Neutral Overload

I'm not one to usually mix the grays, browns, and blacks all together, but I thought it worked here. Pardon the setting/quality; I'm at home and my family mocks me when I try and take pictures outside or where they can see. Sad, I know.


Lace Top: thrifted, Brown thermal & Leggings: Target, Belt: F21
Also, I finally got a tripod! So, hopefully, after I've finished the backlog of outfit posts I've got, they won't be at really crappy, unsteady angles with weird reflections in them!

Giving and Getting

Christmas was an interesting family affair this year, because my cousins came down from LA to visit us, making it necessary to completely rearrange our dining room to accommodate 10 people! But, because of it, we ended up doing a much more traditional Christmas-morning gift-giving session than I'm used to!

The gifts I gave.
I got a lot of cash, so I went out and bought these awesome things. I know the clothes are all in the same color scheme, but it's not like I'm planning on wearing them all together at any point, so...no worries!

Cardigan: H&M; Lace Shirt: Forever 21; Necklace and Belt: LoveCulture

Remember how I wanted all that stuff from Lush? Well I got some!

Also, I just wanted to say thanks to all the people who gave their input on the Harry Potter story. I'm working on writing it, but I don't want it to be too long or boring, so I'm trying to see how that works. I'm thinking I might just include an artsy picture of the handwritten version in my submission because I normally write in cursive, so when I try, my handwriting might look nice.
Also, I might be making some changes to this layout in the next couple weeks, so look out for those! Hope your Christmases were Merry!

Life in a Letter

You guys all know about my undying, complete and total love for Harry Potter, and if you're new (hi!) and you don't yet, trust me, you will. A few months ago, I discovered this site: Dear Mr. Potter, It's started by a high school girl, Lily, as a blog-based charity project. She's encouraging people to submit their Harry Potter experience stories to be considered for a book she's trying to get published about being a part of the 'Harry Potter' generation.
I really want to submit my story, obviously, but really, how do I express this feeling? Do I include a picture? Should I shelve my inability to craft/draw, and try and create something? Should I record a video or song? Nothing seems like enough. I want to be in this book...more than anything (above going to medical school, but below meeting JK Rowling on the scale of obviously properly prioritized life goals). I know I'm not alone in how much this series means to me and my life, but I have a secret selfish notion that it's meant the most to me, that my childhood was the only one so immensely affected. I know, objectively, that this is irrational, but even if I try to put that feeling aside, I have absolutely no idea, you guys, how to go about doing this.

Please help me. Any suggestions are so incredibly welcome.

Merry Christmas!

Not usually a fan, but this picture is just too cute!

Black Swan Review

A week or so ago, I mentioned going to see Black Swan. Here are my thoughts for those who expressed interest in knowing what the movie was like.

Also, how much do you love this movie poster?!

I thought the movie was amazing. The story is something that truly stays with you and for me, who can't deal with disturbing things well, meant a couple nights of not sleeping well.

Black Swan tells the story of Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina who gets cast as the Swan Queen in the ballet, Swan Lake. The Swan Queen has to take on the roles of both the White Swan, the good and pure princess who loses her prince, and the Black Swan, the conjured seductress who lures the prince away. Nina, a sheltered girl who seems to have suppressed all of her dark notions, is told by the director when she gets the part that she's perfect for the White Swan, but will have to work to portray the dark side of the Black Swan. During the preparation for the ballet, Nina succumbs to the pressure of her sheltered life , thinks the new ballerina, Lily (Mila Kunis), is trying to steal her role, and eventually loses herself in all of her suppressed darkness.

Natalie Portman was stunning. She transforms so perfectly from White Swan to Black Swan throughout the movie that it became hard to tell which changes were Nina, consciously trying to be perfect, and which changes were Nina, falling prey to the Black Swan within her naturally. The character of Nina had so many issues going on that playing them all so well must have taken a great deal of investment into the role. Also, Mila Kunis did an amazing job as Lily, playing her good and bad sides to a T.

The ballet was one of the things that I loved most about this film. Well, 1) I'm a huge fan of ballet and Swan Lake is probably one of my favorite ballets because of its intensity, and 2) I've taken ballet lessons and thus, am enthralled by the intricate foot movements. Black Swan captured both aspects of what I love about ballet and Swan Lake perfectly. As my good friend IRL mentioned in his review, the intensity just keeps building till it lets off spectacularly at the end. Also, the ballet itself was quite well done. The intricacy was pretty high and the movie really showed how much effort it takes to convey particular emotions and fluidity in such a rigid and structured form of dance.

