Shadowing Practice: traveling to LA *alone* for the first time (i'm scared) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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422 sentences
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We're in LA!
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Good morning!
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Guess what we're doing today?
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I'm leaving for a trip in three, two days tomorrow?
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Wait, two days.
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I'm leaving for a trip in two days and I'm going to LA.
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And I know to you guys, it doesn't seem like a big deal to go to LA because literally every YouTuber and their mother lives in LA.
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So it's like, okay, what's the big deal?
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But for me, I have never been to the West Coast.
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I'm an East Coast girl.
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I live in Pennsylvania.
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I haven't like been out of the country or anything.
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Not that LA is out of the country, but it is very far and it's just like a completely new territory for me and I've never been there.
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So I'm really excited.
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kid.
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I'm very, very, very, very, very, I'm very excited.
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To me, this feels like I'm going to like Australia
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or something because LA is one of those places
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that you always hear about and it kind of feels like one of those made -up places that like isn't actually real.
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It's like just a Hollywood fantasy but it's apparently a real place and I'm gonna be going there.
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So I'm excited to get packing.
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I'm trying to decide if I should bring my big suitcase or my little suitcase because I have two suitcases.
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Obviously, I don't need to bring both because it's only a five -day trip and ideally, because it's cheaper
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and I can just bring this with me on the plane I don't have to check a bag
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but right now what I need to do is pick out all my outfits
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and then I'll see if I can fit it in the little one or if I need to bring the old one.
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Also if you get one like I know I talk about this all the time, but genuinely, this is my posture as I'm filming.
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Like, girl, stand up.
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Oh my gosh.
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But yeah, I need to actually get started packing
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and figuring out my outfits
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and I feel like that's what is low -key stressing me out
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And I'm trying to not get stressed about it
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and just have fun with it
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But I'm going to LA like I gotta have good outfits
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because I'm going to LA and obviously we're gonna be vlogging taking photos
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and meeting new people Potentially getting scouted by modeling agents from me walking on the streets
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and becoming famous like you you never know Have a great time.
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Thank you.
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Okay, I made it to LA!
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That was the longest flight I've ever been on in my life, which I know six hours might not seem long to some of you guys, but to me that's the longest flight I've ever been on.
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And I was mainly trying to sleep the entire time, but it was kind of that like on and off sleep.
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Okay, I made it to LA!
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I'm here with the one and only Michelle.
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This is my first time in LA.
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First time on the West Coast.
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Longest plane ride of my life so far.
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Also my first time to college ever.
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I've never been to any sort of college.
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Oh yeah.
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Because you guys know I'm not in college right now.
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This is Michelle's dorm.
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I love her bed.
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And then we have her desk.
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Ignore her bed.
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And then that's her roommate's side.
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We are going to go to The Grove.
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Which I don't fully know what that is.
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It's like adult Disney basically.
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It doesn't feel real that I'm in LA.
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I haven't registered that I'm in LA.
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Oh, there's like party dorms and this is like a - I'm in LA!
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This is my favorite place ever.
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Wow.
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I feel like I'm in like a different country.
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It's so cute.
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I know this is so nice.
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Okay guys, we're currently at the La La Land Cafe.
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Tell me why I thought this was like the La La Land movie.
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Like she was like, "We're gonna go to the La La Land Cafe." I was like, "The La La Land?" But this is still amazing.
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And right over there is a Renny Cafe.
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Pizza from Brandy and I also need to go see that Brandy dino so I'm obsessed.
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This is like actually the best place ever.
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I actually don't even care if being a tourist here like I will fully embrace being - This is the tourist spot.
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Like this is the place we're tourists and I am a tourist so I'm not gonna like act like a tot.
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Now we got to do a pizza review Of course Whoa, I was not expecting all that Wait, this is like a pizza Okay,
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I'm gonna switch over to my iPhone So that you guys can hear us better Oh, for audio?
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Okay Because I feel like you can't hear us in any of this But we got this delish pizza
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And there's so many people, normally I hate vlogging in public But I'm getting like a weird burst of motivation To film, so I'm like
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We just lost all of our aura eating this arugala The
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thing about Brandy is everything in here is my exact style so I'm wanting everything.
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Wait, this is so not my style but I need to try it.
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It's happening guys!
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I'm getting like it.
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I think this should.
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How about you?
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Oh, I didn't even look.
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Bye.
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The wiener baby!
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Da da!
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Woo!
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The water!
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It's on the air!
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This is going to be so amazing.
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I can't do it!
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We're in the light baby!
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We're in LA!
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Woo!
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What are they building here?
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My new house?
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Ooh.
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Guys, this is my new house.
