just a quick update

i haven't really felt like blogging much lately... and i've been really bad about returning comments. sorry, guys. :( but i have a million ideas for photoshoots bouncing around in my head and i'm getting my new dslr this weekend, so you'll probably see some of those soon. 

okay, now onto my promised review of aussie 3-minute miracle deep conditioner. it really did make my hair super-soft, the only not-so-great thing was it sort of killed my waves. oh well. it smells really fresh, and when you first put it on it has an almost-overpowering grape smell, but that mostly goes away when you wash it out. it also comes in this nifty little squeeze bottle that doesn't even need a lid, which is pretty handy. so i would recommend it. (haha, pretty comprehensive review, right?) (that was sarcasm, by the way.) 

and i know this is a crap post, but i can't come up with anything better. so, to sum it up, probably a slow-down on posting (but no blog-quitting or anything, don't worry!) but i'll try to keep up with all your blogs. deal?

*the photo up there was from my latest batch, but i used my point and shoot (which is literally dying), so a lot of them had random purple/green/orange pixels in them? if you want, the rest are here. 

your lucky numbers are 20, 35, 14, 45, 39, and 19

happy valentine's day to you all! <3 i've never really understood why people hate valentine's day so much, but if you're one of those people, happy chinese new year! (especially to any of you who are tigers. ;))

my fortune said, "many admire your social and physical appearance." haha? and i picked up some deep conditioner, this weather's made my hair super-dry. expect a review soon! and i also grabbed some pocky. yay! :)

i wore this to go out to lunch. we went to this chinese place we've been going to forever, it's sooo good. the lady who owns the place gave me some money in a little red envelope for luck, to say thanks for coming so much, ahaha. ;) (she also gave each of us a lollipop.) very sweet, no? 

dress (worn as skirt), target; tank top, gap; cardigan, target; necklace, italy!; tights, ???

i tried to make things more interesting for you guys, but you can see how well that worked... 

heh heh heh. 

if i could, i would give you all a slice of this cake (cos your all so amazing and deserve some valentine's day love!):

(manda2177)
edit: this was supposed to post yesterday, but for some reason it didn't? oh well... 

we don't live in a black and white world

the other day, my friend was explaining to me how she had her entire life planned out until she was 35, where she was going to college (m.i.t.), the age she was going to get married (27), her career (psychology), and the  number of kids she wanted (7). then i realized nothing scares me more than the idea of knowing what to expect for the next 20 years. how boring must that be? and what if something doesn't work out? maybe you don't get into m.i.t., you don't find someone you want to spend the rest of your life with... what then?? when she asked me my life plan, she started freaking when i told her i didn't really have one. when she pressed me, i said something along the lines of, "hmmm... go to a design college i suppose, then maybe move to new york and become a graphic designer or photogrpaher or something where i could be creative. i'm not sure... oh, and i'd also like to travel the world a bit." you should've seen her expression. priceless. i love scaring the narrow-minded people. ;)

but really, i feel like i've been thinking about the future a lot lately... mostly since soon i'll be making decisions that will seriously impact it. as in, bigger decisions than i've ever made before. which kind of scares me, but at the same time, makes me so excited i could burst. i definitely don't want an office job, or one that ties me down/that i'd hate going to everyday... yeah. sorry to dump all of that on you. since you didn't come here to listen to me ramble, here are some pretty pictures to make up for it:

(lissy elle, olivia bee, elenikoletsos, emily c, laurence, allie reed)

p.s. i love flickr. <3

p.p.s. i might be getting a new dslr this weekend, sooo excited...

the higher they fly, the harder they fall

i know last post was all happy-happy-joy-joy, and i wish i could be like that all the time, but it's kind of a tradition with me that a really good day has to be followed by a crappy one. (i'll blame my bipolar gemini personality for this.)

so basically, i'm bored out of my freaking mind. i've been trapped inside for the past three days (thanks mother nature), and i can't take it anymore. there are things i should be doing, but can't bring myself to, and i can't seem to remember everything that seemed so important before... and sorry for the huge burst of negativity. i'm just going a little very stir-crazy here. trapped. in. my. house. ok, we need a topic change...

how about rainbow hair? sounds good to me. 

dear tavi, you drive me craaazy sometimes. why? because of this. and arabelle. really, guys. teaming up on the rest of us like that? not fair. and then there was chanel, selina, olivia, and of course, gala, queen of unnaturally colored hair.

(source), (source), (source)

at first i thought pastel hair was cool, but, you know, not for me. then i started seeing rainbow hair everywhere. and i mean everywhere. (i think flickr is the guilty party here.) and then i started thinking... (of course, that's when all the trouble started. ;)) what about just a few strands? not the whole head, and therefore no roots to touch up, either. and easily hideable, in case the need arises... much more reasonable, no? soo... i think i'm ready to jump on this runaway train. ;) now i just have to determine exactly how dead i'd be if i actually dyed my hair blue...

ok. one decadent breakfast, 2 best friends (who are good at talking me off the edge), and a few hours of a little bit of flickr browsing later, i feel so much better. less like the world is trying to suffocate me. <3 i hope all of you who are wishing for snow right now know what you're getting into! haha.
xoxo

radical self-love, hello february

i'm so excited for life right now, it's such a great feeling. <3

right now i love...

