some things are awesome, other things really test my nerves.

I recently ran across the brilliant tumblr Incorrect Sylvia Plath Quotes.  Basically, quotes from various pop culture references are incorrectly attributed to Sylvia Plath.  Simple, but genius.

On a completely unrelated note, I'm not sure when sensitivity to the feelings of others became a liability, but I would guess it was around the time that reality television became a thing and suddenly people could pretend that they were the star of their own program.  It really, really bothers me when I hear someone bragging about how rude they were or how little they cared about someone else's feelings.  Individuality and courage of conviction are to be commended, but so is decency.

Speaking of things that bother me, there are a few things making their way around the interwebz that just tick me right off.  Here's one of them.

I'm sorry, stupid cancer?  Stupid.  Cancer.  As someone who has lost both my father and my grandmother to cancer within the last 7 months, the idea of sending something around that starts with stupid cancer is horribly trivializing about a disease that had a huge and tremendously painful impact on my life.  Stupid snow?  Sure.  Stupid traffic?  Mmhm.  Stupid cancer?  Nuh-uh.  Not okay.  It's not often that something manages to be both trivializing and sanctimonious, but this little charmer does.  '97% of my friends won't re-post this, but 3% will.  Let's see who does.'  How dare someone imply that if I don't re-post this, it means I either don't care about or wasn't deeply effected by cancer.  If I'm going to do something in honor of the people I've lost to cancer, it's damn well going to be something more meaningful and impactful than a purposely guilt-inducing Facebook post.  (This isn't meant to offend anyone who has posted this, anyone who wants to post this, anyone who created this, yadda yadda yadda.  It's not meant to offend anyone, but it's opinion of one girl who finds it highly offensive.)

ugh.  now I have to look at some cat photos to get my blood pressure back to normal.

there.  that's better.

Now I'm going to get back to my homework.  Thanks for making it to the end of this ramble-y, ticked-off post.

♥

summer songs

summertime makes me want soft, mellow music.

trust30 project malaise

I've been trying to get around this for a while, but...I'm not as into the Trust30 Project as I thought I'd be.  I liked it at the beginning.  At this point, though, I think I need to bow out from it.  I'm starting to feel sort of navel-gazing and repetitive, and a lot of the time, the prompts that do elicit deeper feeling from me, it's because it brings up something quite private.  As much as I think you are all absolutely lovely, there are some things that I just don't want to put out there into the depths of the internet.  Somehow it feels like I'm diluting what was so important to me about it.  As a result, I've been avoiding blogging at all, which is discouraging because it's something I really enjoy doing.  Maybe I'll eventually come back an do the second half of the 30 prompts, but it's just not working for me right now.  I do look forward to continuing to read everyone else's responses though!

♥

fill-in-the-blank friday ♥

via the little things we do

1.   The last thing I ate was: cheerios for breakfast, out of one of my very favorite mugs.

2.  The next thing I'd like to eat is: one of the amazingly delicious nectarines in my fridge!

3.  The best things: don't usually last forever, but they get kept close to the heart for a long, long time.

4.  Something that makes me supremely and utterly happy is: finishing everything I need to for the day by 8 p.m., and having the rest of the night free to watch movies, do yoga, make crafty things, and have a few cups of apple cinnamon tea.

5.  Sports are: completely baffling to me.  I like baseball, it seems to have the least number of confusingly-named terms involved, but otherwise I never know what's going on.  I watched a hockey game for the first time a few weeks ago, and imagine my surprise to discover that there are only three quarters in a game.  How did that happen?

6.  I miss: the sunshine!  It's been so rainy the past few days.

7.ttempting to fix my shower.  I'm either going to fix it or I'm going to render it completely inoperable!

happy friday, lovelies!

♥

 

bear with me

 

it's strange how everything can change but nothing changes.

 

trust30 project: day 9 (sort of.)

Y'know... I'm not totally sure how I feel about this.  As much as I like trying new things, and being open, this is kind of a heavy topic, and there's enough heavy stuff going on without my contributing to it.

Well, I wrote the beginning of this post at 10 this morning, and now it's 9 at night.  I hate to do this, but after a day of pondering, I don't think I'm going to be getting anywhere on this prompt, at least not right now.  There are things I don't talk about here, of course, mostly because they're quite private and/or I like to keep my blog a pretty positive place.

So...yeah.

Sorry, guys.  Hopefully I'll come back and edit this later to include something insightful.  Or maybe the thing I'm afraid to write about is feeling uninspired!  Mmkay, mmkay, I'm grasping at straws now.  Let's try this again tomorrow.

fill-in-the-blank friday ♥

via the little things we do

1.   The last movie I saw was: Year of the Dog.  Which I expected to really like, because it was directed by Mike White and starred Molly Shannon, who I think is just lovely.  And to be fair, it's not that it was a bad movie, but it was in the comedy section of Netflix, so I was expecting, oh, I don't know, a comedy?  But honestly, not a comedy.  To the point where I was crying about ten minutes into it.  This won't be one I'll be watching again.

