Everything’s coming up roses

Only 17 years old, this La Salle High School varsity cheerleader, varsity swimmer, president of the senior class and member of the National Honor Society has got a lot on her plate. But there’s more. Chinen is a twin and, oh yeah, she wears a crown -- she’s the 2004 Rose Queen.

Friday nights

When I’m totally free, I come home from school [in Pasadena] and throw on my pajamas first. I’ll probably have a couple of my girlfriends over. We’ll watch a romance movie. Let’s see, the last one we saw was the new “Sabrina.”

I serve popcorn and snacks. And some chocolate. I’m a chocolate fiend -- I especially like dark chocolate.

Working ahead

I’m a morning person, so I’ll get up around 7:30 a.m. I’ll probably clean up my room and maybe, if I’m in the mood, I’ll crack open my books and get some of my homework done.

During the weekends, I don’t have a set schedule. So, I just snack throughout the day. I’ll get on this thing where I crave certain things. Lately it’s been Gouda cheese, pretzels with ranch dressing -- I tried it once, and now I’m addicted.

Time for a boy

Usually it’s late afternoon before I’ll make my plans for Saturday night. My boyfriend and I like to go out and talk or just hang out. We go to different schools, so weekends we have to catch up with each other.

Maybe we’ll go see a movie. We’re not big movie people, but we do like fun movies. We saw “Pirates of the Caribbean” and we’ll probably see “Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

There are school dances, so we go to those when they have them. And sometimes my sister, Erin, hangs out with us. But we’re twins, we’re very close. We do a lot of things together. Of course, we don’t actually double date -- that would be kind of awkward.

Sometimes we go out with a really big bunch of people.We go to Sierra Madre to hang out. It’s got a bunch of very cute shops.

Sundays

I go to church at about 8 o’clock. The family goes to lunch at maybe Wolfe Burgers. I’ll usually split a chili cheese potato with my mom, or I’ll have an Oreo shake. We also like to go to Islands. Now if we go there, I’ll just have a regular hamburger and fries -- they just have good burgers there. After lunch, I’ll lounge, watch a little TV, take a nap. I’m a big nap person. My dad’s Hawaiian and when we get full and sleepy, we call it “Hawaiian paralysis.”

Later in the afternoon, I’ll do my homework. And then we’ll eat dinner. Both of my parents cook. My dad loves to barbecue teriyaki chicken or stir-fries. Mom’s best is chicken pot pie. I know -- my whole life revolves around food.

My grandparents live in Cambria, and on special weekends we drive up to see them. And we’ll stop on the way in Santa Barbara and go to the Brown Pelican. We have a gourmet sandwich right on the beach.

-- Carolyn Patricia Scott