Also, Wishing a Speedy Recovery to...

our favorite secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton. I was sad to receive a "Breaking News" email from The New York Times last night, notifying me that "Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Is Hospitalized With Blood Clot." 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_Clinton

Get well soon Hillary.

Public Restrooms, Smoked salmon, and "White" New Years Parties

I've just had a notable bathroom experience that I would like to share.

As I wandered over to the bathroom of the coffee shop I'm currently in, I noticed the owners were sitting near the bathroom which I thought might have been to make sure only paying customers used it. I strolled down the short hallway, away from them, through the door to the women's restroom and sat down in my stall of choice. As I was going to the bathroom I realized that I could very clearly hear the owners speaking. Perhaps even more clearly than I could when I walked passed them. It was almost as if they were speaking into a microphone that projected straight into the women's bathroom. They were speaking in a language that I couldn't understand and, as I sat there, I wondered if it would have been more or less uncomfortable if I knew what they were saying. I guess it would have depended on what they were talking about.

Throughout my many years of using the bathroom, as opposed to diapers, I have come to learn a few things about the setting I prefer for using the bathroom:

1. I must be the sole inhabitant of the bathroom. This one's pretty straightforward, I like to go to the bathroom in private.
2. Said restroom must have multiple stalls and locks that make it clear when they are occupied (red or green are exposed on the lock depending on its occupancy). There are few things more awkward than pushing open a stall only to find someone already on the pot, exposed... Multiple stalls prevents the pressure that one may feel in a single bathroom where that particular bathroom may be in high demand.
3. If I am not the sole occupant of the restroom there must be background noise loud enough to cover up or blend the sounds of going to the bathroom. Some examples of acceptable noises are a hairdryer and a shower. I fear judgement of my bodily sounds. 

I suppose my experience in this coffee shop didn't violate any of my basic requirements but it was still odd. 

That's all for now. Have a wonderful New Year!



P.S. I ate a lot of this my first week home. Can you guess what's on that delicious nutty, wheaty, bread?

from bread up: goat cheese, avocado, onion, and smoked salmon

P.P.S Got invited to a "white" New Year's party. In case you've never heard of "white" parties, they're not racist parties where only "white" people are invited but rather events where one must dress in all white. I'm pretty sure I've heard about Kanye West's white party in the Hamptons on many Bravo reality television shows(or some other celebrity). I have some collared, long-sleeved, button down shirts I could wear, or a cute cami but still brainstorming what to do about bottoms. And I might feel a bit frumpy in the long sleeves, but too exposed in the cami. It seems like there aren't a lot of white clothes during the winter season (though I thrift most of my clothes so I may not have the most accurate perception of this). It's also just not a color I feel like buying in the winter. I'm always cold so I like to wear colors that are warm so even if I'm freezing, perhaps I can give the illusion that I'm not. Unsure how strict this dress code is but I obviously don't want to stick out for completely ignoring it. It's just, I've been waiting all year (okay.. a few months...) to wear this 3/4 length, boat neck, charcoal, jcrew shirt completely covered in sequins...

Partridge Breast Aloe

The other day, after devouring a solid half of my bbq brisket and coleslaw sandwich on an onion roll with fries,

I picked up holiday gifts for 3 family members: shirts from Zaftig's with the following captions:

"Boston Red Lox" <-- in the style of the Red Sox shirts
"Knish Me" get it? like kiss me
 and
"Oy to the World" i.e. Joy to the World .

However I still have not purchased a gift for a sister. She's really into hair, makeup, and clothes and seems to like borrowing (without asking) my own products. Last year I bought her an eye-shadow pallet from Sephora and a nice mascara to go with it.

This year I thought I might get her one of those OPI minis sets from Sephora. However, I don't particularly want to pay for shipping on an item under $30 so I turned to Amazon to look for a set with free shipping. I wasn't feeling the colors in the sets I found so I expanded my search and this bottle came up:

ah yes, I knew that color screamed Partridge Breast Aloe... I can honestly write that I've never seen this color before (or rather, this color under that unique name).






Cheers! And happy gift shopping!

Post-Finals Childhood Reversion and Miss Universe Pageant

As the stress of the past two weeks as well as the entire semester lifted, I turned to Hulu and Netflix for appropriate non-academic entertainment. I had already caught up on the Mindy Project on Thursday in between studying and freaking out about physics. I also watched the most recent episodes of Gossip Girl and New Girl earlier in this finals week.

