My next-door neighbor is this hotel on Kuhio Avenue, and I have been fascinated by that sign since I moved here nearly 10 months ago. It’s just very pretty and old school charm, and it sort of reminds me of those grand hotels in Puerto Rico in Hunter S Thompsons novel The Rum Diary. Honolulu is full of these very charming old signs, and picturesque buildings hidden among the concrete jungle’s modernized and worn-down noise. You just have to open your eyes look around you and really see.  It’s like vintage shopping, most people only see the ugly, flee-ridden parka, but if you open your eyes and actually look, you spot the amazing beaded dress hidden away underneath it. Honolulu city is my flee market and second-hand heaven.

I have shared some of my hidden gems on Instagram (@mbjorgum), follow me there to find more.

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Dragged my roommate along for a road trip to the Hawai’i Loa Campus – also known as the other HPU campus – today to take pictures of “tree-hugging garden-hippies” (their words) for the student newspaper. As a part of a sustainability project put together by Permablitz Hawaii, volunteers both from HPU, alumni and the community around the school came together to clean up an existing taro patch, and also to plant two new patches to grow more actual edible food on campus.

It is such a peaceful experience to travel from the concrete jungle that is large parts of Honolulu, to the lush green and humid climate of the Loa campus. The contrasts between the Downtown campus in the middle of the business district, and the Loa campus couldn’t be larger. I think I need to spend more time up there. Even though it usually rains a lot more there than it does in the city. It’s like every HPU student’s private retreat in the mountains.

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You’re suggestions are noted ! Right now I have brewed myself a cup of tea in a desperate attempt to wake up. 6:00am is just not a decent hour to be awake (unless you just came home from an amazing party). Just saying. Will preferably be reading a couple of pages in a good book on the bus on my way to school, but it is more likely that I will be reading a couple of pages of homework instead. You know the drill. Only 2 weeks left of finals !

BTW, if you follow me on twitter you know this already, but I am officially back on instagram. So if you want to fill your newsfeed with saturated photos of Starbucks cups, palm trees, my shoes and whatever else I find interesting, you can find it under the name @mbjorgum !

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For your information; I don’t really like cats. Well not as much as I like dogs anyways. Cats are too smart, I always feel less intelligent in their presence. But here I am, with a cat on my t-shirt. In space. I am currently watching the sunset on the lanai, eating tomato soup and contemplating life, homework, work and the great mysteries of world. In descending order. And I have a question for you:

What would you like to see more/less of on this blog of mine ?

TOP bershka PANTS diesel BELT nastygal BOOTS aldo WATCH triwa

So I’ll have to apologize for the bad picture quality. I usually bring my Canon SLR wherever I go, but today I gave my trusted compact camera a second shot to success, and it failed me. Might be because I’ve spent the last couple of years dragging it through mud and rain and extreme heat/cold, through festivals and skiing trips and cruises in the Caribbean without giving it too much thought. In retrospect I should probably have been nicer to it. Well, I never learn and never will when it comes to technology. It’s a good thing technology keeps on evolving so every broken piece gives me an excuse to buy something new.

On that note, what was the latest gadget you added to your ever-growing collection ?

I have a slight cramp in my hand in left hand from having spent the last 3 days (and nights) in front of the computer typing page up and page down of research papers. I am currently surviving on Ramen noodles, tap water and tomatoes. But it feels great. Thank god I love 90% of my school work. I would not survive right now if it hadn’t been for that apparent love. It’s only 4 weeks left of school anyways. I can’t give up now.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend, lovelies !

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Put together a list of songs by Norwegian artists and bands, to keep away those pangs of homesickness. It worked.

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HOODIE hawaii pacific university SHORTS gina tricot BOOTS forever21 BAG marc by marc

Today was Intercultural Day at school, which was celebrated with representatives from  20 different countries (out of the aprox. 100 we have at HPU) all lined up with booths, traditional costumes, music, singing and dancing. HPU is a very culturally diverse university, and personally I know people from Bangladesh, Taiwan, Japan, Germany, France, Belgium, Australia, The Philippines,  to name a few. To study communication in this setting is pretty ideal I would say. Then again I am so biased by now, that you shouldn’t really trust anything I have to say about the university, I am crushing big time. Mostly because everything is going my way. Here’s to hoping it’ll stay that way !

BTW, little known fact about HPU: Sarah Palin attended the school back when it was just a college in 1982. LOL.

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I have a small crush on the april lookbook from Free People, and especially the shorts from Jen’s Pirate Booty. Too bad the economy is a bit tight at the moment, if not these would be on their way home to mama just about now. Free People’s website is really not a good place to visit when you’re low on cash, especially if the ethnic, boho-chic, navajo, festival-related trend is what you’re aiming for style-wise. It’s paradise. And I want it all.

