Friday, December 26, 2008

Connections

I have absolutely no Internet connection here in Seattle. Well not one that is very reasonable so forgive me for not posting anything at all in weeks. This is a rare occasion and not an entirely appropriate one to be using the Internet, but I'll take what I can get.

Finished The Reader and it was amazing! I read it in a day, less than 24 hours for sure. It was very good and for you non-readers out there it was a very simple read so please attempt this one! It is translated from German so it's fairly simple language but it is such a beautiful story and one my favorite books now. I loved, loved, loved it.

It snowed in Seattle this year and was cute at first but I think is driving everyone crazy now (including me). I have developed a severe case of cabin fever and all I really do is walk to and from my temporary job and my house (it's only a few blocks, not a great journey).

I had a really good morning today having breakfast and hanging out in a book store for 2 hours hiding from the rain and killing time before work. I've missed that time. Random mention and very vague, but it was truly a great day. Books I SHOULD have bought due to their genius topics:

- Canadian Cuisine and Travel Guide
- Fashion Knit Sweaters (pictures from the 80's. Fantastic style all around)
- Toob of Animals (not a book, but who doesn't need a tube filled with plastic animals? Yes tube was spelled "toob")



Books I did buy:

- Prep
- Three Bags Full

Current Music Listenings:

- She & Him album, Volume One. I got it for Christmas and I really like it, though I had heard it before. Currently a fan and glad to have some new music.

- Tegan and Sara ablum, The Con. An oldie but a goodie. Not that it is that old of an album, but I've heard it a thousand times and still really like it and currently it's fitting my mood.





I have no idea when I will be able to post again...

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Book Talk

It's been a while since I updated due to all the finals, ending of semester, packing, and traveling. I am not currently re-located on the west coast for the winter holiday season and beyond (since I will be here until the end of January which is after most holidays). I finished Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates and absolutely loved it. It was over all rather depressing story, but I love to read depressing stories it seems so naturally I loved it. I particularly enjoyed Yates' writing style because it just unfolded the story so well and told things in a such a very direct manor which I thought really added to the overall portrayal of the characters and telling of the story. I finished the book in time to see the movie which comes out on Christmas Day I believe. The film stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicaprio and looks like it's beautifully filmed. I liked the book a great deal so I think I'll enjoy the film and most certainly want to see it. Sure to be beautifully heartbreaking.



Now that I'm finished with Revolutionary Road I intend on moving on to The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. This book is also being made into a film that stars Kate Winslet as well. Funny. I want to see that film too, but first must finish the book. Hopefully I'll read this one at a faster pace since I'm on break now and have more time to read.

Just been hanging out with friends and family and working a little on the side. It has been a very pleasant break so far. I was reunited with my little pug too so what could be better than that?



Went over to my friends last night to help decorate her family's Christmas Tree and some how we ended up sitting there watching Oprah. Her mom, me, and her were just suddenly transfixed by it and it struck me how funny it is that the show is made in such a way to draw in females and connect them. I've seen Oprah a few times through out the years, but suddenly I was so into the show! It was about staging these awful events and having hidden cameras around to see if people just ignored it or stopped and said something. One of them were two actors hired to look like a couple fighting and the guy is verbally and physically abusing his wife in a park and people aren't doing anything and then this woman stops and steps in and tells the husband off and insists on staying to protect the wife. I was amazed! Of course it was pretty much always women that stopped and did anything. Again connecting to the female viewer, but seriously it doesn't even matter what Oprah is about I swear it's just like somehow it connects to some part of the female mind and you find yourself sympathizing with whatever is going on...Very strange. Maybe it's just me but honestly I don't think any of us intended on watching Oprah until 10:00 pm at night (it was re-run), it just happened. Oprah just happens! Plus I think both of the a fore mentioned books are in Oprah's book club.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Makes Me Happy

A friend showed me this and oh it just makes me so happy.

