Top 5 Songs Getting Me Through This 7 Page Paper

Fuck finals week! While trying to stay sane and motivated (and awake!) enough to finish this horrible paper, I've spent a lot of time rocking out to the following:

1. Lady Gaga's Bad Romance: I was not a fan of Lady Gaga, at all, until I saw her new video. It's the craziest stuff ever, and I looove it. And the song was stuck in my head for days afterwards.

2. Madonna's Hung Up: After listening to/watching this, I've decided I need more Madonna in my life!

3. Okkervil River's Calling and Not Calling My Ex. I love Okkervil River--they're in my top 5 favorite bands, and Will Sheff is a genius who has such a way with words. Their songs make me happy and sad at the same time, especially this one. It's upbeat, but the lyrics reveal such a great, wistful story that everyone always wonders about: what happens to the friends or lovers left behind when someone becomes famous? Lyrics here, you need 'em.

4. Bjork's Big Time Sensuality. She's bizarre in this video, so much that it's almost awkward to watch, but it's all good because she obviously doesn't care about what people think, and the song's great.

5. The Ting Tings' That's Not My Name. My sister Kaila and I heard this on the radio while sitting in the car one day and we cranked it up and just started dancing to it right there in the parking lot. As soon as we got home we found it online. And then, a few days later, my boyfriend started playing it on his computer. I was shocked, since, well, Kaila and Josh rarely have the same tastes in music. Shocked, but thrilled. 'Cause it's a great song. THAT'S NOT MY NAME! You tell 'em, girl.

(Numbers 2 and 4 are thanks to this yes and yes blog post.)

Purse peek!

Me & my new ModCloth bag--very happy together.

Alrighty, so I'm finally doing one of those "What's in my purse?" posts. I think the contents of someone's bag says a lot about them, and I've been brought up to believe that the inner secrets of a woman's purse is an extremely private thing. I don't even let my boyfriend look in my bag (but okay, that's probably just because I'd be embarrassed for him to discover the month old sandwich rotting away in a plastic bag or even just the usual girly products). However, I'm totally willing to share on here. Pictured below is actually the maximum amount of the things I'll ever have in my bag at a time, minus some textbooks for class or maybe a sweater (and a bunch of wrappers and lint). I'm a pretty low-maintenance girl. Usually for class I'll just stuff my books in my green H&M messenger bag, grab my keys, gloves and MP3 player and go. But for the sake of being interesting, here's a broader look at things I tote around with me:

Here it is all crammed together in my bag:
And here it is neatly laid out on the floor:

Now, to break it down. I usually have a large lined notebook for class or writing or list-making with me, and often have my sketchbook handy too. Either way, I doodle a lot.Here, you can see my checkbook, David Sedaris' "When You Are Engulfed in Flames," which is a great book (I always have a book with me to read), and my lovely little book I found for 50 cents at a flea market. You can't see in the picture but the cover says, in gold, "The Scribble-In Book," and that's exactly what I do with it.

Oh, and my checkbook was so boring, I had to liven it up. Here's a blurry picture of the cute duck sticker I put on it. I'm also considering adding some Madagascar stickers that I have.I always have a planner/agenda type book with me; the one pictured isn't my usual. I left that one at home, unfortunately; I'm dying to recover it, because I keep tons of things written down in it. I also always have a handful of pens, and a wad of tissues or napkins for minor disasters.

My lovely striped gloves from Target, and I usually have snacks in the form of breakfast bars or something.My MP3 Player, given to me by my gracious sister who didn't want it anymore. The pink earbuds: not my choice, my mom's, haha. And of course, chapstick.

My keychain holds the key to my dormroom, my USB disc, and a little hummingbird my dad gave me. I also always have my college ID card with me, I have to use it for everything.Closeup of the hummingbird:

And my Minnie/Mickie Mouse wallet that my mom gave me years ago. It's actually more of a change purse than a wallet, but oh well. As you can see it's very fat, as it's overly stuffed with things. It's either really cute or really ridiculous, I've never been able to decide. Oh, and I also keep my phone in my purse, a Blackjack, but it's not pictured because I was, um, using it to take the pictures, hah.

And there you have it! Do you keep anything odd, interesting, handy, or even sentimental in your purse?

Things I want to buy myself for Christmas

Amazon.com, $12
This hat would look totally adorable with my new brown boots, and I need a winter hat. I figure with my short hair, a cloche hat like this would suit me best.

This amazing Supergirl bra on Topshop for $28. I couldn't get a picture of it on here so click the link--you NEED to see this. And not buy it before I do, please (unless you're getting it for me!) They also have cute matching boyshorts for it elsewhere on their site for 8 bucks.


