finals for a senior

So today I got up at six in the morning (per usual) pulled on some clothes and straightened up my hair and begrudgingly got myself to school by 7:30. It's the start of finals week and today's scheduled finals were periods 0, 5 & 6. Being the privileged senior that I so gloatingly am, I'm only taking 0-4 this year, so I only had 0 period to go to today. And it was Yearbook. Meaning our "final" was to watch Finding Nemo while eating muffins and pineapple shikabobs. I'm telling you, hardest final ever. For serious.

So once the examination period ended at 9, I rushed to my car and went home, pulled back on my pajamas and crawled back into my lovely bed. Somewhere in my slumber my dog joined me and took over 3/4 of the mattress. When I awoke it was 2:30. TWO THIRTY. Totally did not intend to sleep that long at all! But let me tell you, I am REFRESHED.

So once I got myself out fo bed, dog in tow, my sister and I watched the first bit of the first Lord of the Rings while we ate lunch (cranberry, ham, cream cheese & spinach wrap = best lunch ever). We got to about Rivendell before we decided to go for a run.

3 miles later, we got home and I spent the next two hours watching my two netflix Skins DVDs on the newly fixed laptop in my bed, snunggled and sore from running.

Now, as I'm checking my daily online sites, I'm planning on making myself some pancakes and finally getting around to studying for my AP Gov final tomorrow.

This is the most randomly structured day I've ever had.

Update

Hello green walls!
I painted my room's walls a lovely olive green (a bit less bright than it appears in the picture) and moved myself back in over the last couple weeks. I am finally getting to the "pin everything back up and make new wall-collages" stage. As you can see my ancient HP poster is back at home among my postcards and NYLON cutouts.
Wall collages are an inevitable and vital part of my room, you know?

Anyway. This weekend I went to San Francisco again. It was a friend's birthday party for the weekend and I got to frolic around the downtown area and the mall a bit. I was very tempted to spend money I got babysitting a week ago (me? I know, right) at Urban or H&M but I refrained! I am trying desperately to save money for Christmas.

It was rainy and objectively gloomy on Saturday but I didn't care, I think the fog and gloom makes San Francisco all the more beautiful. I got soaked but such is the consequence of avoiding umbrellas.

And I went to South SF for the first time on Sunday! It was slightly boring and corporate (at least where we were) but at least I know what's there now!

I still have the overwhelming feeling of love for that city every time I visit. I just love walking the streets, especially the residential area around the apartment. I love the feeling of being completely anonymous.It's a sensation unique to city life. There's something special and exciting about that after living in a small town your entire life. I cannot wait to live there next year. Even though I applied to various schools in the Northern California area, I still always seem to gravitate back to SF. I'm already decided on going to school there in my mind, though acceptance letters won't be sent out until spring. Whether I'll be at the Academy of Art of SF State? Only time will tell, as they say in books & literature!

Anyway, besides my adventures in the city this weekend, I finished THIS:
she's a phoenix lady! whoo. I love Art Studio :)

Oh and finals start Wednesday. Thus I should get started you know, studying. And stuff.
Wish me luck?

garden's eye view.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jln_AIfQceQ

my new video. just a little garden love.

Hello December!

So far it has been warmer in December than it was in November. Ironic, yes? I don't really mind to be honest, though. I was never one for this silly ice-on-my-windshield-in-the-morning business and feet-frozen-perpetually. Winter is not my favorite season to be in. I love the look of fall/winter (which is pretty much the same where I live) but actually having to wear things like SOCKS and LAYERS is an alien concept to me. Sigh. I am a California girl through and through.

I'm going with my mom to Target today to buy gloves and maybe a scarf of two. AAAANDDD I'm painting my walls this weekend! FINALLY. I cannot properly form in words the satisfaction I will feel when the chartreuse and magenta pre-teen abomination on my walls is covered once and for all! I cannot wait for olive green to take its place! I'm going for a shade slightly akin to this:

When I was browsing WeHeartIt.com for decoration inspiration and came across this photo, I nearly had an aneurysm because of how perfect the color was. And how that girl looks a bit like me. AND SHE HAS A MAC. I thought I was seeing into my future!

Anyway, to prepare for my little room makeover, this weekend I threw away tons of junk from my room. Old jewelry, old hot pink nick knacks and picture frames, miscellaneous junk from my middle school days....just anything that screamed "I bought this when I was thirteen and really into Hollister, powerpop and America's Next Top Model!" shudder. And this is a big thing for me, because I'm kind of a pack rat. I'm the type of person that instead of throwing away something, I horde it just incase it MIGHT be useful in some conceivable way in the future. So clearing out my room is a BIG thing, ladies and gentlemen.