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I think it's a little small to be your house.
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I mean, yeah, but I'm trying to keep it modest, you know?
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Oh, okay.
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Wait, you look really cute.
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Oh my gosh.
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Dining hall first reaction.
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So wait, with the dining hall, can you just go every time?
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Is it like unique?
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Very easy.
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Very easy.
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Whoa.
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I have never been able to do this.
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seen anything like this before I ain't never do
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that I ain't with our girl
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so we just share a country I just really drink on the ball we are reaching into
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Good morning.
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It is currently 6 :30 a .m.
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We're currently walking to get matcha.
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I'm obsessed with this campus.
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Like it's so weird for me just like being on a college campus
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and it's also just like the prettiest morning and it's so peaceful.
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hey guys we finally got our matcha
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and i got this cream topping for free minimally
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because he wants it because we want it no
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because he was famous i'm really excited
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because michelle said this is the best match in the world
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that is so good right okay so you're telling me they got trader joe's
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and a target wait i'm actually in shock that you guys have all this actually i fear i would not be Target.
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Oh my gosh.
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wait i feel like i have to be quiet
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but i'm currently in one of these college study rooms
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which also feels extremely legal because i am not a student here
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but michelle is currently at one of her morning classes and
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so i'm just here doing some work
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and yeah this morning has been extremely chill today's probably going to be like our chillest day ever
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but i'm loving this like i'm kind of loving college like obviously i'm not actually fully experiencing it because i'm not
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in the classes she has this morning is really small
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and it would be like so obvious that i wasn't from the class
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but comment down below if you guys think i should go to college It's been a little bit, it's like...
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1.. yeah.
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Yeah, 1pm right now.
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We just got ready and we changed our outfits.
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We're gonna go to Rodeo Drive.
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I wanna see Rodeo Drive.
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Rodeo...
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Rodeo Drive.
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And, yeah, we don't really have a thing.
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Please stand clear.
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The doors are closed.
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Yeah.
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Downtown Santa Monica station.
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Help.
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We're only in Rodeo Drive.
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I know for sure we want to go to Air One, because obviously I'm in LA, so I know it's my Air One.
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These are all like really high -end.
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I don't know if I'm in the design.
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Okay.
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No need to go to Italy.
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Literally, who needs Italy?
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Yes.
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I'm so happy.
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Fast motion of us eating it.
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It'll probably be like two minutes long.
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What can I say?
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Okay, next thing on the agenda now that we had some food, we literally don't have an agenda other than just walk around, shop, see what there is to do.
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I love how each area we've gone to has a different vibe.
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Like this is very high -end, like people here are a little more rich.
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There's a lot of like tourists.
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Oh, that's cute.
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Day one of becoming Hailey Bieber we gotta go get the Hailey Bieber smoothie
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which like is literally the most basic LA
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Touristing ever but I feel like I have to do it just to like see
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if it's actually good and I'll give you guys an honest review so I keep thinking about the highest.
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Okay.
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No. Okay guys.
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Air One is very much giving elevated full foods, which you guys know I love full foods.
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Wait, okay.
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Fix it a little bit.
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You only got the bottom, yeah.
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For the collagen.
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I think the only reason people pay for it is just because it's kind of cool and it's like behavior, which is why I bought it.
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Wait, it's good though.
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But maybe not $20.
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It is good, but I know everyone says it's a genuinely would not pay $20.
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It tastes yummy, like it's like a yummy little treat.
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Welcome to my morning routine as Hailey Bieber.
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So first thing I do is I go to Air One, and I get my smoothie.
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And this is a little bit more on like the cheaper side, but it's pretty healthy for me.
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And I've definitely noticed that like, my skin is better because of this.
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Pretty delicious, but I would not buy it very often.
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LA core.
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This dress.
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Michelle's first birthday!
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Always well in the world!
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Guys, I have a little confession to make.
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The airwands really was good, but my rating is going down because the more I drank it, the more it was like literally tasting like a smoothie that I make of hot.
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No, but look at these outfits.
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They're so cute!
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And like, Eva would wear all of these.
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Wait, these are so Eva.
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Yeah.
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Eva, if you're watching this, we're thinking of you as we're in Anthropology. Because...
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Okay, we found the Chamberlain coffee.
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I don't know.
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Like, I'm really curious to try it, I'm really not hungry.
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Why am I kind of liking the platypus?
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This is Emily.
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Guys, you gotta agree this is Emily.
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This is so so cute.
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I want to give you guys some context for this next segment because I feel like I didn't explain it very well.
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But basically, me and Michelle decided to be a little bit adventurous and we went to Santa Monica for the day.