This gorgeous dress that I found in Forever21's online sale section for $15. God I love their sale section. This dress might actually satisfy my pining for a tutu! And although I love the colors and feel of this one, I surprisingly (for me anyway) preferred the pink and black version. Unfortunately they're all out. Damn.





These glasses are about $12 on Modcloth.com, and they look nerdy AND pretty. Perfect!

Also on Modcloth is this awesome mini, LCD chandelier for about 30 bucks. Sweet!


Um, yeah, I NEED this T-shirt. It would come in handy, that's for sure... No more horrible Facebook pictures of me! Well, maybe not, but the shirt's still cute.



You know I love me some indie music.... and COLORING! This combines them to make me swoon with joy. 10 bucks on fredflare.com.




And finally, I've been meaning to get this for a while: The Polaroid Book, available at urbanoutfitters.com for 15 bucks (and I'm sure other places). I loooove polaroids, but don't actually have any because I hate to waste my small stash of the now-discontinued film. I'd spend hours flipping through this.


I would also be including an amazing Star Wars dress on here that I found on Etsy, but alas, it's gone! I'm about to go cry now. It had Han Solo on it and everything!

But anyway, yeah, that's sort of my Christmas list, but not really. It's more like my after-Christmas list of things I'm going to try and get for myself, if I have any money left over from REAL Christmas shopping for other people. Stupid other people. So if your Christmas present from me sucks, sorry--it's because I skimped in order to save money to spend on myself. Yep. I'm a greedy bitch, people!

Admit it though, all that stuff rocks and you want it too.

A bit of a photoshoot frenzy :)

So, I promised Jill a blog post today, in order to help us both procrastinate during finals week, and I've been meaning to show off what I got shopping a few weeks ago: red skinny jeans (oh the horror! but skinny jeans are sooo much eaiser to tuck into boots, and I've always secretly wanted a red pair), boots, grey & black striped gloves, and a black jacket. All from Target's clearance racks, more or less, except the boots, which were from... Ray's? Something like that, for under 20.
Anyway, enjoy the slightly over-pose-y pictures, for which I am profoundly sorry. What can I say? After browsing this site all day I was in the mood for some serious fashion modeling.

I have boots!

Now, I wouldn't go so far as to call them winter boots... My poor mother wanted to get me some nice, sensible, ugly winter boots, but I saw these for $17 bucks at some store (I forget the name but it was basically a cross between TJ Maxx and the Salvation Army) and she couldn't pry them out of my fingers. They have a good-sized heel, and I can't really see myself trekking through ice and snow in them. However, they ARE totally hot! Yay!
Some shitty pictures that will just have to do:


Like? I sure do.

I also got two pairs of gloves for $1.50 and a nice jacket & crazy pants from the clearance rack at Target. It was a good day for shopping. I'll post pictures of all that tomorrow, or at least later in the week.

Dork Glasses

I have to come clean. Lately--and seriously out of NOWHERE--I've become obsessed with owning a pair of those big, black, oversized dorky glasses that I'm suddenly seeing on cute, pretty girls all around me. "Hmm," my inner self ponders. "I bet if I wore a pair of too-big, nerdy glasses like that, I'D look cute and pretty too!" And not just, you know, dorky and nerdy.
Look at this adorable, chic girl:
And one of the Olsens, god knows which:

And this crazy old lady who either has daring fashion sense or just really bad eyesight (who cares, I love her either way):
I have bad eyesight, but lost my last two pairs of glasses and therefore am going without. However, I have a serious itch to get a new pair now. I don't know if I can wait, though. Which is why I've been browsing fake glasses online, like these vintage-inspired Wayfarers I found on eBay for $12; these American Apparel Abby eyeglasses (that are, unfortunately, 55 freakin' dollars):and pretty much everything I've seen on Etsy. Some examples:

These are $47 total, so again, to much for me. But so cute! Dammit.

These are $29, still more than I want to spend, but I like the color and shape:
I'd put up more, but it's killing me to look at all these awesome glasses that I can't buy. For one thing, I'm low on spending money at the moment. And for another, I don't think I could buy just one pair. I want to have as many different pairs of glasses as I do shoes, so I can mix and match with my outfits and according to my every whim. I'm also hesitant to buy a pair online because I'd want to try them on first and make sure I don't look absolutely retarded before buying them.

Oh well. Maybe if I find a really cheap fake pair, I'll get them. And eventually I'll get new, real glasses (hopefully). I'll keep you posted.