So.. I’m going to be a Master-student this fall. Do you know how grown up that makes me feel? Like two steps away from being an adult. Or one and a half. Only thing I’m lacking now is a a full-time job and a husband (or at least shared accounts). Preferably in Hawai’i. Mahalo life !

SWEATER + SHORTS + BOOTS forever21 TOP brandy melville SUNGLASSES rayban

Just got home from another extremely long but very fulfilling day at school. Today involved fixing a third of the paper after we got a call from the printers saying that this-and-that and so-and-so was wrong, blurry, not edited properly and so on. Don’t really know how that happened since it looked perfect on Friday/Saturday, but that’s the life in media (as far as I have understood the dynamics of this business), unforeseen things happen all the time. Sushi and Asahi with Briana at our favorite Japanese place around the corner has rarely felt better nor more deserved.

A good nights sleep will make everything perfect. Hope you are all enjoying spring and are not too wrapped up in school and exams.

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The problem with going to school in Hawai’i is that every day feels like summer vacation, but in fact rarely is. Especially now when summer is taking over the island transforming the winter’s cold temperatures (23-27°C) into pure summer at 28-33°C. All you want to do is sit outside on the lanai with something cool to drink and a book, preferably in the entertainment category, but instead you have to be inside in front of the computer writing essays, doing research via online databases, putting together the page design for the student newspaper, and a thousand other things that are so modernized that they can only be done on the computer.

Got an iPad for my birthday from my mum and dad, and am currently looking for a cheap and cool cover for it before I break it. Any suggestions ? Suggestions for overly fascinating, practical or time consuming apps will be received with much thanks and such. I suck at wordfeud by the way, so we can leave that one out.

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Reading_nothing. Oddly enough. Any suggestions?
Listening to_Maroon 5 ft. Rozzi Crane – Come Away To The Water // Alex Clare – Too Close
Watching_Game of Thrones, New Girl and Once Upon A Time.
Working on_a photo story for my photojournalism class, and that never-ending essay on why terrorism can be justified.
Eating_nothing at the moment. Hungry !
Drinking_Kona Coffee and Diet Mountain Dew.
Should be_working out/tanning/be social.
Will be_not working out/possibly tanning/probably be social/do homework.
Looking forward to_5 weeks from now when I am finally back in Norway for summer vacation. And then moving into the new apartment. The beautiful-amazing-fantastic-supercalifragilisticexpialidocious apartment.

… throw them in the fridge, grab a bottle of Mountain Dew and spend a couple of hours in the sun.

So, this is not the first time I have tried - and succeeded in some cases – to lure you into the Kingdoms of George R.R. Martin, but in celebration of season 2 (episode 3 comes out tomorrow) I thought I’d remind you about the best TV-series on TV right now. Based on the epic book series by GRRM, Game of Thrones is everything you can wish from a really great HBO series: war, sex, gritty realism, nakedness, death, crazy religious people, incest, blood, witty humor and just a hint of magic, all mixed together in a blend of beautiful  scenery, fantastic costumes and the best actors you can find out there.

Tyrion Lannister: Tell me, when your men slaughtered Ned Stark’s men at the throne room, did you give the orders?  
Janos Slynt: I did, and I would again. The man was a traitor. He tried to buy my loyalty.  
Tyrion: The fool. He had no idea you were already bought.  
Janos Slynt: Are you drunk? I won’t have my honor questioned by an imp!  
Tyrion: I’m not questioning your honor, Lord Janos. I’m denying its existence.  
[Janos jumps to his feet furiously]  
Janos Slynt: If you think I’ll stand here and take this from you, dwarf…  
Tyrion: “Dwarf”? You should have stopped at “imp”. And yes, you will stand here and take it from me, unless you like to take it from my friend here.  
[Gestures to Bronn]  
Tyrion: I intend to serve as Hand of the King until my father returns from the war. And seeing as you betrayed the last Hand of the King, well, I just wouldn’t feel safe with you lurking about. There’s a ship leaving for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea tonight. From there, I’m afraid it’s rather long walk to Castle Black. I hope you enjoy the Wall. I found it surprisingly beautiful… in a brutal, horribly uncomfortable sort of way.

This is the series were the bad guys win and your favorite characters are killed off one by one. And then the bad guys die. And the real bad guys step out from their scheming place in the dark. Season 1 was awesome, season 2 promises dragons, dead people coming back to life (but not in a good way), a mysterious star in the sky foretelling 2674 different prophecies and five kings fighting for the throne left by the late King Robert. Valar Morghulis.

Do you watch Game of Thrones?