Finishing Things Up

Started finals today at school and I don't think I did very well on it. I mean seriously it was madness. Everyone was freaking out because he didn't teach us a lot of it and it was in the book, but it was never emphasized so I didn't think the whole exam would be on Freudian Theory and cognitive dissonance! This was my final for my Consumer Motivation class and I have two more finals today as well. It wasn't just me that thought that final was insane though, as people came out of the class we were all freaking out. One girl actually raised her hand and asked what chapters this was emphasizing because she didn't know any of it. I am not sure I would have admitted that to the class, but I did feel that way. Doing a presentation in my internship class and handing in my huge paper along with my final evaluation from my internship (I got a very good review so that's a good reference to have) and then my product development final is tonight. Lots of studying to do still, but hopefully it will go well. I am slightly worried though because I have the same professor for both my consumer motivation class and my product development class so I am worried this final might be left field too. There is going to be a lot of math on the exam I think and that's not exactly my strength...We'll see how it goes.



Made cookies with Siara today in between classes as we discussed our take on the consumer motivation exam. So far every question we could remember and discussed we didn't put the same answer...not a good sign.

After this week I go back to Seattle! I can't believe this semester went by so fast! It was over all a very good semester though because I think I finally figured things out on how to be productive and take time for myself occasionally. Isn't that the kind of life lessons I am supposed to be learning in college? Learning how to paint my nails with out getting the polish everywhere hasn't happened yet, but I'll continue to to work on that. That was my abstract goal for college, learn to paint my nails properly. Still hasn't happened. I love New York, but I am excited to go back to Seattle for break and see friends and family and my puppy! I miss my little pug so much! My break is forever and a half though so I am sure I will get fidgety and want to come back to New York after a few weeks. Especially once I stop working because when I don't work I get so restless. Taking time off is not something I do well.



Mika wearing American Apparel....Hahaha. She was not thrilled at all that I wanted to take this picture. My little puggy. I'll be seeing her soon!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

For Vanity Purposes

I went and saw the Twilight movie again last night. Yes, again. I throughly enjoyed it both times and though its has it's fair share of cheesy moments (there are some very corny scenes that could have been cut and if they had a bit of a higher budget maybe some other small corrections could be made), but overall I enjoy the film. It's not the greatest film ever made or anything but it is a purely enjoyable teen romance film. The books were sappy (and I love them, so get over it to anyone who declares themselves more intelligent for not reading them. Your probably just scared to read them because you know you'll like them) so it's not a big surprise the movie was too. I'm not writing to review it or anything because I don't really care to. I enjoyed the film clearly enough to see it twice.



To round off my "non review" I would just like to add that Rob Pattinson is gorgeous (he plays Edward in the film) and I would go see him in any movie! Yup, I'm basically even with the thirteen year old shrieking girls, but isn't that what Twilight turns us all into? The above picture of Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart (she plays Bella) is an outtake from a Vanity Fair article and currently my desktop pattern. Enjoy feeling like a thirteen year old girl.

Friday, December 5, 2008

Shimmying Into A Velvet Dress

I was flipping channels on TV the other day and stumbled upon this work of genius. I didn't actually watch the whole movie but this opening scene was pure gold. It s clip from the movie Adventures in Babysitting which was made sometime in the 80's it seems. I don't really know anything about this movie except that it stars Elizabeth Shue and it looks very entertaining. Here's the opening sequence I saw it's hilarious:



Could anything be hotter than that dress? Velvet top with long sleeves and shoulder pads...YES! If that's not sexy I don't know what is.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

In the Middle of Nowhere



I have always remained fairly private about my personal life and relations, even when it comes to talking about it with my friends and family. My personal life is just that, personal and I don't think it's anyone's business unless I feel the need to share or confide in them. There are certain people though that I have always been able to confide in and these selected few people have always been completely honest with me whether they agree with my decisions or not and I fully appreciate them for it and in turn they have gained my complete trust.

When it comes to moments where I am confused or not sure if I am making the right decision it's then that I count on these people the most and I appreciate their support or telling me they think I am making a terrible decision. If your friends can't tell you who can? Honesty and a straight forward answer is what I appreciate most, I don't want to hear the sugar coated truth because I can tell myself that, I rather hear what they really think and count on them to be straight with me.