Vintage Find of the Week

I didn't actually find it this week (I've had it for a while now), but I was wearing it today and realized I seriously need to feature it on here. I'm not a big T-shirt person in practice; but in theory.... Oh boy. I love fitted T-shirts (not those huge slouchy XXL made to fit all, including dinosaurs, although those are great for wearing JUST that oversized T-shirt while lounging sexily around your house), especially those with a funny or unexpected phrase or picture on them. Which is why I own this:

Yep. It's a pink T-shirt with a bold, all-caps message in yellow on the front: "Trust me, I'm a blonde." I found it at a secondhand store for a few bucks a few years ago, and to this day it still kills me. Because, um, although I'll admit that it's not the best picture quality ever, you can probably tell that I am not actually a blonde. Unless of course, the T-shirt means it in a figurative sense--in which case, it's pretty accurate! Otherwise, most people who see me wearing this shirt probably just automatically assume I am not, in fact, to be trusted. I don't know. I spend hours thinking about the implications of this shirt. But hey, it gets laughs. Once in high school I had a teacher stop in the middle of the lesson because he saw my shirt, read it, and started laughing mid-sentence.
So yeah. I love this shirt.
Feel free to share in the comments: Are you a T-shirt person? Do you have any T-shirts that make you laugh, or that you just love? Any great vintage finds lately? What do YOU think my T-shirt means? (Seriously, help me out here.)

Oh, also, for more great reading on this topic, check out this post at Daddy Likey.

What I Wore: Guest Edition!

The other day, I was complaining to my amazing friend Jill that I didn't have anything to blog about (there's only so many outrageously chic outfits I can wear per day), and she valiantly offered to help me out by giving me permission to write a post about the adorable outfit she wore!
It must be noted that Jill has great fashion sense. Everything I know, I learned from her (at least subconsciously). Here, she chose to go for a simple but totally stylish ensemble:


She used just two very basic colors for this outfit: white and black (although the shoes, technically, are silver)--and it came out great. She paired a black and white Beatles T-shirt with the cutest little black skirt ever, black tights, and silver flats.
I love the black in the T-shirt design; it kind of pulls the whole outfit together, and merges the shirt with the skirt. Also, haven't you heard? T-shirts are back in, people! I'm doing a post on that topic next (okay, actually, just one specific T-shirt that I have, not T-shirts in general).


Another trend that's hot right now: bangs! They've never worked for me, since my hair just cannot lie flat, but Jill rocks them here:She finished off the look with a sleek and sophisticated black peacoat (oh how I love peacoats), and I have to say, the silver flats really "pop" amongst all that black:


Too cute!

Finally, I asked Jill to impart some of her fashion wisdom to the rest of us, and here's what she had to say:
"Randomly take chances that no one would expect from you; even if it means talking yourself into actually stepping out the door with what you picked out or carrying a pair of jeans in your bag as a backup plan in case you lose your gumption. Just...go for it."

Best. Fashion. Advice. EVER. It totally applies to me (and I'm sure I'm not the only one), because whenever I pick out an outfit that's even a little over the top, I have to actually force myself to walk out the door wearing it. Most of the time, sadly, I just end up changing into something a little less attention-attracting. I told this to Jill, and she admitted to carrying jeans around with her all day while wearing the above outfit. Kindred spirits! And of course, I'm so glad she didn't succumb to the temptation to switch to regular old jeans... 'Cause, seriously, how adorable was that outfit? Right?

What I Wore Today

It was unseasonably warm today, so I could ditch the coat and go out in something a little more fun. The lovely weather was making me feel daring, so I played around with a bunch of different things from my closet today. I ended up going to lunch late, like around 1:30, and missed out on the better sandwiches, but hey--anything for fashion!

Since it wasn't THAT warm, I figured I still needed to be covered up. So, I paired black-knee highs and a black sweater (with the sleeves rolled up, since it actually is pretty damn warm) with an outfit that consisted of jean capris, my new ModCloth I-Spy dress that I actually wore as a tank top, and my vintage Oxford heels--and, of course, my Shere Khan necklace and some dark red lips for that extra little punch (also from ModCloth (the necklace, not the lips)):








In the end, I guess I wasn't feeling that daring, because I decided to trade the capris for regular boot-cut jeans. I liked the look and all, but I guess I just wasn't ready to parade it in front of a campus that favors sweatpants and hoodies as every day attire. If I lived in the city, it'd be different. Oh well. This is what this blog is for: to release my inner fashion desires without actually having to risk feeling like a sore thumb in public.