why long breaks of nothing are necessary....

It's been a week of no school now, and the thought of going back depresses me extremely now. It feels as though a lot longer has passed since I was forced into my Chemistry class, so much has happened, and I feel as if I've grown up a little bit since then.

If you've read my other blog, you'll know about the deaths that occurred in my community. Since then it's been extremely heavy around my friends, as we all knew one of those that died and we're good friends with his cousins. Thankfully, though, that weight is slowly lifting away, and soon we'll be able to move on with our lives and smile happily again.
But that's besides the point of this post. The point of this post is why this past week was a much needed break from the drudgery of high school. I'm happy to say that besides work and swimming I did absolutely nothing. I don't even think I had three meals a day, more like a smattering of small meals that may or may not have been healthy. I had to time to hang out with friends, forget about classes and the people that irritate me. I sort of had this going on:I read some manga (ohhh yes, I read that cartoon stuff, and it never fails to crack me up and make me smile), some books, watched some movies, and basically truly smiled and truly laughed more than I have since school began. (And this is including a funeral, yeah it's been that rare) I saw my friends and my family multiple times through out and slept whenever I wanted to. Basically, I was living in utter bliss of relaxation and happiness.
Of course, I know I have to go back to school tomorrow. And life must go on, because even living on a cloud of school breaks will get old if I choose to continue on it. But remember taking a nice, long, well deserved break will do more for the body and soul than taking none at all. So, for all you who have been slaving away all year, take a break! Go to a spa, take a soothing bath, and take the time to do something that's truly enjoyable, whether it's beneficial or not.

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PS I'm holding a giveaway. Do join =)

douchebags, school, and all around teenaged wasteland

Hey guys after nearly two months of nada, I'm back! Kind of. I can't say now how regularly I'll be posting here. And in all truth I was pretty happy on a bubble cloud of chlorine, sweat, and routine. Buttt I got an infection on my cheek last week and I've had a lot of time on my hands. And break is coming up next week. And now that my bubble cloud burst without its chlorine and routine, I'm getting pretty moody and pissed off. And I need to vent. So be prepared. Because beauty comes with venting, as it shows humanity and reality.To begin with, the weather sucks. And I know I'm an idiot because I want to go to North Eastern US colleges where cold is in the description, but I really hate it right now. I hate being cold and I hate that when three o'clock rolls around it looks like it's ready to be night time soon. Maybe I could deal with the cold weather if it was sunny out longer. Maybe.

And douchebags at school are really really really getting on my last nerves. Remember this guy? Yeah total number one jerk right now. It sucks because he's incredibly intelligent and not a total weirdo. Like you just know he's going to be successful in life. The only things I have over him (which I feel would be incredibly mean to tease him about) is his horrid body odor, which no one tells him about, and his vertically challenged stature. Like he's Frodo. I'm not kidding. He yells at me for stupidity and tells me I'm dumb, etc, etc. And of course people only listen when I say something stupid. I'm never heard when I'm intelligent. Makes me want to stand up and walk out.And last, but not least, I hate school. I want to be done and out of there now. I hate the people, I hate the suffocating curriculum, I hate... well mostly the people. Ughhh

If you read this, thank you for reading my long rant! Hopefully the sun will shine again soon!

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hiatus...

a month already and i haven't posted?

i'm one hundred percent sorry.
i've been updating my other blog frequently.
and i promise to come back to this one,
but for now consider this
my official hiatus.

weight a minute

Ha like that title? I thought it was pretty clever and cheesy myself.

{gorgeous much??!! yay glamour!}

I don't know yet if this will be a longer post, but I have a feeling it will. Because, let's face it, weight is something every girl has an issue with. I mean, seriously, now matter how tiny, how big, how short, how tall a girl is, she's always got insecurities, especially in a world where the idea of one perfect beauty is always changing, evolving, regressing, and just turning chaotic.

For me? Right now, I wish I had more defined abs and waist. I wish my arms were bigger (yes bigger, because bigger arms=stronger butterfly=faster time.). I wish I was just slightly taller. I can't truthfully turn and say "Oh yeah, I love my figure." I can say that I'm much better than I was in middle school when every one I knew flirted with the idea of anorexia as something a bit glamorous, a bit dangerous, and a tiny bit rebellious. Middle school was three years of body loathing and attempts to be at peace with it.

{typically gorgeous yes, but they're having fun & they're healthy}

But, I'm not going to give you-all a long, sordid detailed story of my seven years of body issues. I am going to talk about the idea of beauty though, in terms of the body.
A beautiful person can be a size two. They can also be a size twenty. They can be short, tall, stocky, skinny, etc, etc. A beautiful person, though, understands how to be healthy and how to be happy. Those are the keys to beauty-health and happiness. A girl with a fun smile and who knows that a tiny bit of exercise and healthy food is important is a beautiful girl. She doesn't need to have a tiny waist or long legs or huge boobs. She just needs to know that she's taking care of her body and she's enjoying life.

{my beautiful friends from size 12-2, can you tell? i can't.}
So for future reference, let's do one of those fun fill out type deals.

{why weight? because the minute we can tell our true weight (no fibs!, we've already won half the battle}

I am____________
I weigh____
I love__________
I smiled today at______
I did this for myself________
I'm beautiful.

Example:
I am S. Elisabeth.
I weigh 142 pounds.
I love that I can survive swim practice.
I smiled today at my lab group's klutziness.
I did this for myself: took a much needed nap.
I'm beautiful.