Fortunately I stumbled across a personal childhood favorite, The Aristocats, on Netflix! I've been wanting to watch it for some time now but my only copy is at home and is on VHS.

It was quite as lovely as I remembered though much more vintage quality. I had no idea the film was made in 1970. The animation was nowhere near the quality that it is now. However, I actually found the film style quite charming. I really liked the more raw, sketch-like quality it had. And the little kitties were so adorable.

I can't remember the last time I watched it but I don't think I fully understood the plot. It's a tribute to the quality of the film that even as a young adult I was still able to enjoy it.

 http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/classic-disney/images/609168/title/aristocats-wallpaper
I totally recommend checking it out.

Full disclosure: Before I watched the Aristocats, a friend and I watched the Miss Universe pageant on Hulu. It was actually really entertaining and my friend and I found ourselves picking favorites from the start. We loved Miss India, especially because she was a software engineer! Though we were disappointed that she didn't make the top 10, we were quickly distracted by the gorgeous dresses of Miss Australia and Miss Russia who did make the top 10.

Miss Australia wore this beautiful white strapless fitted (like, a lingerie top, with cups...) gown with gorgeous detailing along the top part of the skirt. She pulled off a formal white gown without managing to look bridal. 

http://www.abc15.com/gallery/news/news_photo_gallery/Copy_of_photos-miss-universe-2012-pageant-wptv1356048773463

Miss Russia's beaded gown was channeling the ice princesses of her land. The royal blue skirt complemented the metallic grey top very well. Those colors really worked on her. She looked absolutely stunning. I hope one day I will be able to wear a beautiful beaded piece like their gowns.

 http://features.rr.com/photo/0cWM4h6aiPfs7?q=Las+Vegas%2C+NV
We were also incredibly impressed with Miss Philippine's response to an awkwardly placed question (see footage) and Miss USA grew on us once we heard her speak.

Not planning on watching any more pageants anytime soon, but I will have to say that those are some pretty awesome women who kick major butt. They're not only gorgeous, but many of them are great citizens of world who volunteer.

15 minutes of Sartorial Fame

As I raced to my room after dinner, 20 minutes before The Sartorialist was scheduled to speak, my mind jumped to what I could throw on that wouldn't be completely socially unacceptable to wear to a talk by a well known fashion blogger and photographer. I settled for swapping my layers of polar fleece for my latest vintage thrifted piece; a black silk, sequined and beaded top which I paired with the bottoms I was already wearing, my dark green military pants tucked into black bogs (rain...). In case I felt totally ridiculous, I slipped on my shamrock green pea coat that I could hide under.

Chatting with a friend and fellow Sartorialist fan on the way over to his talk, I remembered his more recent posts about peacoats and day sequins (though, as my friend reminded me, it was no longer daytime) and felt more confident in my fashion choices. And honestly, when am I not thinking about day sequins and peacoats.

I have to say, I really enjoyed his talk. It was so interesting to hear about his process (or sometimes lack of process) of shooting people and what he aims to achieve in his photos. He said he doesn't travel or shoot people to report on upcoming trends, but essentially he tries to capture images of an individual's style. I could appreciate his great attention to detail as he described a recent shot of a student who drew him in at the Art Institute of Chicago, from her energy down to the slight shimmer of her makeup.

The people-watching at the event was almost as great as Scott's talk. It was so wonderful to see the range of people and styles that his blog appeals to, from a nearly shirtless flamboyant man in a white furry vest, to chic women in little black dresses, to that one girl I had talked to a million times and never heard express an interest in clothing who stood in line to get her book signed in cutoff shorts and lime green shutter-shades. 

With a great lecture, and nearly equally as fabulous people-watching, how could my experience possibly have gotten better, you ask? Scott Schuman instagrammed me (or rather my beautifully knit mittens by my lovely mother). Holla! 1643 likes and counting.

check it out for yourself: http://instagram.com/p/TG59G-lANi/


-An adorable student at Wellesley

Preparing Myself for the Savanna...

that is online dating: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/04/14/online.dating.netiquette/index.html?iref=allsearch

See above article for sassy online dating tips and thoughts on rejection.