Overall, I thought the movie was brilliant, in all aspects, from acting to shooting to storyline. Definitely e-mail me if you'd like to discuss or anything. I am definitely considering seeing it again.

Literary Oddities

My internet situation at home is abysmal. As in, the wireless is broken and somehow, amongst the 5 million wires in our office closet, there only seems to be one ethernet cable. So now we're all fighting for net time, which has put me absurdly behind on reading blogs and doing my own posts. Apologies.

Since I once again, have about 4 minutes left of internet time, I will just share this fun little website that Doctor Grumpy shared a while ago that I may have spent all the time I should otherwise have been reading blogs, perusing. Some of these books would make hilarious White Elephant gifts!


Bar Mitzvah Disco and
All These Other Awesome Titles

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Sing Me Anything

Coat: Forever 21
Top: Westside
Skirt: American Eagle
I've decided to do outfit posts. I'm thinking I might go the in-between route from JoAnn at Sidewalk Chic (who is awesome and does dailies) and Helena at A Diary of Lovely (who is awesome and does weeklies), and do twice a week. I could pull that off, right? Right. Though, likely not as awesomely.

A Few Poems

Sometimes, when things get tough, and I start to worry more than is productive, I like to read poetry for it's uncanny ability to make life feel less out of control. I have my favorites, which I always fall back on, including classic poems like "The Jabberwocky" for it's whimsy and "I Carry Your Heart With Me" for it's simplicity, but I also like to browse the internet and my local library for personal little poems that strike a chord. Let me share two of my recent favorites, classic and not:
“Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

"Mirror" by Anonymous
I can see the pain deep inside him,
The pain he hides with lying eyes
But the truth of his bravery and courage
Intrigues me more than pretty lies.
And he continues to be my muse
In everything that he says or does
But I can't let him know he's admired
That he's a hero to the girl I was.
His every hidden pain is an echo
Of what I had before I gave up feeling
And it brings me tears that he kept it
That he hid it and that he's dealing.
He's much stronger than I'll ever be,
And I can't tell him since I lost my tongue
But if I could I'd say he was all I dreamt of
My type of hero, back when I was young.
He can still laugh and smile, and I'm empty
And cold as glass, all I can do is reflect
Like a mirror, and there's nothing to admire
About someone so blank they can't project.
But I still wish I could give him what he needs,
And I can still dream that that makes me real
I just long for the ability to say those few words
That he could've been the one to make me feel.

Black Swan

Today, I am going to see Black Swan.

I'm a huge Natalie Portman fan (I mean, who isn't, really?), but I am totally a wimp when it comes to movies that are even the remotest bit scary. I had nightmares for a week after watching the The Ring 2 when I was 14. I kid you not, a week. I can handle things like gore (go figure, with the wanting to be a doctor), but disturbing and/or paranormal are not for me (ignore the probably troubling fact that I don't categorize gore under 'disturbing'...okay). I have high hopes for this movie, though! I love ballet and ballerinas and The Swan Princess especially, so seriously, nothing could make this not worthwhile. Plus, it had good reviews, and good recommendations from friends.

I will report back.

A Break.

Done! I am done with finals! And after a week of horrible-eating, coffee-guzzling, meltdown-ridden stress, I'm so glad to be home. I, with the help of a friend, have allowed myself two days of complete and total relaxation time before I start studying for the next horror show, the MCATs. Which I will be taking in March. Over spring break, to be exact. Awesome.

My family doesn't really celebrate Christmas (aside from putting up decorations and lights every year). The closest thing we have to a tradition is that for several years in a row, we watched Hindi movies back to back all of Christmas day, which, if you know anything about Hindi movies, is about 3 movies. That doesn't mean, however, that I don't still make a wishlist every year. So, with a little help from Polyvore, voilà!


1. I Love Lucy Seasons 2, 3, 5, & 6
2. Caffeine Necklace from Made with Molecules
3. Covered Dish Dress from ModCloth
4. Harry Potter Scene It? Edition 2
5. Soundproof Over-Ear Beats by Dre
6. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Well, now I will be spending my first day off eating Native wings and reading Lord of the Rings (rhyme not intended). Ta!

A Little Speckled Ink

A while ago, I saw this amazing dress while on my routine stop at Anthropologie, where I go in, try on half the store, and don't buy anything. But, it was beautiful and it fit me well, and I had to have it. So, even with its $170 price tag, I bought it; just outright on impulse. However, I kept getting this nagging feeling that I shouldn't have. I couldn't even get myself to take the tag off, and the first time I wore it (with tag on), I couldn't properly enjoy it and how awesome it looked, because I was too busy being careful with it. Eventually, I just couldn't justify owning it anymore, and I returned it.