Currently I find myself in a position once again where I find myself unsure of my decisions and where to go. I can see both sides of my dilemma and I'm the first to admit that I am entering an equation that won't have a positive ending for me and I might ultimately feel very hurt after everything is said and done. I am fully aware of this, yet don't feel hesitation in my decision. I've played this equation out before and I ended up feeling hurt. So why would I go through this again when I know the result? Especially when I was warned by my friends and I went along with it anyway just to end up falling flat, just like they tried to tell me I would. It's also unfair of me to demand everyone understand and support my decisions and then when I get let down (which they tried to protect me against) I expect them to help me pick up the pieces.

How can you ask someone to stand by you when they see it's a wrong decision and even you see it, but in the end there is nothing that can be done to change your mind or decision. I might be making the wrong choice, yet again but every time I fell down or get let down I can't say I ever regretted it. Yes, I was hurt and yes I was upset, but the good always ends up outweighing the negative in the end. Even if if the good is briefer than the bad. I'm not saying I am making a right decision or a wrong decision. All the same thank you to those that care enough to say I'm making the wrong decision and standing by me all the same. I appreciate everything that's been said and all the opinions shared because their opinions are what matter most to me or I would never have shared my own self questioning. Right or wrong, I'm learning and thank you for standing by me while I do.

This is all very vague I realized and I don't care to clarify. For those that know or understand I am sure you already know where I am coming from. For those that have no idea what I am talking about, I hope you can relate on some level with this message all the same. It may be a rant or venting, but either way it is what it is.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

I'm Ready to Dance

Recently watched Save the Last dance which came out in 2001 and stars Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick-Thomas. It's the story of a girl named Sarah who moves to Chicago to live with her estranged father after her mother dies. Sarah was passionate about ballet, but quit after her mother dies trying to get to her Juilliard audition. The over all theme is Sarah dealing with being the only white girl in a predominately black neighborhood and dealing with prejudice as she falls in love with a black boy and they deal with people's reactions of their inter-racial relationship.

The genius behind this story line though is that Sarah develops a relationship with Derek when he offers to teach her how to dance to hip hop and of course encourages her to pursue her dreams and audition for Juilliard yet again. This time of course she incorporates her new hip hop dance moves into her "alternative piece" for the audition. Finding love and crossing cultural barriers through dance, what more could you ask for?

I've seen this movie several times and I am huge fan of cheesy dance movies. Insert random problem that can always be solved by someone teaching another person about themselves, culture, or lifestyle through dance. Genius!



After watching this movie again it got me thinking...

1)Where is my attractive dance teacher to teach me more about life through artistic choreography? I am very rhythmically challenged; hello I'm waiting!

2)Why is Sean Patrick-Thomas not in more movies? That boy is super attractive

3) K-Ci and Jojo's song "Crazy" which is featured in the video in a fantastically dramatic montage moment basically makes this film. Plus it is the slow song for the soundtrack of every middle school dance I ever went to.

4) I want to bring "Slammin" back into every day slang.

5) Dance solves every problem you could ever have in life and is the best way to "find yourself." If you haven't seen Save the Last Dance another case and point is and Flashdance

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Only in America

Only in America would the following events occur:

"Black Friday" is the day after Thanksgiving and known as the biggest shopping day of the year for retailers in the United States. On this day at the Long Island Wal-Mart in New York a man was trampled to death by the 2,000 people waiting outside at 5 am to get in. Another woman suffered a miscarriage after being pushed down by her fellow shoppers. In Palm Desert, California two men shot each other and were both killed in a Toys R Us fighting over toys.



What the hell is wrong with America??!!! ONLY in American would this kind of thing happen. People killing each other so they can get a TV for half price or buy two TVs so they can sell it on ebay and make a profit. Meanwhile people are being killed in a tragic terrorist attack in India, but here we are fighting and killing each other over toys and saving $5.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Celebrating

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I am not doing the traditional turkey diner and "home for the holidays" deal this year. Instead me and my 3 best friends are having our own little holiday get together in Manhattan (since we are all here basically anyways, though one of them came down from her school in Maine). Our original plan was to get Chinese take out, but after researching this we found that all Chinese delivery places in New York are closed on Thanksgiving. Instead we will now be going to a 24 hour diner that we know and love that's just a few blocks away.