Dating (Procrastination) Efforts

As the semester nears its end and the holiday season grows closer many of us find ourselves yearning for companionship, or perhaps looking for new and creative ways to put off our obscene amounts of work for the last two weeks of the semester.

The other night I went speed dating for the first time. I went with zero expectations which was smart because it was a hot mess. While the room where it was being held was full, the general population was severely lacking in Y chromosomes. I ended up going on a few "dates" with close friends and classmates who did not identify with the gender that I was hoping to meet. I also met some really weird guys. There was one guy who I thought was kind of attractive and we had a fairly normal conversation (as normal as two people can have in a loud, cramped space, with a two minute time limit). I would definitely go on a date with him but won't find out if he was also interested until I receive an email with the contact information of people who I approved and approved me (which I know I will get because my friends and I all checked each other).

I also met a pretty cool kid, not interested in dating him, but interested in being his friend. A fellow foodie from the area, into being active, and knowledge of good food in the area.

And tonight I created an online dating profile with a dating website for college students. I actually filled out my profile this time and put a picture where I'm not wearing my sunglasses.

We'll see if either of these actions go anywhere, but for the meantime they have/had a great humor factor. And if anything were to happen it would have to wait until I return to school for the spring semester because I have so much work to do in the next two weeks!!!!!!!!!

Any good speed dating or online dating stories or profiles to share? I'll leave you all with a nerdy pickup line I read on someone's profile: What's your sine? It must be pi/2 because you're the one. <-- math humor

We Give Thanks for H-Rod

This week as my sister and I dressed for Thanksgiving dinner with somewhat distant relatives (2nd cousins, with a possible removal), NPR in the background, we gave thanks for H-Rod, or rather Hillary Rodham Clinton. She was mentioned in all of the articles, and announcements we heard about the ceasefire on the Gaza strip and surrounding area and showed up in many photos on the agreement.

At 3PM we gathered around a long thanksgiving table, positioned on the diagonal to accommodate for the numerous distant family members gathered at my father's cousin's house. We enjoyed the return of the green beans and pomegranate seeds, as well as the traditional turkey and a few other goodies.

That evening we gave thanks for Ben Affleck as we joined other happy families and friends at the local movie theatre for a viewing of Argo. In addition to prolonged periods of intensity (i.e. most of the movie) and a creative escape from a volatile political situation, there was some great 1979 facial hair in that film.

Happy Sunday!

Election Map: Can't Handle the Excitement

Here's the map I'm currently watching. It automatically refreshes every 30 seconds. I actually can't handle the excitement: http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/2012/results

Maybe I would be able to handle it better if I wasn't trying to study for a physics exam and write a genetics lab paper... My professors obviously don't think I should be aware of the goings on in our country. Or maybe they thought I would already be done with my work...

Exercise your right to vote!

I wasn't planning on posting about the election but when this showed up as an ad on Pandora, I couldn't resist.

But actually, please vote! Only a few more hours left!

Sartorialist Favorites

Just a few seconds ago, as I was snuggled under the flannel sheets of my TwinXL holed up in my cozy little dorm room  in anticipation of the arrival of hurricane Sandy, I stumbled upon one of my favorite Sartorialist photographs and figured it was about time I posted about The Sartorialist.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Scott Schuman's blog, The Sartorialist, you can read his biography here. All you really need to know is that he obviously has a nice camera, and takes pictures of cool people in exciting places.

When I originally downloaded this image on my computer, I labeled it as"sparkles, different textures, braids and ballerina skirt."

In more detail, here's what I love about the her outfit:
I love her textured crew-neck sweater because it's, like, really interesting texture, you know? Zig-zags, stripes, other patterns that I'm sure a knitter would better be able to define. I'm also a huge fan of dance clothes in and outside the studio so I love the pairing with this tulle skirt; the length of it helps make it more day-to-day wearable (as opposed to a teensy short tutu).  The white (and pink? is her skirt pinkish?)color scheme really allows her to standout among the grey and black background of the car and motorcycle. Those sunglasses just make her look really cool and that messy french-braid adds an air of "This cool look is so natural for me" as well as adding an interesting complexity to her hair, like the patterns in her sweater. Her blue bracelet provides a nice pop of color, as do her lips (is that weird that I think that?). Do you think she's wearing a tinted lip-balm, gloss, or lipstick of some sort?

I think the rhinestones on her shoes are cool but the rest of her look is more exciting to me. 