photoshoots with balloons, sequins, late-night conversations that don't make sense the next day, being addicted to flickr, karaoke parties with stress fractures (cos they're so much better that way! ;)), delicious sleep, fresh, hot  bagels for breakfast, teen vogue, deserted greenhouses, the trailer for alice in wonderland (march 5th!!), planning for spring break already, colored pencils with adorable little monsters printed on them, laughing insanely, all the time, whether there's something funny going on or not, the color yellow, finally learning my condition has a name, polka dots, spending hours chatting on the phone, my newly discovered tripod, pastel hair, classes that are canceled due to vast amounts of snow, cute accents, proving to myself i can actually pursue my dreams, the best hot chocolate i've ever had, and not having to be perfect.

finally, i have no idea what this is. but it makes me supremely happy:

they don't love you like i love you

no classes today, as we got hit with mounds of snow. :) a very productive day off, if i do say so myself. (after getting an extra 3 hours of sleep and eating pancakes. cos what are snow days for, anyway?)

just threw this on, because it makes me feel (slightly) more presentable than pyjamas. 

jacket, old navy; top and "jeggings," target; boots, totes.

also, i got the teen vogue handbook the other week, and have finally gotten to paging through it properly. i would definitely recommend it as a must-read to anyone interested in a career in fashion. (i pretty much bought it for the photography section.) i felt like the big, overwhelming lesson was that you don't need to go to a design/art/fashion school, but the willingness to be an assistant/intern really helps. however, there is a handy little section in the back with a mini-overview of a lot of the aforementioned not-totally-necesary design/art/fashion schools, which i thought was very nice of them. 

and finally, i had some fun with some lipstick i got from ulta. ;) (i think i made the bottom lip too wide, though. sadface.) and if you've never smeared your lips with concealer, it's a very creepy experience, to say the least. psst. it makes you look like a zombie.

hahaha! hope you all had as much fun as i did today...

xoxo

a wintry tea party

you're all invited! 

are you coming?

*slurp*

white dress, forever 21; black (under)dress, target; tights, ???; sweater (underneath), target; hiking boots, stolen from friend (and a lovely 5 1/2 sizes too big); black boots, totes.

as you can probably tell, i'm on a bit of a photo kick, and i have to say, i rather like it. :) and surprisingly, i wasn't actually that cold when i took these. (or maybe i was just delirious...) oh! and about halfway through, i found out we own a tripod. a pretty decent one, too. i was so excited, you should've seen my happy-dance. (...or maybe not. i like the number of readers i have now.) 

you can see more on flickr!

flickr-ers anonymous

little update of how my 365 project is working out: well, so far i've taken about 1,000 pictures this year. buuuuut (and there's always a "but," isn't there?), i haven't been keeping very good track of what pictures go with what days. which is pretty much the entire point of the project. so, i suppose it did what it was meant to do: get me to take more pictures. i've actually started a flickr, you can find me here. (add me! right now i'm kind of lonely. ;)) also, i'm kind of in this funk where i hate most of the pictures i've taken, even especially the ones i used to like.  ugh. 

on the other hand, flickr rrrrrocks. i really love olivia bee. she has all sorts of  really lovely images. i'd also like to point out the fact that she's 15. (the only reason i'm pointing this out is because how amazing will she be in 5 years? or 10 years?)  

and this has to be the coolest flickr group ever... just look at their pool:

(ben dayhoe)

(tinflower)

and re: last post: lowercase lovers of the world unite! ahahaha... 

q&a

this is my 100th post... wow, i never thought i'd get this far. thanks for all your support! to celebrate, a few posts back i asked if you had any questions about me/my blog/the meaning of life... well, here are the answers: 

what do you aspire to be when you're older?
being a photographer would be my absolute dream job, but i'm not sure how that'd work out. being any type of fine artist would be amazing, actually. i know your supposed to get over that sort of thing by the time you're 7, but  i never did. i suppose my "practical" job choice would be graphic designer, or maybe something related to psychology? i'm not sure... 
what's on your wishlist right now?
like you can see on my sidebar, right now i'd really like a pair of oxfords and floral tights. i'm so ready for spring right now... a pair of geek glasses or wayfarer-style shades would also be nice. 
do people know about your blog? 

no, no one in "real-life" knows about my blog. my friends aren't really into the whole runway/dressing crazy thing, plus i think it'd be a little embarrassing... cos really? a website filled with my rambling and pictures of myself. like, egotistical much?

what are your hobbies? 
hobbies... hmm... doesn't that usually include having free time? ;) although when i can, i love to draw/paint. i'm not very good at either, but i like expressing myself. and also read loads of books, when i have spare time. 
any secret talents? 
haha, i wish! although i do make a mean chocolate cake. 
what is your hair like naturally?

left to its own devices, my hair is very wavy/messy. although a year or two ago i had it permanently straightened, which is now in the process of being grown out. it's light/medium brown, but gets blonder in the summer and sometimes even looks orange! 
favorite food?
ravioli! i love anything in a cute little package... cupcakes, dumplings, you name it. 

who's your inspiration?
hmmm... where to begin? well, there's all you lovely bloggers out there. ;) really, people on the internet are amazing, with flickr and blogging and everything. and of course there's gala darling (i know i mention her all the time, but she's fantastic!), and other various photographers and illustrators. 
what made you want to get a blog?
after reading a few other blogs for a while, i realized, hey! i could do that too. i'm much too opinionated just to be content with commenting anonymously. and like i said before, none of my friends are really into fashion the same way i am, so i guess it just became my place to talk about it all...
what's the story with your entire blog being in lowercase?
i just think lowercase letters are more visually appealing... it actually kind of runs in the family. (my mom and aunts do the same thing. ;)) 
what do you like to do in your free time other than blog?
mess around with friends, watch movies, make collages, run, draw mustaches with eyeliner, talk on the phone, visit art museums, listen to music constantly, take excessive amounts of pictures, and of course trawl the internet way too much for it to be healthy. ;)