I for one happen to love diners. There is something so charming about that gritty home feel and the fact that it's 24 hours just adds to the atmosphere doesn't it? So while you are all enjoying this.....



We will be enjoying our diner meal at this lovely establishment....




Turkey feast or not, I'll be enjoying lots of food and very much going to enjoy it. Have a good holiday and I hope everyone has a good time where ever and how ever you are celebrating.

Awful Truths


My friends and I were watching some MTV True Life marathon and I found that that show is one of the most shocking things I have ever seen and usually freaks me out about life in general. Last time I saw the True Life" Meth Addict (or whatever it was called) episode I became so disturbed I ran out of the room because I couldn't watch these people royally screw up their lives.

During this marathon there were two episodes that freaked me out. One of which was True Life: I'm in a Love Triangle. For those of you who haven't seen True Life it features two or three people with similar problems related to the episode title. In this case it follows a girl named Felicia who was with a guy named Jeff and he got her pregnant and then she had an abortion and later they broke up. Jeff then goes on to be with another girl named Kelsey and he goes on and get her pregnant too and she decides to keep it. Felicia is still in love with Jeff and wants him back, but Jeff claims he "Loves them both" and doesn't see why they can't all be together? What the fuck!? Maybe because a relationship is between two people and not three and one of them is having your baby!! Best part is that Kelsey is fine with the whole thing and doesn't get why Felicia doesn't think they can all be together! Felicia keeps talking about how she wants to make it work and Jeff (possibly the biggest asshole ever and the most self absorbed jerk) keeps trying to tear down her self esteem every time she tries to get over him and leave him. In the end she finally breaks away and leave him, but why did it take so long! Thank god every day you aren't having this ass hole's child and you aren't part of his warped twisted relationship. I can't believe girls like this exist that think they are in love with someone so much they would do anything, including destroy their own lives and happiness to be with them. That's not love that's desperation! Please girls, walk away form bad shit like that. Obviously it's this is a dramatization that only MTV would ever find, but it heavily disturbed me and I think people need to know that kind of emotional manipulation is not okay. Not even close, ladies don't let that kind of shit happen to you. Walk away.

Second disturbing episode was True Life: I'm a Single Parent. I had feelings of both horror and admiration though for this one. One of the single parents being followed was a guy named Nick who lived in Kansas and was 25 years old and he had 6 children! 6 children!!! One was from his previous marriage and that boy was 10. The others were all 5 and under and were born with in 18 months of each other. He got married again and his wife got pregnant and had triplets. She gets pregnant again then has twins. That is just insane on it's own. The wife goes crazy and decides she can't handle the kids and starts drinking and partying and up and abandons him with these six children. A one point the mom shows up clearly high or drunk in some way or another and tries to see the kids. Nick says she never visits and when she does she shows up and gets the kids all excited and then hurts them by leaving again suddenly. It was awful as he tried to deal with her intoxicated behavior and pries the kids away from the mom because clearly she is not healthy for them to be around her. Watching this man raise these children by himself was insane and he was actually a good parent, not some white trash party guy that abandons his children to party. He was very involved in their lives and it was amazing. I have great respect for single parents, it's a very tough position to be put in and single parents work hard to support and be involved in their children's lives. Having one kid and raising it would be tough but 6 kids that are all basically under the age of 5 seems impossible, but he was going on to get his master's in engineering to better his life and his children's.

Another single parent being followed was this young girl who was raising her daughter while living with her mother and sisters. The girl would go out and party at night though and then complained about her mom. Hey, if that girl lived on her own raising her child she would have to sit at home and watch that kid so be grateful to your mother for helping at all! Plus, what the fuck are you doing going out partying when you have a child to raise! She goes on a series of dates as she tries to find a "father" for her daughter. I mean please! Her daughter is almost 2 years old and she brings over several guys and tries to get the daughter to acknowledge them and like the. Until she spends some serious time with these men and is in an actual relationship she shouldn't be bringing around her random boyfriends. Surprisingly enough she ends up meeting a guy that sticks with her and proposes, but it's totally ridiculous because he is a dead beat for sure and they are just going to end up breaking up or getting her pregnant again. I can't believe these people. Why do so many people think having babies or getting married is the answer for everything!? It's not! Get your life together first and take some responsibility before you carry on making the same mistakes one after another.