Thoughts? Anyone love her look as much as I do?

Here's a link to the original post where you can read other people's comments on the outfit, and procrastinate the work that you should really be doing by looking through the archives or "Random Posts."

Stay safe, Frankenstorm is on the prowl!

P.S. I'm still sitting in my bed.

Hypocrisy and War

Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but I've recently started to see war and violence as a bit archaic.

A few weeks ago I read about soldier Henry Fleming's battle with fear in Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage and couldn't help but think how unfortunate and hypocritical war is. But actually, how often do parents and teachers tell children to "Use your words?" Growing up children are taught that violence is not the answer yet it's something adults turn to as a solution, I guess, when people won't listen.

It seems like the message they're sending is that when people won't listen, we should hit them.

Any thoughts on the effectiveness of war in conflict-resolution? Or a utilitarian reasoning of the costs and benefits of war or a specific war?


Until my next postworthy thought.

Musical Ban Lifted

Hello friends!

Due to some health problems, more than a year ago I was banned from playing my beautiful clarinet. However I am happy to report that, as of yesterday, the ban has been lifted!

Tonight I stuck a reed in my mouth, pieced my Buffet R13 back together, and played 5 minutes of long-tones. While my clarinet could use a little cork grease, my embouchure many more minutes (hours) of long-tones, and my fingers some cleaner transitions between octaves, it felt nice to place again and a little more than mildly invigorating. So after my long-tones I dug out a good old Hite study, put a fresh battery in my metronome, and stumbled through the study stopping nearly ever 2 measures because my embouchure was gushing air.

I was impressed at my ability to blow a few throat tone As with really nice tone quality and a few nice Es just over the break. Last week when I wasn't sure if I would play again I thought about how I would really miss that E and I was happy to start to re-acquaint myself with it tonight, even if only for a fraction of a second.

 I ended my session by skimming a few pages of the Bonade book I bought right before I stopped playing. I skimmed a few pages but paused and more thoroughly read the section on reed adjustments. Like most clarinetists, I've always been very picky about reeds and often struggle with warping, reed irregularity and inconsistency. Bonade recommends a reed rush for scraping reeds as opposed to razor blades, knives, or sandpaper (though he mentions the proper use for a sandpaper file later). Now I'm considering investing in a reed rush. They seem pretty reasonably priced and might be fun to play around with.

Any recommendations on reed rushes?











                                                                        

image from: http://www.runyonproducts.com/reed.rush.html

Addictive Musical Mystery

Have you ever heard a song on the radio, playing in a store, in a movie, wherever and while it's playing all you can think about is how you want to hear it again? I love when that happens, except when it takes me years to figure out what the song was. I'm always on the lookout for new music and today I was graced with a new song to add to my Spring 2012 Youtube playlist.

We gave presentations in my organic chemistry class on important named reactions in organic synthesis and one group showed this video called "Enolate Love Story," with Calvin Harris's "Feel So Close" as the music; it was great. The movie was also really well done and obviously a laborious process using lots of stills of pipecleaners.

Other notable music mysteries:

"Let the Drummer Kick" by Citizen Cope was probably the song that took me the longest to figure out. I think this mystery spanned about three years in high school. I was really drawn in by the piano. I heard it in a car commercial on TV twice. A few months later I heard it in a clothing store and then finally I think I found it by looking it up a movie soundtrack.

What's your latest addictive musical mystery?




P.S. I'm so obviously behind in pop music trends. I thought I discovered this awesome new pop song (for all you pop song haters, no, awesome new pop song is not an oxymoron) and both people I shared my new music find with already knew the song.

SLAM!

My kind college professors welcomed me and my classmates back from spring break with research papers, lengthy lab reports, and midterms. This past week I took a midterm Wednesday morning and after a leisurely lunch, as a virus bypassed my immune system, I began to study for midterm number two, scheduled for less than 24 hours later on Thursday morning. Needless to say I did manage to survive the week though it will be another couple of weeks before I find out if my GPA survived.

Friday evening through Saturday my body was converted into a war zone; I wasn't sure if the virus or my body would win. I did all I could to help out my immune system by sleeping 5 hours Friday night and spending Saturday on my bed watching season 3 of One Tree Hill on my parent's Netflix account while eating Twix, Twizzlers, and a Cookie's and Cream chocolate bar. Later on Saturday I forced myself to leave my bed; I had promised some friends I would go into the city to watch Anis Mogjani, a poet, perform at a local university.