PS: To magazines: I love that you're posting plus size beauties, I really do. But do you think to represent your women too you could add in the girls who aren't size twos or size fourteens, but somewhere in the middle? We're feeling a tad bit left out too!

when someone tells you what you cannot do...

prove them dead wrong.

I have this super genius that goes to my school. Okay, well maybe I give him a tad more credit than he deserves, but the kid is pretty damn smart. I think he's a tool bag and since his obnoxious "popular" friends graduated last year, he's been a bit lost. Anyway, when discussing our future plans in a class one day (actually to give you a better idea, it was my philosophy seminar, a class that's part of being an enrichment student in my school), he laughed at my plans.

Which are high hopes, of course, and sound unreasonable to a person in his own little world of wannabeness. But hey, I'm allowed to dream, and it isn't completely out there. Becoming a famous young socialite in the city as a result of a successful literary, public relations, and/or journalistic career is not completely unsound for a dream. But of course, he and another smart tool bag girl, laughed at this and said, "Uh, I hope you have a back up plan."This same kid laughed out loud when I played with the idea of becoming a lawyer. He literally shouted out "Noooo wayyy!!" and laughed. -Pulls a face of irritation.-

My point of this story?

Don't let someone tell you what you cannot do. Ever. Ever. Because, really what do they know of your talent and drive? What do they know of you dreams and your personality? Let all their negativity drive you forward in the direction of your dreams. And hopefully at the ten, fifteen year reunion, you can return in all your glory and say, "Oh, you lost a huge business deal with so and so? That's a shame; he's an acquaintance of mine as a matter of fact..."
Okay, well don't be quite as petty as that. Remember I'm still growing! I'm allowed to gloat over the fact that I got 18 points higher than him a calculus test. -cough cough-

Anyway, moral is: Only you can determine what you can and cannot do.
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time to lighten things up a bit...

I strive for moderation in most of the things I do, and I've been on the heavy side on this blog for a bit (besides the fact that I've been horrible at updating it!). So here is a nice outer beauty post to lighten things up on this blog.

The Perfect BlowoutOh yes, most strive for it, most pay a ton of money for it, and everyone agrees it is the simplest way of being chic and looking tres put together. {side note: be prepared for the stereotypical French words. I may be studying Spanish, but sometimes French just sounds better. Case in point: tres vs muy}

Well, after reading an embarrassingly large amount of articles on how to create the perfect blowout, and wondering what the heck a blowout was supposed to look like anyway, I have finally discovered the simplest, quickest, cheapest way to achieve the look.

1. Prepare hair.
Obviously. Clarifying shampoo, moisturizing conditioner. (or whatever works with your hair type.) Towel dry all excess by patting dry hair (do not rub it!).

2. Product.
Put in a product from ends of hair towards mid shaft. I use Garnier Sleek & Shine serum. (Good for straight, normal hair). I can't quite tell you what to use otherwise. Except for limp/thin hair use a good volumizing mouse instead.

3.Divide & Conquer
Dived hair into four parts. Clip three away and do as follows.
a) Use fingers to pull hair from scalp and blow dry. You want this perfectly dry. (if moisture stays there, it will cause frizz later)
b) Take a round brush (half bristle/half regular preferred) and dry. Keep nozzle pointed down at hair and try to dry ends first.
c) Use the cool setting and run it over.
d) (optional) Roll section into velcro rollers.

4. Finishing Touches
Let hair out of rollers, and brush through lightly with fingers. Spray a flat brush with hairspray and glid gently through hair to tame flyaways and help hold the blowout.

Done!
As someone with major chlorine damage, after doing this once, my hair finally felt soft and pretty again! And considering it normally frizzes funny, it's been straight (but not emo kid straight) all day.

remember, remember the 'leventh o' september

Okay, that was a lame take on the "remember, remember the fifth of november," but, hey, I'm going on about....five and a half hours of sleep.

Eight years ago today, I was only a fourth grader, thoroughly confused as to why everyone was suddenly going home. Many rumors were spread-we had a bomb threat, someone killed someone- no one quite understood or knew what had happened at the same time we entered into our "morning meeting."
It still makes me sad to think of all the hatred that had to have gone into those men taking over planes and killing thousands upon thousands of innocent souls. It makes me frustrated to know that we could have prevented this.
But I won't focus on the negative emotions, and I won't drag you all through a sad, sad day again. I want to focus on the positives that came out of 9/11. Because, despite all the horror and grief, there was a silver lining to this thunder cloud.
America became more aware. It became closer. It seems lately, we've forgotten about that closeness, that sympathy, that empathy. Americans looked to each other for strength. Complete strangers were kind to each other, returning dropped wallets, helping with things. In the aftermath of such a terrorist attack, we turned to each other and for once America was truly, truly united.

So, my American friends (no, I take that back. To all my global friends), I beg of you to remember the closeness we had after these terrible attacks. Remember the kindness and compassion, and let's not let things like politics, religious beliefs, and prejudice keep us apart. Now, in this awful recession and this "war on terror," etc, etc, we need to understand each other. We need to see each other as human beings with feelings, with hopes and dreams and fears.
Let's not ever, ever allow another 9/11 to happen again. And not because we upped security or buckled down on protection. But because we learned to see past the cloud of differences and learned to love and respect each other.

"It's a turf war
On a global scale
I'd rather hear both sides of the tale
See, it's not about races
Just places, faces
Where your blood comes from
Is where your space is
I've seen the bright get duller
I'm not going to spend
My life being a color"
-Black & White

{sources: 1, 2}