Did I learn any lessons for watching a marathon of crap reality television? Yes, 1) HAVE PROTECTED SEX!!! You see these people lives and it's like oh my god what are you doing?! 2) Get a job and a solid education 3) Wait before you marry someone, there is no rush and no 4 months is not exactly a long term relationship. In my mind I don't even get the whole marriage idea in general. What's the point? 4) Babies are not going to solve your problems or bring you closer with your partner, so everyone needs to stop thinking that!

Done ranting now, but this makes me think that the whole of America needs a better sex education program. My friend suggested showing True Life as sex education. They should! Scared me out of my mind.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Pug and a Vacuum

This is hilarious. I love pugs.

Another Day

Work schedule got all messed up yesterday, which as very frustrating. I always open on Saturdays and which means I have to be at work at 10:30 am which is not bad at all and I get off at 7:00 pm. My schedule rarely changes and I wrote down my entire schedule in advance to when I stop working, when I go back to Seattle for my winter break at school. However, I come into work slightly rushed because I thought I was going to be late because for some reason I hit every don't walk sign imaginable on the way there.

As I come in my co-worker goes, "You are an hour and a half early." Which was odd because I wasn't and then apparently the schedule changed
and no one told me. If you change the work schedule typically I would say it is good etiquette to call and inform the employ of the schedule change. I do check my schedule for any changes when I am there, but considering I am not there Monday through Wednesday I can't exactly always know what's going on! It was okay because I was early, but what if it happened again and I got a call saying why aren't you at work and I had no idea! That freaks me out. I hate being late and I hate being unprepared.

I was given the option of going home and coming back when my shift started (which was supposed to be an hour and a half later). If I went back home though it would take me 30 minutes to walk back and then 30 minutes to turn around and walk back to work. Other option was I could stay and work until closing and just work 10 hours. Given I could use the money I went for that option.

For some reason that day the topic of all employee conversations was boyfriends and I wanted to gag. Every single girl that works there wants to talk about their boyfriends and how happy they are, blah, blah, blah. Yes I am a bit cynical and bitter about the whole thing but if I have to hear one more time, "No One by Alicia Keys is the song we are going to play at our wedding." I am going to scream. Occasionally I will contribute by saying candid remarks such as, "That's great that you know that when you have been dating 3 months." I realize I don't have a boyfriend so that bitterness come up anyways, but even when I did I NEVER talked about that kind of shit. I didn't even talk about my relationships much period. Why does everyone always want to share every detail about this stuff?? It's like they are determined to force the whole world to see how stupidly happy they are. I get it, your happy and I think that's great, especially if your boyfriend is a legit good guy (if not it's worse because all I can think then is why are you dating this guy??). However, I don't need to spend 10 hours hearing about it.

Ended up working until closing and we closed but these two women were still there and would not leave! We can't ask people to leave either and these women wanted to try on everything in the whole store.

Eventually my boss let me go because I had been there so long, but I don't know how long everyone else had to stay. I was going to meet up with some friends, but changed my mind and went home to make some soup and work on one of the many papers I have. Not sure how productive I was, but I got a lot of the research for the paper done. Some how I ended up being up until 1 am doing this and when I look at all I got done, I think I really didn't do as much as I wanted. That was my day yesterday: nothing exciting. Finally got my free denim at work for winning the denim selling contest at work (sold the most denim for the east coast division, not bad). It's $200 denim which is the most expensive I own now, but I kind of wish I hadn't won it because honestly I don't like the way the denim fits or looks on me that much from my store. Oh well, it's free.

Love Comes in Cotton

T-shirts I am obsessed with....