But last night, I finished taking down everything off my walls. It was kind of sad because the last thing I took down was this photo collage I've had up since I was probably 14 years old. I still stop and stare at my blank walls every time I go into my room. It's WEIRD, YO.

Anyway, I'm so stoked to start redecorating my room. I'm going to post pictures when it's done!!

Tootloo for now :]

college aps + school + social life + procrastination = NaNoFAIL

So I pretty much gave up on NaNoWriMo 10,000 words in. I'M SO ASHAMED.
I feel so bad because I was SO motivated to do it in the beginning and I was determined reach that coveted fifty k mark, but I was just too damn busy. Seriously, that's not even an excuse for procrastination and lameness (though those two did factor in a bit, I'll admit ;P) I feel good about my 10k that were written, though! I have come to really love the story I've opened up for myself and I think I'll continue it even when NaNaWriMo is over. It'll be more a pastime type deal, but I've been wanting to get back in that random-writing hobby that I had in elementary/middle school that disintegrated with the arrival of high school. I just don't have TIME now.

But anyway, because I am very proud of my personal statement (the main culprit of my NaNoFAIL!) I'm going to share it here. I still need to finish the second prompt (yes, UC's gave us the unique torture of calling a category "personal statement" when in fact there are TWO required, so it SHOULD be called your personal statementS) Sigh. Anyway here it is:

My passion for creation and art has influenced almost every aspect of my life. It manifests itself into every piece of my life, every challenge I meet and every obstacle I face. I consider every day a new opportunity for creation and my imagination is never cast aside, but rather used to my advantage. It is both my outlet and my ally in everything that I do. Art and the inevitable creativity that goes along with it appear in all elements of my actions, thoughts and self. It is ingrained in my nature, in every drawing I compose, every picture I paint, and every essay I write. It shows up in obvious ways but also the subtle areas, working it’s way into my mind as I pick out an outfit in the morning, consider how best to arrange my bedroom, and even is used in such small tasks as deciding the most aesthetically pleasing way of applying make-up. I consider it an intrinsic and vital part of my process of thinking, the best way I’ve ever learned to accomplish tasks. Every problem that I solve requires that imperative ounce of creativity, and through all my experiences, I’ve been able to recognize that my specific way of resolving and deciphering uses creativity and imagination above all else. Any artistic perspective that can be taken is the one I choose, by nature and by choice. And having come to this resolution and discovery, I’ve decided to apply my love of artistic creativity to my future. My talent not only for the technique of art but also the creativity that accompanies it is what has led me to pursue my passion as a career. Being merely seventeen years old, I consider myself extremely lucky to have identified my passion and talent so early on. And this motivation to pursue creativity through art in school is something that I would have never fully realized without attending California State Summer School for the Arts in the summer of 2008. This month long program, where five hundred teenagers from all over the world were selected to be pushed to their creative extremes through long hours of class and studio work, was my starting line into the world of creativity that I now consider myself a part of. It reconfirmed my love and passion for art and substantiated its essential presence in my life. California State Summer School for the Arts not only showed me that I held an insatiable love for art in practice, but taught me something about myself. I learned that having a talent for art extends much farther than the tangible way of being able to draw well or observe a figure accurately. To be successful in both the field of art and a life of creativity itself, you must live and breathe imagination and passion, down to every last detail of your life. The idea of creativity is not limited to your sketch pad, drawing class or painting technique, as I came to learn through spending weeks being drowned in an environment devoted exclusively to art. I saw that my enthusiasm for creativity extended much farther than just in art alone. I learned that creativity motivates me in everything I do, weaves itself into every piece of myself and my life. Every challenge that I take on is in the name of creativity and imagination. It is my motivation to rise above the wave of normalcy and exceed in everything I am handed, in everything that I do, whether in school, work or society. Imagination and the artistic perspective is what drives me to distinguish myself as a unique individual among the ones who avoid going against the grain and show the world that my passion, imagination and creativity is a spark inside that can never be extinguished.

NaNoWriMo

So I just decided I'm doing NanoWriMo.
Two days late.
During college application month.
With hardly a skeleton plan of what the heck I'm going to write about.
Meaning I have approximately 233 words done.
...only 49,767 words to go!

am I insane?

...Happy writing!

fall fashion + more

So I had another LookBook binge. Here are my favorites: