Do the Hoedown (Throwdown)

Wearing: Charlotte Russe lace dress via Gilroy Premium Outlets, Target Xhiliration tights, Rocketdog Chaingang boots (now on sale!), Forever 21 necklace and belt

I am loving this sun-from-behind lighting effect. Something about bright lights in the background just makes pictures so epic, dontcha think? Now that spring has settled in, it doesn't really get dark here until 8pm or so. It's really nothing compared to the 11pm sunsets of Paris, but it sure beats the 5pm sunsets of winter in SF!

Yesterday, I shopped the Beverly Center with P, H, and S. I can't get over how Beverly Hills is so luxe - even the parking lot seemed grand. In between rounds of shopping, we watched Hannah Montana: The Movie, something I should be embarrassed to admit, but it was such a good movie that I don't really care. The soundtrack was so delightfully uplifting (Hoedown Throwdown is still playing in my head), the storyline was interesting, Taylor Swift was amazing, and the cowboy was so adorably Southern. Afterwards, we shopped and shopped some more and came home with lots of goodies. To top off the perfect day, we watched Mean Girls before climbing into bed.

so starstruck!

\

Wearing: Forever 21 cardigan, Old Navy tank (love the flowers on the left shoulder!), another thrifted floral skirt, Minnetonka moccasins.


(Why yes, that is a trash bag between us.)


(with P and S)
Clubbing look: Forever 21 dress and lace tights, Steve Madden Boots

These past two days have made me realize just how amazing it is to be in LA. Friday morning, I noticed a long stretch of tables full of makeup artists hard at work. I was informed that they were preparing extras for some TV show. Being late to class as usual, I hurried off before the words "TV show" sank in. When I finished my classes, I was casually walking back to my dorms when I unknowingly wandered onto the set of Californication, a Showtime drama. The star on set? David Duchovny, who is also known for his work on The X-Files.


markers (they did use all of those colors)


lights


camera


action!


David Duchovny is the one in black on the left. Why yes, I was about five feet away from him.

Friday night, I donned my clubbing attire for a night at Battle Royale, a dance-off at Union Station featuring UCLA's various hip hop teams. Little did I know, the dance-off was judged by a celebrity panel featuring Mike Song and Taeko Carroll (America's Best Dance Crew), and Katie Shean (So You Think You Can Dance). I'm happy to say that NSU (H's team) took home the giant boxing glove trophy.


celebrity judges: Mike, Katie, and Taeko


Katie is holding the boxing glove trophy

Today, Will Ferrell came to UCLA to play a charity game against Swedish tennis champion Mats Wilander. I was surprised that I could hear the game from my room. I was even more surprised that my floor had a direct view of the game from the window at the end of the hall. Imagine my shock when P looked out the window and announced that she could see Will Ferrell from our bedroom window. Nonetheless, we went down to the tennis courts to check out the match. Highlights include a tennis racket the size of Will Ferrell's body, giant tennis balls, blonde girls on stilts, and a swine flu mask. I was told that Rainn Wilson (The Office) also made an appearance at the game, but I didn't stay long enough to see him.


Mats and Will


Sucks that the shots are sort of blurry. Oh well.

I am exhausted. I can't wait to paint my nails, do some homework, and collapse into bed. Goodnight!

Outfits!

Begin the madness of outfit posting! P, my Be Fri/best friend/best roommate ever/the list goes on, has graciously accepted the tedious job of taking outfit pictures for me. (Thanks, P!)^(infinity) I'm not sure how I feel about that last statement. It's either chuckle-inducing or vomit-inducing. You decide.

These pictures were taken pretty late last night, so please excuse the poor lighting and crap location. I can't help the fact that the dorm I live in is falling apart...

(Also, please excuse the unmade bed above my head.)


Wearing: American Eagle shirtdress, Forever 21 braided belt, Target Xhiliration tights, Steve Madden boots

Above, close-up of the Steve Madden Gimbal boots that I have finally broken in. I'll admit that I get a bit self-conscious walking around campus in heels (however inconspicuous they are), but boy do I looove the rhythmic clack-clack-clack sound of a solid heel hitting the ground.

Today, I went out to the sunny De Neve Plaza for pictures. Doesn't location make such a big difference?

Wearing: Target Mossimo cardigan, American Apparel deep V tee, thrifted floral skirt, Minnetonka triple-layer fringe boots, Marc by Marc Jacobs "I love you" spinner necklace

Side note: I've given up on the whole I'm-not-posting-my-face-on-my-blog plan. Cropping and re-cropping photos is just too much work, so enjoy my face.

I got extremely lucky and didn't have class today! (Calendar check - it's Thursday!) I didn't go to math discussion this morning because midterms weren't graded yet, and my Life Science 2 class got cancelled because my professor is out of town. Thus, I treated myself to a glorious morning in bed, reading Paris Hangover (yes, still) in between waves of sleep. When I finally dragged my lazy self out of bed, I grabbed lunch with friends before heading to Westwood. What else is there to do in Westwood besides shop? I hit up Urban Outfitters, Buffalo Exchange, and Thank You Mart, this adorable vintage shop that sells all of its items for $3.99! Three hours and a mere $35 later, I returned with an organic cotton American Apparel tee, a black velvet minidress from UO, a lace collared shirt, studded denim cutoff shorts, and a sheer rose-print scarf. When P got out of class, we went swimming at Sunset Rec. We actually did laps this time - not many, but it's the effort that counts.

