Snippets of DC!

White House at Night!

The Group!

Legit graffiti! I was so impressed by this!

View from our hotel!
Since I won't be able to do regular full posts for a few days, I'm hoping I'll be able to do little picture updates of my weekend! Enjoy! Also, if any of you guys have been around Foggy Bottom or George Washington University before and have any recommendations, let me know!

CGIU: Take 2

Some of you guys who were around last year might remember this post I made about the Clinton Global Initiative University conference. This upcoming weekend, I'll be going again and it's going to be in Washington, D.C. this time, so that should be FUN x 3!!

The Clinton Global Initiative is a project started by Bill Clinton that organizes groups to help build innovative solutions to problems in public health, human rights, education, etc. people face around the world. Every year there is a University conference, which focuses mainly on commitments made by college students to do something either in their community or in another.

The organization I'm working with is called Project RISHI, which stands for Rural Indian Social and Healthcare Improvement has a commitment this year that focuses on the alleviation of social stigma surrounding leprosy in rural India. Fun facts about leprosy: the way it spreads is mostly unknown, but it's completely curable and 95% of the world population is immune to it. One of the leprosy colonies we work with has a performance group that is completely comprised of the able-disabled, and we want to support them by helping them promote their message that leprosy and/disability do not ruin a person's dignity.


Look it's me listening to Bill Clinton! - from the official CGI Flickr
Last year, I got to meet a lot of people and saw some awesome commitments, but this year, I want to have a much more professional focus. Really work on making useful connections and donors for our cause. Obviously, to pull this off, I'm gonna need some killer outfits. We'll see if I have time for pictures though. I remember last year was a giant failure on the outfit picture front. Either way, so excited!

Young & Wild & Free

Cardigan: H&M; Dress: PacSun; Tights: ?; Pumps: Ross


I may face death from Loni for posting this, but we're pretty cool so whatev.

We were out to dinner a loooong time ago for old roomies' birthdays, hence the fancy heels. I think this may be the last or second last of the old-apartment pictures! I promise we will be on to the new ones soon enough, but I'm still trying to find my niche with taking pictures in/around a very busy apartment complex. But I'm visiting home for a bit, so I might see what I can do about that here. Have a wonderful weekend!

Tuesday Tunes!

Remember how Aki and I did those awesome vlogs?
Well, we're doing more!
It's going to be a Q&A but we need your help!
Ask us a question in the comments!!

Okay, and now back to our regular programming.



1. "Shake It Out" - Florence + The Machine
2. "Gravity" - Sara Bareilles
3. "Animal Love I" - Charlene Kaye
4. "The Best Day" - Atmosphere
5. "The Compromise" - The Format

Repurposing: Finals Week

Memes are always appropriate ways to express things
It is finals week at my university! Though I am graduated, I have spent the weekend taking full advantage of my friends' finals week mentalities to get a bunch of work I've been putting off for my summer maternal/child health project done! And I'm pretty excited to say that after 35 hours spent studying (with Loni), I a) have consumed a revolting amount of junk food and b) learned way more than I wanted about childbirth complications. I love feeling accomplished!

Opening Night!

I woke up excited because today is opening night of Holy Musical B@man!! I've mentioned before that I absolutely love a theater group called Team Starkid, who created A Very Potter Musical, and this is their newest show! It's going to be a Batman musical parody! Does life get any better than this? No? Okay.

Aki and I tried to get tickets to go see it live in Chicago, but sadly we were among thousands in a steadily growing Starkid fan base, and the lottery just didn't work out in our favor. However, as with all Starkid musicals, the show will be released in full on their YouTube channel in April! So, I suggest, if you haven't already heard of them, you go watch the rest of their stuff and get ready for B@man!

Break a leg, Starkids!

3.14159

Happy Pi Day!
(math jokes are always funny. esp when they give you an excuse to eat pie)

On Giving Back

I want to talk about why I think it is important to give back to your community. I've been lovingly called a lot of things for the amount of time I spend "doing things to help people," but I truly believe in the positive reinforcement of the human spirit by sharing in health and accomplishment as a community.


"It's easy to forget how fortunate I am." I repeat this to myself sometimes when I'm feeling particularly ungraceful and shallow, and try to remember the many ways in which it rings true, but a few people have told me that they give back because of this reason. On occasion, I feel this too, but I believe that ultimately, this pseudo-survivor's guilt isn't a good reason to give back.

I give back because I really believe people can be good. Sometimes, when you least expect it, people show incredible resourcefulness, kindness, gratitude, intelligence, and creativity. The only thing is that all of us (yes, all of us) sometimes need a little push or a little support to get to a point where those things shine through. So, it's not really about the "less fortunate" in terms of health or wealth, but helping people from all fortunes find and express the best in themselves and be recognized for that by coming together and learning about each other. It's because of this mutual benefit that I think it's so important to give back in our lives, regardless of our fortunes.

Relay For Life

It's almost that time again! You might remember from last year, but I'm very invested in my school's Relay For Life. For me, Relay has always been a binding experience. It's one of those things that brings you closer to people and solidifies the shared human experience of cancer. I Relay because I want to see fewer friends and families affected by this debilitating disease. Every day I thank whatever fortune I had to not have any direct family affected by cancer.


A friend introduced me to Relay For Life. Relay is an all-night walk-a-thon based on the idea that "Cancer never sleeps." Before the event, teams raise money for cancer research and support, and during the event they participate in all sorts of fun events, walking around the track, and in the luminaria ceremony, which honors and remembers those fighting and lost. Please consider joining your local event or donating even the smallest amount, as it would really mean a lot to me and to your communities.

Also, for more on why I relay {or to donate (which would rock my socks!)} visit, MY RELAY PAGE

Nail Art

I go through periods of my life where I become super obsessed with doing my nails. Unfortunately for you all, I'm pretty sure I have the most unphotogenic hands ever to grace the earth, so I refuse to ever post pictures/tutorials of my nails. But, because I love to do fun things with them and I've gotten kind of good at it from years of practicing, I will share pictures of some of my favorite designs I've done to date! Again, hands/nails not mine, but if you want to try any of them feel free to ask me for tips!


Monarch Butterfly Nails

Glitterbomb Tips

Konad Patterned

I've done about a million variations of this one.

Lines and Stripes
Most of the time, though, my go to color is just a clean and crisp plain bright red. Maybe sometimes with some dots. Sadly, I have the habit of waiting until my nail polish looks atrocious to change it, but I think some of my diligence in patterning should make up for that, right? Cool.

Tuesday Tunes!

Wow, I think it's been a long while since I did one of these! What can I say, my Tuesdays have been busy this month! But certainly not too busy to have a ton of new "current musical obsessions." Without further ado:


1. "Going Down" - The Pretty Reckless
2. "Cough Syrup" - Young The Giant
3. "It Girl" - Jason Derulo
4. "Some Nights" - fun.
5. "That's All" - Michael Buble

Eugenio Recuenco

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a giant soft spot for all things fairy tale. My imagination's pretty keen and it's no wonder I watch all the fairy tale/fantasy/sci-fi shows, because basically anything made up is fun and cool for me. Mix that with my interest in fashion and photography and you have the gleeful ball of bubbles that was me upon finding this photoshoot.

What a pretty, dreamy start to a sunny Sunday!