Annie Hollywood: Don't know why I want it, but I want it. I tried to buy it over the summer in Seattle at the store Zebra Club, but they sold out immediately when I didn't buy it the first time I went in. I found out the designer though and found the website of the brand that makes the shirt (Blood is the New Black. I love the brand name by the way). The girl featured in picture is from a band (Annie Hardy), but I don't even care or really know who she is, I just like the shirt.

Off the Deep End: Marc by Marc Jacobs shirt. I tend to love saying shirts and I like the cut because it's long and has quarter length sleeves. Basic and ridiculous, yet I like.





Lost Vegas
Tee: It's from Urban Outfitters and I happen to like pre- deconstructed clothing items. A shirt with holes and yet another saying shirt. I also love heathered grey shirts.








Bow Shirt:
It's just an American Apparel Deep V-Neck shirt that has a screen print of a bow on it, but I like the design. Found it on Etsy.com and it's the designer/user rubyslippers. Worth supporting independent artists!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

"Tell Me That It's Over"

Gap has been having financial troubles for the last 5 years I would say, it not before that. I mean when was the last time that you made a deliberate trip to the Gap? Unless it was the 90's or you have some odd obsession with khaki (if you do, try to get over that. There is really nothing attractive about it) chances are you haven't been there in a while. Gap has become of a bit of a joke in the retail industry due to it's continuous struggle to recreate it's image and find it's target customer once again. They have been making some positive changes though by working with new designers such as Doo-Ri Chung of Doo.Ri, Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, and Thakoon Panichgul of Thakoon in order to recreate the stores image and create some much needed buzz. My friends and go in the Gap occasionally to check out the changes being made and see if there is anything intriguing. Partially this comes from a pity because it's sad seeing a ship sink and also it is utterly fascinating to watch and see if Gap can in fact turn it around.

I was never a Gap fan as it were, but I had a friend that pre
tty much only shopped there and I remember going there with her to spend her Christmas gift cards for the Gap every year. Pretty sure her grand mother only ever got her Gap gift cards if the gift was to be related to clothes in any way. Gap was known for it's classic, clean, and preppy styles and for my friend that seemed pretty spot on so I would say it usually met her needs. She doesn't shop there much any more in recent years, but as their quarterly losses show each year she isn't the only one who doesn't shop there much anymore. Gap has had a few wins with me though; remember that Madonna and Missy Elliot ad campaign that ran a few years ago? The one put to the Hollywood song by Madonna? Well, I just remember loving those jeans and I went to the Gap and bought some and I adored them for quite a long time so yeah, the Gap has had some successes even with me.

The other day though I saw a sign that the Gap might just turn it around. I haven't even considered buying something from the Gap in years, but I was reading the latest copy of Harper's Bazaar and looking at the cover story photo shoot with Lindsay Lohan and found myself liking one of her outfits. I checked the credits for what she was wearing (usually all these items are designer and priced in the thousands or says the infamous "price on request", but it's always fun to look). To my surprise one of the items was by the Gap! This was amazing to me and now I feel the need to say props to the Gap. Even though it was only a wife beater, it still found it impressive that it was by the Gap. Also, not all wife beaters look the same and I liked the cut. They got me thinking I should go in the Gap and maybe check their stuff out. Last time I went in there I wasn't drawn in at all (my style choices don't really match their style usually), but looks like changes are being made. Not related to the Gap, but the denim shorts though a basic as well are by Guess and not a designer. Props to Harper's Bazaar for mixing it up by featuring both designer and lower end pieces. I am very strongly considering subscribing now.


Oh and just for fun (and some dramatics):

I can't live without you
Can't breathe without you
I dream about you, honestly
Tell me that it's over
Cause if the world is spinning and I'm Still living
It won't be right if we're not in it together
Tell me that it's over
Tell me that it's over

Reading and Watching

Saw Twilight and...I liked it. I know it hasn't been getting great reviews and it was a little corny and cheesy at parts, but the books could be too. Either way I am kind of a sap anyways, but I liked it. I thought there was good character development and though some scenes could have been cut out (mainly some painful reenactment scenes that made me cringe with how low budget and cheesy they were) overall I liked it. I am sure lots of people won't agree, but I was engaged the whole time and have every intention of going to see it again. I support the film and they did a good job. Kristen Stewart and Rob Pattinson carried the film for sure because they had good chemistry which could have easily not been the case, so good for them. Go see the film if you are into the books or even if you aren't. Though if you go to see the movie and haven't read the books go read the damn books! If you can't read, you have bigger problems.