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But we didn't want to go all the way back to her college because it's a little bit of a far distance.
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And then also, we wanted to be in the nearby regions the next day.
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So we decided to book a hotel in Santa Monica
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and stay there for the night
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and then the next day we were just like kind of in the same general area
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so that's basically what we did we were kind of a little adventurous
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and had our own little like vacation within the vacation we're matching
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and guess what I'm wearing Michelle's clothes again well I'm wearing my shorts I have this swimsuit from Pakistan shorts uh, Hollister?
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Thanks!
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But I'm so excited, I'm also like nervous, like never been to LAB, but also I'm excited.
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Yeah, I could get a little scary.
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Cause I'm like wait, is it gonna be crazy?
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Cause I've only been to the East Coast beaches.
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Michelle was inspiring me to say fire because I like never really say that but that's like the only adjective she uses.
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I'm very much like cute Cool, and then she's like everything is fire, but I love so now that is my new vocabulary that I've unlocked.
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Oh, so She was gonna have a class this morning and her class got cancelled.
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So it's literally meant to be
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that we are meant to just go frolic on the beach all day I get tanned so I'm chop and you
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fire reaction to Santa Monica we gotta wait till we get to the beach
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when I go to a new place and I'm like everyone here knows
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that it's my first place
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or my first time no like wait no they don't what's your number one thing
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that you need to buy today bikini
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and dinner outfit for tonight I need to buy a dress because
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if we're gonna be going to a fire dinner I need
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a fire dress also just looking out for any like summer clothes and a swimsuit look you need a swimsuit
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two days in a row.
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That's a crime.
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The shame.
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That is a crime.
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Hey I'm just popping in one more time
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because I feel like I need to explain a little bit why we were shopping
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so much so basically
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that wasn't our original plan like we were just going to spend the entire day on the beach
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but because it was so cold outside and
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because we were in a very touristy area there wasn't really anything else to do
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that we could be warm in except for going shopping and
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so we did that
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and like also I only ended up buying I think maybe two things the entire trip so it's not like we
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your money.
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Basically, this is like the new brandy dino guys.
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I'm thinking
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that this photo ate above the brandy dino like this is
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this is the best photo more dinos wait looking I don't
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know why I'm like obsessed with dinos in this trip but there's dinos everywhere and I just feel like it's fitting.
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It's actually really cool.
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Wait I really yeah.
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I'm really cool.
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I kind of hate that.
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Yeah.
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Three two one.
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We're at the beach.
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We're at the beach.
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Whoa why is it.
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Guys we have a little life hack for you
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if you ever go to the beach get a three dollar shower curtain from Target.
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Yes. Because.
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It's just like a big Yeah, and it's like it doesn't matter if you literally destroy it because it was $3 a target.
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Um, but definitely not gonna be tanning or taking off the sweatshirt and definitely not swimming.
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But we're just gonna stay here for a little bit.
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It's so like relaxing.
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We'll see where the wind takes us.
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Yay!
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The wind, you get it?
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The wind is...
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Get it because it's windy right now, okay?
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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It's windy.
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Should I just make this whole video a mysterious montage?
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A mysterious montage?
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Like why would I - 30 minute long montage.
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Why would I explain what I'm doing when you can just watch me be mysterious?
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How much would you guys pay me to go on one of these rides?
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I don't know.
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Santa Monica Pier.
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They kind of give so scary.
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Like I - yeah I feel like that's where like a hard situation happens.
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Or where I meet the love of my life.
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Which one are we thinking guys?
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It's hot, why is it like a magazine family?
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Sweat.
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This is California.
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Non -alcoholic.
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Not around here.
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At the store. Is that yummy?
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It's kinda just like...
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It's a...
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It's a...
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It's a little bit.
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Yeah, I think it's a little spicy too.
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Twice it.
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Welcome to my LA apartment.
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But yeah, no, we're actually at our hotel now in Santa Monica.
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- Sink.
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This is like the most basic ever.
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You might think closet.
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- Toilet.
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- Toilet.
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- Hey, you know what this is to make?
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We got some unique, unique wall art up in this joint.
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I washed my hair using that, so hopefully my hair isn't even worse tomorrow.
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My hair's been so bad this entire trip, so I'm gonna let it be my natural hair tomorrow, and hopefully it's a little better, but like, there's something in the air that is not agreeing with me.
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Closet.
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- Dad number one, bed number two, This is pretty.
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This is adventurous.
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That's kind of cute.
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Anyways, these are the windows.