At 5:20PM I gave my dear friend Olivia a ring to ask when she wanted to leave. "10 minutes," was the answer I received. 10 minutes would have been manageable if I hadn't been incubating in my own filth all day. She amended her initial statement and I was given 25 minutes to make myself presentable/socially acceptable. I hopped into the shower, skipped the hair wash (am considering going "natural" and switching to baking soda and vinegar), and cleansed the rest of myself. I threw on a pair of jeans, black flats, a white linen button down, and some gold earrings before grabbing my beat up old Coach bag stuffed with tissues and heading out the door.

After a savory dinner of pho and spring rolls at Le's we paid for our tickets and snagged seats in the second row in the lecture hall where the poetry slam was to take place. The student performances definitely warmed up the stage and the audience for Anis, with their poems on love and sex. But when he came out on stage, Anis Mogjani spoke about more than love more than sex, he spoke about childhood, patriotism, racism, and of course: the underdogs. Here's a link to a video of Anis performing perhaps his most well-known piece Shake the Dust.

One of the many things that I enjoyed about his performance was the clarity of the language of his poems. Yeah, I get that metaphors can make poems seem so creative, beautiful or funny but the meaning of poems can be tough to decipher especially when you have to rely on your ears to take in the words and you can't necessarily replay each line until it makes sense. I also really liked his voice and his sense of humor. It was a great performance and for those of you who were there "I'm glad I came."

Monotonous Weather and Footwear

Hello friends!

While I enjoy retaining feeling in the less well insulated parts of my body (i.e. my ears, nose, and toes) when walking to class, this weather is making college seem even more unnatural than it already is. I feel as though I'm on another planet where the majority of the population is 17-24 year old women who are constantly doing homework and are achieving great things in every aspect of life while the daily high is a stable 40F.

I fear that this lack of variation in New England weather has created a sense of monotony that exceeds wearing my winter boots from December-March to wearing my Sperry mocs all year. It's bad, I know. I used to mix it up with my Asics faux wrestling shoes, Adidas classic grey tennis shoes, and Birks with wool socks but I left the first at home (somewhat intentionally, subconscious style change?), got rid of the second because they hurt my feat, and have pronated through the cork on the third.

Occasionally I'll wear my black flats or my black Uggs but I can only wear either of those with tights (sometimes I can get away with thing athletic socks), and I don't like to wear either to lab. Essentially, I'm wearing my Sperry's every day. I've come to the conclusion that I need another pair of day-to-day shoes. Perhaps a pair of oxfords? Ankle boots? Dansko clogs? I want this pair of shoes to look cute with straight leg or skinny jeans and a t-shirt but also look nice with tights and a feminine skirt.

I found these shoes at Nordstroms but I fear they'll be too narrow. But aren't they super cute? Oxfords with a buckle? I totally like them. I think they're like a softer/slightly more feminine oxford.

http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/dv-by-dolce-vita-micky-oxford/3191421?origin=category&resultback=2751

What are your favorite day-to-day shoes?


Peace.

A Good Meal and Some Nice Dessert

Dear readers,

Last semester I learned something about Wellesley traditions from my father. According to his memory, back in the day Wellesley students would invite guests for a late afternoon Sunday meal followed by tea and piano playing in residence hall living rooms. My father was invited by a student for a few meals. While he didn't remember her name or why it didn't work out, he posited that they were ultimately looking for beaus from elite colleges while my father, well, "You know me, I was just looking for a good meal and some nice dessert."

Tonight I experienced the unpleasantness of being a neglected, and dare I say, unwelcome guest at a nearby college. While the social skills and manners of the students throwing the event were severely lacking, their budget for the meal obviously wasn't. The dinner was catered: thinly cut and flavorful brisket, seasoned mixed veggies, warm apple crumble, and a dessert table with rich chocolate cake and quality tea. While, to quote a RHO NY (Real Housewives of New York), "Money can't buy you class," it certainly can cater a good meal.

It is with a satisfied tummy that I bid you good night.

-L


Correction: February 11, 2012

Today when I was researching Jill Zarin from the RHO New York, I realized my catastrophic miscrediting of  "Money can't buy you class" to a RHOA, it actually belongs to "the countess" from RHO NY.