2.  I want to: start knitting with my gorgeous, gorgeous new yarn... it's green, with little hints of aubergine and blue and gray.  And it's fluffy and wonderful and incredibly light.  I haven't decided what to make with it yet, but it's the Ushya yarn by Mirasol.  And I love it.

3.  Surprises are: not my favorite thing, generally speaking.  They can be really fun, too, of course, but I do like to feel prepared for whatever I'm about to be doing.

4.  The best accessory is: a great bag... or cute shoes... or maybe a cute hair accessory!  Mmhm, I'm going to go with a cute hair accessory, because the right one will draw attention to your face, which really is the most important part of an outfit.

5.  My favorite warm drink is: hot chocolate... ooh, no, tea... I could deliberate all day and never choose between them.  As for choosing a kind of tea, I can't even begin to do that, but a few of my favorites are peppermint, chamomile, cranberry green tea... it's all so warm and lovely.

6.  My favorite cold drink is: generally water, but pineapple-orange-banana juice diluted with seltzer water is delicious too, like a light, not-too-sweet fruit soda but without the zillion tablespoons of sugar.

7.  Currently loving: Round the Twist with Carin, a knitting video podcast.  I'm knitting vicariously through her because she makes these gorgeous lacy shawls that I'm not sure if I'll ever even attempt.  And it's fun to knit or crochet while watching her podcasts because it feels like being at a knitting group, except that it happens whenever I have time to watch it. 

♥

trying something new...

I've been wanting to do some sort of blog-writing challenge for a while now, and when I heard about the Trust30 project from a post on The Wishkeepers Creativity Collective, I got pretty excited about it.  So I'm going to give it a try.  Basically, to celebrate what would be Robert Waldo Emerson's 208th birthday, there are 30 prompts written by a bunch of interesting people (this is a really simplified synopsis, obviously, there are a lot more details on the Trust30 site), and the aim is to answer one every day, either by writing, drawing, journaling-- any sort of creativity.

I've felt lately like I just haven't had anything to say here in blogland.  Which isn't surprising, I guess-- I'm home for the summer and while I'm enjoying the serenity of being somewhere so quiet and peaceful, I don't really do anything worth writing about.  There's a lot of cat-snuggling and knitting involved.  I'm going to be starting the Trust30 project from the first prompt, even though it technically started on May 31st.  So here goes.

Day 1

     I know the prompt says 'story,' but if I've only got fifteen minutes left, I'm not going to be writing fiction.  I think I'd try to pass on the things that I've learned. 

Don't be so scared all the time.  It isn't worth it to miss all of the opportunities and chances that come your way just to spare yourself some nervousness or embarrassment or hurt pride.  You can heal from pretty much anything, even if it takes some time and you feel like you're never going to be quite whole again.  There are just as many chances for things to go really, really well as there are chances for them to go badly.  Love as much as you can, and try not to go to sleep angry.  Don't worry too much about anything because everything is always in a state of change.  There's no use in regretting the past, try to use it to shape your chosen future instead.  Never despair, despair is only for those who know the future beyond doubt, which nobody does.  There's always hope.  Tell people you love them whenever it occurs to you, it's so much better than wishing you'd said it more often.

♥

If you decide to take part in the Trust30 project, too, leave a link in the comments, I'd love to read your take on it!

Oh, and here's the etsy shop giveaway.  Juuuuust in case you've missed it.

♥

happy sunday things

♥ I get to see my mom today, and I got to talk to my dad last night.  yay!



♥ this lovely photo-- doesn't it look like the prettiest place to curl up with a book?

♥ wearing my sing sweetly dress from anthropologie yesterday

♥ Marissa's 30-day Disney Challenge

♥  knitting with one of the prettiest yarns I've ever seen

♥ you can still enter my etsy shop giveaway until Wednesday night! ♥

have a lovely sunday!

 

midsummer eve

Robert Edward Hughes, "Midsummer Eve"

summer nights at home always remind me of this painting

etsy shop giveaway!  exciting! you should enter it!

♥

fill-in-the-blank friday ♥

via the little things we do

1.   I love my grandmother because she lives life on her own terms.  She's the sweetest lady, but she stands up for her family and what she believes in and doesn't take nonsense from anyone.

2.  A time that mama knew best was: actually, my mom and I agree on most big things... I'm sure there have been times when we disagreed and she was right in the end, but none come to mind right now.

3.  My first kiss went a little like this: aw... it was sweet and a tiny bit awkward.  very cute.

4.  My celebrity crush is: Edward Norton, particularly in The Illusionist.  He just seems very articulate and thoughtful, plus he's involved with a lot of ecological and humanitarian causes.

5.  My splurge of choice is: Anthropologie dresses!  Obviously.  A lot of the dresses there have the nipped-waist-and-full-skirt silhouette that I love, and they always have the cutest prints.  I'm actually experiencing a little bit of withdrawal at the moment, because I've been in the routine of going to my favorite Anthropologie (the one at Chelsea Market in Manhattan) every two weeks or so.