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outdoor view look at that view good morning we just finished packing everything up
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so we're about to leave the hotel room bed checks for today yeah i'm gonna like okay bye okay
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so basically one of our bags is really heavy
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and we don't want to be carrying around with us so we're gonna ask the
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for us and then we'll come back at the end of the day
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and get it because it's just like actually insanely heavy we're gonna check out the breakfast okay okay fruit
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okay we are currently in manhattan beach oh whoa the ocean looks so pretty wait let me show you guys
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we're currently in manhattan beach it's extremely cold and cloudy
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and windy but we're hoping
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that the sun is going to come out a little bit later
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and then we can actually spend some time on the beach
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and get like a two percent tan
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but for now we are oh she went over there for
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now we're just exploring some of the little shops it's a really really cute area
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so i'm glad
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that we're here there's a lot of more like smaller businesses
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art galleries there's also a museum not a museum what's it called aquarium there's a little aquarium
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that we want to go check out but 2 and it's currently like 11.
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But yeah very similar to like all the days.
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We don't have a crazy plan.
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We're kind of just exploring and seeing what we can find
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which I'm actually really loving because it's so free and we can just like see...
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What happens so this is so gorgeous? bear plant in the wild.
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This is awkward we just filmed a whole segment and it wasn't filming but we got acai bowls.
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Basically we were saying chillest day of our lives.
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Like the only word to describe my mood is just chill.
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We're also just like looking at all the houses
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and talking about our different styles and stuff because she's like she enjoys the modern houses and I'm more like the colorful.
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I don't even know cozy cozy like I'm like minimal like
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no personality housing you are the personality The cucumber He is walking in
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oh negative aura where is he going hey
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so um i know i said i was done popping in
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but basically we witnessed a police chase and we witnessed this guy get arrested
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and then we were like wait i wonder
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if we ended up on the news
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because there was a bunch of news helicopter camera guys
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and it turns out we were i mean we weren't really
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because we were just like the little pedestrians but we just thought
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that was really funny and it was like kind of a crazy thing to witness so that's
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Oh my gosh!
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It's pretty!
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It's so cute!
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That's right there!
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That's us!
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This morning is the last morning you
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 422 sentences and 3412 words to shadow. The speech runs for 24:35. The speaker talks at a steady 139 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| windy adjective | /ˈwɪn.di/ | Accompanied by wind. |
| outfit noun | /ˈaʊtfɪt/ | A set of clothing (with accessories). |
| brandy noun | /ˈbɹændi/ | An alcoholic liquor distilled from wine or fermented fruit juice. |
| pizza noun | /ˈpi.tsə/ | A baked Italian dish of a thinly rolled bread crust typically topped before baking with tomato sauce, cheese, and other ingredients such as meat or vegetables. |
| chill verb | /tʃɪl/ | To lower the temperature of something; to cool. |
| gosh | /ɡɑːʃ/ | A mild expression of surprise or enthusiasm. |
| whoa | /woʊ/ | Stop (especially when commanding a horse or imitative thereof); calm down; slow down. |
| mysterious adjective | /mɪˈstɪɹi.əs/ | Of unknown origin. |
| suitcase noun | /ˈsutkeɪs/ | A large (usually rectangular) piece of luggage used for carrying clothes, and sometimes suits, when travelling. |
| yummy adjective | /ˈjʌm.i/ | Delicious. |
| vacation noun | /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/ | An extended trip or journey away from home for rest or pleasure. |
| scary adjective | /ˈskɛə.ɹi/ | Causing fear or anxiety |
| explore verb | /ɪkˈsploɹ/ | To examine or investigate something systematically. |
| toilet verb | /ˈtɔɪ.lət/ | To assist another (a child, etc.) in using a toilet. |
| agenda noun | /əˈd͡ʒɛn.də/ | A temporally organized plan for matters to be attended to. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| come out verb | /ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/ | To be discovered; to be revealed. |
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| go down verb | To descend; to move from a higher place to a lower one. | |
| go over verb | To look at carefully; to scrutinize; to analyze. | |
| make up verb | /ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/ | To constitute, to compose. |
| pick out verb | To remove by picking. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 161 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, we're, gonna. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: gosh /ɡɑːʃ/, vacation /veɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/, shock /ʃɔk/, wash /wɑʃ/, delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/
- Long words — get the stress right: mysterious /mɪˈstɪɹi.əs/, genuinely /ˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.ɪn.li/, aquarium /əˈkwɛɹ.i.jəm/, motivation /ˈmoʊ.tə.veɪ.ʃən/, helicopter /ˈheliːˌkɔptə(ɹ)/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like windy, outfit, brandy.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if it's actually good and I'll give |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have never been · I've never been · I've ever been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are closed · are meant |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the longest · the best · the prettiest |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.