the campus. I have to agree. LA and Irvine, beautifully constructed as they are, look practically soulless compared to Santa Barbara.

It's located right on the beach too~ And it's not like Long Beach State, which only suggests it's close to the beach but really you have to drive a bit to find a good spot and then go through the hassle of finding parking. It's ON THE BEACH.


Justin overlooking the infamous lagoon. (Stop being taller than you already are, dagnabbit!)


Mandy being punched by Cindy's Triforce.


Then Mandy treated us at Freebird and we leeringly eyed the bros and brohos around Isla Vista and then we went home and I passed lots of gas because of Freebird's CaliMexican food yay!