I really should be asleep now, or at least reading up on the lab I'm expected to master. Tomorrow, I have to throw myself back into academic hell for 6 nonstop hours of lectures and lab. Welcome to my life as a South Campus major.

Because I've accepted procrastinating as a way of life...

I've recently rediscovered Sea of Shoes. Jane Aldridge is simply amazing. (I know, I'm still working on getting that thesaurus.) I find myself drooling over every shoe and every piece of vintage in her magnificently spacious closet. I'm seriously reconsidering picking up outfit posts again. It's just so much work...

Just in time after midterms, the shipment from Forever 21 came today. Since the factory is based in LA, it takes about a day for orders to get delivered to our dorms. The order included this nail polish:



Above, nail polish in Twilight. Gotta love the color, gotta love the name. I also bought this headband:



Above, the chiffon flower headband. The chiffon-and-lace flower is so dainty and soft. It's just girly enough to dress up casual outfits, yet formal enough to pair with my classic Jessica McClintock mini for my cousin's summer wedding. (Yeah, I think up outfits a lot in advance.) And oh I think I'm in love with this dress:



Above, the babydoll colorblock dress. It's simple, playful, a bit childish, and ultra-flattering. I'm planning on debuting it at Battle Royale, a clubbing event I'm attending this Friday night in honor of H, who is performing with her dance team. I'm really looking forward to it because I haven't properly gone out in so long. Plus, the event is being held at Union Station. I can't wait to see how they set it up.

Finally, I have a random to share. Check out this perfectly-engineered-by-Mother-Nature pear:



So the resolution on my cell phone camera doesn't exactly flatter the color, but this pear is the most deliciously crisp green. And the little leaf on top makes it so cute. It breaks my heart to think that I'll have to eat it soon.

breathe

The first round of midterms is over. I don't want to talk about it.

I do have a side note, though. The stress of midterms has driven me into sheer madness with my shopping. Over the past few days, I've ordered more things online than I can mentally keep track of. Of the things that came yesterday, this is my favorite:


Above, floral print sunglasses from [please don't shoot me] Wet Seal. So I know Wet Seal generally designs cheap whore clothing, but I just couldn't resist these sunglasses. At $5, I would have bought them off a vendor in Mexico (except not right now, given the swine flu pandemic and all).

Taylor Swift graced the cover of the May 2009 issue of Seventeen. P and I still read it despite being 2 years over the target age group. Anyways, I loved the shots of her with this huge flower headband.



You can't really see, but she is wearing the most amazing ring on her right ring finger. It looks like this:



This is Kiel Mead's forget me not ring. I have since decided that I'm in love with bows and am on the lookout for a ring that looks like this one, but costs less than the $200 asking price.

While we're on the subject of Taylor Swift, I wanted to share another one of her songs:



This is "Breathe," and I learned it on guitar a few days ago. It has a grand total of about 5 alternating chords, so it's super easy. It also sounds incroyable, which isn't surprising given that her entire CD is amazing. I really need to invest in a thesaurus and stop overusing "amazing." Sorry.

I'll never be a ballerina

But I can still wear the tutu! I'm currently combing the internet for a bubbly tiered skirt like Carrie Bradshaw's.





However, unlike Carrie, I'm not daring enough to wear white tulle. As I told P, I tend to plant my butt everywhere, and wearing white is just too risky. So I'm thinking pink.

Sundays

A bit of good news: Rendezvous finally got composting bins! For those of you that don't know, LA is really not a green city. On my first day on campus, I spent a few hours walking around campus with a banana peel in my hand looking for a compost bin. To my dismay, I didn't find one. I did, however, find that most people here don't even know what compost is, a fact that disturbs and saddens me. I'm glad UCLA is making efforts to go green - Hedrick's trayless dining, composting dining hall leftovers, Beefless Thursdays, and now, compost bins:



Another bit of good (maybe bad) news: D got bunnies. They're incredibly adorable, but they're also furry poop machines. A good/bad thing about the poop is that they're tiny dry pellets that blend into the carpet. We're still waiting for D to vacuum.



Yesterday, I checked out the Festival of Books on campus with P and H before heading to Westwood for haircuts. I cut my hair a good three inches and got my bangs shortened so they sort of resemble bangs again. The lady cutting my hair told me that she also works in Beverly Hills and that my haircut would cost $85 dollars in Beverly Hills. I'm glad I only pay $20 in Westwood.


Above, my contribution to the Festival of Books. There was a massive mural-type poster that said, "What are you reading?" There were people Sharpie-ing all kinds of books on the poster, so I followed suit. Some examples: Twilight, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and an O-Chem textbook.

I spent a good two hours reading in bed this morning, then felt extremely guilty afterwards because I should be studying for my o-chem midterm. But why should I feel guilty? Sundays should be spent relaxing, doing things that make you happy, rejuvenating after a long week, and preparing for the week ahead. I'm so sick of nonstop work work work. Our lives are constantly on fast forward - always looking to the future, never stopping to enjoy the moment. I'm so ready for summer. (Note to self: never take 18 units worth of math and science classes in one quarter ever again.)