6.  My biggest accomplishment is: my 4.0 GPA this semester, wheeeee! And learning to balance schoolwork with occasionally leaving my dorm room.

7.  My dance jam of choice is: oh boy..I couldn't decide between these two.

etsy shop giveaway!  enter it! 

♥

exhale

Today was a little rough.  I've never been good with transitions and there have been a lot of them lately.  Then, when I'm sad or upset, I tend to get aggravated with myself because letting myself feel that way seems unproductive, even though I know that it's something that has to happen before I'm able to get past it.  So, since this photo really does sum up how I'm feeling at the moment, I'm going to try to take the offered guidance and be gentle with myself.  Tea and bedtime for me.

Tomorrow will be better.

♥

.....aaaaaaand here's another reminder to enter the etsy shop giveaway!  It's fun and there's a chance (a very good chance, at this point) that you could win some cute handmade lovelies of your choice.

♥

inspiration

just a few things inspiring a design project I'm working on...

1.2.3.4.

In other news...

yaaaaaaay!!!!!!

♥♥♥

fill-in-the-blank friday ♥

via the little things we do

1.   If I could get away somewhere for the weekend I would go: ...I don't think I'd go anywhere, actually.  I'm glad to be home, and as much as I love the city, it takes a few days to unwind from having been there for so long.  I've been at my grandmother's house since last night because the weather was supposed to be scary (which it sort of was), and now the power is out at my house.  I guess if I could go anywhere it would be to Philly to see my dad.  Hopefully that'll be happening in the next few days.

2.  Something I often rant about is: Do I rant?  Jeez, I hope not.  I probably do occasionally rant about how much I dislike television.

3.  One item I need to have in my fridge at all time is: pink lady apples.  They're just the most delicious thing ever.

4.  My "life-saving" product is: my Miss Dior Cherie perfume.  It's not too strong (because in a dorm, nobody wants to smell the person who was in the elevator before them), but it's feminine and pretty and soft and playful all at once.  It makes me feel a little more put-together no matter what else is going on.  ...And it looks really pretty on my dresser.

5.  A friend is someone who: is honest, but doesn't enjoy your mistakes.  And who doesn't mind when they're finally almost asleep and then you say "By the way...." and then proceed to coerce them into another half-hour conversation.  Also, probably someone who has seen you wear something you would never, ever wear out in public.

6.  If I could write my own blank it would be: 'Is your life now what you thought it would be five years ago? Three years ago?  One year ago?'

7.  My favorite kind of art is:  oh, I could never pick just one art form... Obviously, fashion is really important to me, but a lot of my inspiration comes from other art forms-- paintings and sculpture and music and photography.  They all seem so intertwined and inseparable.

Psssst.... there's going to be a giveaway here soon.  Just sayin'.

♥

yay summer!

♥

Things I'm excited about:

• hearing crickets when I'm falling asleep


• cuddling my cat


• seeing the stars


• how it gets really, really dark at night at home


• seeing my family!


• spending next weekend with Marissa


• sun-warm raspberries


• trees


• maybe getting a tattoo of a button if the scar on my ankle fades enough/if I have a sudden burst of bravery


• walking and walking without any specific destination

♥

appropriate

so very true.  two project presentations today, eeeep!  eep, but also yay. :)

♥

wonderful, wonderful wednesday

The blogosphere has been abuzz about the Anthropologie tag sale that started this Tuesday, and I was as excited as anyone.  There wasn't anything in particular that I was hoping would appear, but somehow, one of my all-time-Anthropologie-must-haves showed up-- the Sing Sweetly dress!

It's not for sale online anymore, it hasn't been for about two months, but it's definitely worth checking in-store, because I didn't expect to see it.  The fabric is so cute.  And I'm in such a mint green phase.

...Also, once again, the character of Quinn, from Glee, and I have remarkably similar taste (the first time was the De Chelley Dress).

What can I say, I just can't resist an adorable sundress-and-cardigan combination.

Also today... I had a final exam this morning, which was easy-peasy, and I got an A on a term garment this afternoon.  Yay!  I'll post pictures of it later, because once again I only have pictures on my blackberry and it's being fussy about emailing them to me.  But between that and having most of my other projects finished, I pretty much feel like this:

Have a lovely night!

♥♥♥

rainy daydream day

1.2.3.

cottage

I'm feeling particularly nest-ish today.  I think it's in reaction to the modern and postmodern architecture we've been studying in my architecture class.

...I could totally learn to thatch, right?

1.2.3.4.5.6

happy thursday things

just some things that I like. :)

lamby lamby lamb

plastic cups and balloons put combined for flinging marshmallows or other small objects, from real simple

this lovely pink soufflè from Pick Yin

one of my very favorite moments from Ugly Betty

a green door...into a secret garden?

looks like yoda this kitty does

have a lovely day!

♥