Then, yesterday, I was playing with my brand new Polyvore account (as if I need more ways to procrastinate), and looking through ModCloth dresses, when (can you believe it?!) I stumbled across this:
The dress! It was the dress! Except a little shorter (which fits my height better anyway) and less than half the price including 2-day shipping. Let me repeat that, less than half the price. Needless to say, I bought that thing so fast, Rebecca Bloomwood would have been impressed. I'm just hoping my two-day shipping request means it will get here before I leave on Sunday. Thank god for UPS Online Tracking, because without being able to check on my baby 5 times an hour, I would be lost.

You guys, I am so excited for this dress!
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A Tip or Two

This week, as many of you know, I have an insane number of finals. For those of you who don't recall right way, finals week has its own lifestyle. Tensions get high, people are stressed, coffee and junk food become staple dietary necessities, dishes pile up, clothes get left around, and somehow, the number of non-academic-but-totally-awesome things you can do on the internet suddenly triples. Seriously, people should study the finals week habits of college students, because I'm pretty sure we change species for a bit there.
Anyway, this finals week has made me realize things in the form of (possibly obvious) advice that I'd like to share with you all:

Dita Von Teese is probably the only woman to ever grocery shop in 6-inch heels.1. Do not buy groceries on an empty stomach. Even if you're a compulsive list-maker like I am, chances are, if you're hungry (and stressed), you will purchase those brownies and rationalize your way to some chocolate syrup and ice cream to go on top. This is especially bad during finals (and pregnancy, I guess), when things that you'd otherwise never eat (read: peanut butter covered turkey franks) suddenly sound delicious.
2. Put on some chapstick for those matte red lips. I find that the incidence of hoodies and sweatpants goes way up around finals, and I don't like it. It's true that you really don't want to try and take your 3-hour final with your hottest jeans digging into your stomach (full of peanut butter turkey franks) the whole time, but the Mean Girl in me thinks sweatpants all week are a little much. And, you know, the look-good-feel-good confidence helps, I think. I find that a quick way to liven up my casual, comfortable, t-shirt and jeans days is to put on red lipstick. Usually, I like glossy red lips, but frankly, too much gloss ends up looking hooker-y on me. Thus, in order to reduce the fading and drying, I've taken to applying some of my favorite Dr. Pepper chapstick to the top. It works, I swear.

I hope everyone had wonderful weekends!
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The Best Feeling

There is nothing better than the feeling of knowing you did really well on something that you prepared hard for, whether it was an important test, a competitive job interview, a new project, or even just a successful party. Especially, I think, for us Type A personalities, or maybe just my Type A personality, the endorphins of success last a long time and fuel me to do better in the future. I had a final early this morning for Organic Chemistry Lab, which I think I did really well on, and since I walked out of the room, I've been really excited to study for my other four finals and re-experience this feeling. I mean, success is practically high-grade crack for crazy perfectionists. You know how I was feeling low on motivation earlier? Yup, that feeling's completely gone. Organic chemistry in general has been really hard for me to grasp, and this final was supposed to be extremely content heavy (as opposed to lab technique heavy - which is usually easier) and really hard, but I just feel so much better and so relieved to think I did well. I just hope this doesn't end up being one of those situations where I just thought I did really well...

I think I might treat myself with a pair of these babies.

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Brrr! It's Cold In Here!

The temperature outside when I left my apt was 34˚F.
!!!!!!

That picture is kind of what my windshield looked like this morning, but less patterned (read: less cool). For the first time ever in my life, I had to chip frost off of it!! This was so exciting for me! Phoenix gets cold, but I don't think it's humid enough to actually create a very good layer of ice on your windshield. This, on the other hand, took me a good 15 minutes to scrub off (possibly because I'm kind of a n00b at it). Also, I could see my breath all morning which put me in a really good mood. Actually, I hate being cold, but I do enjoy this season.

Winter is Here!

I am a firm believer in seasonal hairstyles. Granted, I don't usually act as I believe (mainly out of...laziness), but some kinds of hair just look better in certain seasons. Curls are what I think of when I think about winter hair. The volume is perfect for keeping warm, and for getting snow caught in, and for wearing cute beanies and berets! So my mission this season is to curl my hair more often (and buy a beret)!


I keep coming up with all these missions and self-improvement projects and things to do because it's the week before finals and I am subconsciously trying to procrastinate studying. Bad. If I preoccupy myself with stuff like this for too long, I am legitimately not going to do well. You guys, I might need an intervention. Especially because the title of this post makes me want to re-watch Bring It On.

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