Just got two books I ordered off Amazon (They should be paying me to advertise) that I go
t a great deal on. I think I bought one used for $.01 and the other was $2.78. Plus shipping was more than that combined, but whatever I am satisfied. It's a deal to me. I got Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates and The Reader by Bernhard Schlink. Both are being made into movies that star Kate Winslet actually but they looked phenomenal and I just finished the book I was reading so I'm excited to have some new material, though I have very little time to read. Both books are rather depressing subject matter; Revolutionary Road is about a miserable marriage and The Reader is about a woman who was a Nazi officer and her relationship with a young boy and the tragic results. I love depressing books because they feel so real and you can get drawn in by the emotions of it so easily, especially if it's well written. Most depressing book I have ever read Angles of Repose by Wallace Stegner. It too is about a miserable marriage and two people struggling to be happy and live their lives when they feel completely trapped within their mistakes and life choices. It was amazing and I had a very personal connection to this book, I highly recommend it.


Also I just finished Mary by Janis Cooke Newman about Mary Todd Lincoln, President Lincoln's wife. A friend's mother lent it to me from her book club and I really enjoyed it. It was such an interesting story and I couldn't make my mind up on whether I hated or liked her. The book was very well written and kept me engaged and makes you want to tell everyone you know to read it because her story is so bizarre. If you are interested in history at all or just want to read about a very fascinating and complex woman, I insist you read this book.


That's enough book talk for now, I'll let you know how my readings go.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Twilight


I am going to see Twilight the movie tonight and I am beyond excited! My friend and I have midnight tickets to go see it at Time Square so it should be a crazy amount of people and probably some crazy fans as well. I am a huge fan of the Twilight books series and if you haven't read it you should! My friend gave me the book two years ago to read and I would say we were in the first wave of fans before the series exploded all over the place. Very excited to see the movie and of course Rob Pattinson because he is super attractive and that's making this movie that much more exciting to see. Feels like I've been waiting forever for this movie to come out, but it's finally here!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Sets of Two

I recently purchased Influences by Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen. The books is a collection of exclusive interviews with them, designers, photographers and other people that have influenced them in their lives. I'm not a huge Olsen twin fan actually, but I am a freak about large well crafted books and once I had a look through this book I fell in love. Like the Olsen's I am a fan of fashion and regardless of how I feel about them or anyone else for that matter, their influence on the fashion world is undeniable. I haven't received the book yet because I bought it online. I actually bought a used copy of Amazon (I am so cheap...)so I am not sure which cover I will get. For those that don't know the book comes in two copies each featuring a twin on the cover and the other pictured on the back. Personally I want the Mary-Kate cover just because I prefer that photo; Ashley however is my preferred twin usually. Excited to get the book and check it out. I bought it so it's already proved influential enough...that was a pun, I think.


Another set of twins are the most influential on my personal style. Twin sisters (Jess and Lisa Origliasso) and singers for the band The Veronicas have such unique styles that they very much connect to my personal preferences in mixing and matching. A friend of mine and fellow fan commented on how one day Lisa and Jess will have their own style book and I for one would be the first to buy it. I would buy both copies if they did the separate cover thing too; yeah, I'm that obsessed with them. If you don't know who the Veronicas are look them up! They are huge in Australia, but haven't broken out big in the U.S. yet. I have no idea why not, they are the pure perfection. The U.S. needs to get on that...and the Veronicas need to get on writing and publishing a style book.

Rehab


I keep seeing all these styles and concepts I love in magazines and then I find myself hunting down items to recreate the looks and wanting to spend $ I don't have. As a result I am trying to vent a little and stop myself from buying by creating my own little look book of my inspirations. Not that this blog is limited to clothes. I intend on adding my other incoherent thoughts as well. Read read away and enjoy!