fashion--turn to the left. fashion--turn to the right.

1. i love looking at ugly prom dresses! tonight was my old high school's prom and it was and will be entertaining to look at all the prom bombs of the night on facebook.
2. helped my mom get ready for the company this evening and tried to not get sick. 
3. watched the grey's anatomy season finale! insanity.

i chose the three designers who i did because they all have different styles that evoke different aspects of my personality. betsey johnson is fun and whimsical and daring. oscar de la renta is gorgeous and fantastical and soft. diane von furstenberg is sophisticated and smart and classic. my mood affects how i dress every day and what i choose to wear. if i could afford these designers, i'd love to have a closet with the majority of the clothing from these three designers. sigh...maybe one day.

i don't think we're in kansas anymore

1. went to breakfast with an old friend. caught up over chocolate chip pancakes--wonderful idea.
2. visited my mom's school again and hung out for a little bit, then did some errands before heading home.
3. went to dinner with the boy and then hung out at the house. watched american pie, haha.

i used to want to go to home college when i was little. basically, i wanted to be home schooled and never leave my house! that should be proof enough that i love my home and will always love my home. but aside from my house, my favorite places in the world are san sebastian, spain; lake como, italy; and hawaii. san sebastian has the best of both worlds--it has beach and mountains. the mountains are so close to the water and the city is quaint and beautiful. and the beach and the water--gorgeous! it is the perfect town for a vacation, although i would not mind living there either. i have some wonderful memories attached to san sebastian from a spring break trip in high school. it is just a gorgeous mix of ocean and mountains. similarly, lake como in italy has a remarkable view of the mountains and is a glacial-fed lake with icy cold water. the lakeside towns are all different and fun to visit. there is a lot of history on the lake as well, and the scenery can't be beat. i love italy so much, but lake como is definitely one of my favorite areas in the country. the final destination is the ultimate mountains-meets-ocean place. hawaii is absolutely amazing. my trip there last summer was an experience i will never forget and hope to repeat! i only went to maui and kauai but fell in love with both for different reasons. hawaii has so much to offer and is definitely the number one spot on my state rankings list (so there, you know who). i want to and am determined to return to all three. the picture choice for tonight was difficult, since i have beautiful pictures of all three places, but decided upon...

putting it off

1. ate lunch with my daddy and his friend from work today. it was fun!
2. went to the mall and shopped around a bit. that was fun too. 
3. had a great night with my boyfriend and his family. yup, you guessed it--fun!

anyway, i'm stressed out and contemplative right now and don't really feel like blogging, especially about my favorite places. so i'll put that off until tomorrow night and then finish up on sunday instead of saturday. sorry for being boring and messing with the schedule, but i do what i want! and that, right now, is to sleep. and figure everything out.

most excellent adventures

1. ate lunch with an old, good friend today and very much enjoyed myself. had a great calzone and cinnamon knots!
2. visited my mom today at her job and it was pretty funny/fun. it's weird knowing that i was in that same place only six years ago.
3. just hung out with the family tonight. very interesting dinner conversation.

okay, so favorite in this sense means more like "most interesting to me." these moments are all filled with bloodshed and heartache and devastation, but they are what interest me most in history. the revolutionary war is probably one of favorites because...i am an american? it's just such a cool moment in history. the cause! the uprising! the war! the victory! the death and birth! i think the whole process of overcoming the might of the british and defeating an empire to claim our own country is so cool. and it worked! but really, how cool is that. we transformed the global status quo and reshaped how weaker nations saw themselves. the true strength of character that it took to win the revolutionary war still awes me and makes me very thankful to the forefathers of my nation. i'm a huge history buff for WWII for two reasons: the holocaust, and the psychology behind the war. the holocaust is a terrible and fascinating thing to study--the enormity of the holocaust and the unimaginable horrors victims experienced are overwhelming. but to try to understand why and how it happened is so crucial for the present and future generations. building off of that, the psychology of WWII is fascinating. how hitler mobilized his nation, how he conquered other nations, how fdr got support for the war, and how the interactions of all these different people and places came together for the most terrible war in history--all that just intrigues me. the reason that i love the roman empire (a very long time span) is because it was pure power combined with novel concepts about government and leadership, that melded with new intellectual and religious movements, as well as ideas about art and society and war. so much happened! and so much changed! the roman empire was absolutely huge and the roman influence from then until today (and beyond) is shocking. i  mean, they invented concrete. how much more influential can you get? and that's just for starters! their influence spread much further and much wider than just concrete. i took a roman art class this semester and it really opened my eyes to just one facet of roman society. i think it's crucial to consider the beginning of society--and while the romans were definitely not the first, they were early on and massively important. thoughts are always welcome...

mmm mmm mmm

1. got my hair cut this morning, only 1/2 inch off since i'm letting it grow. also got a pre-summer plans pedicure. it's a lovely orangey red color--very appropriate.
2. had a great day just hanging out around the house. then had a great night with my boyfriend eating yummy food and getting to know his family. 
3. my departure date is drawing nearer and i get more and more nervous/excited.

i love food. i told my boyfriend tonight at dinner that i was happy that he loves that i love food--to eat/to cook/to bake/to buy. it's nice knowing that i can eat as much as i want and feel zero shame (like really, would i even feel shame anyway--uh, no). i have been a vegetarian my entire life (perhaps another post) but still have enjoyed my share of delicious food. okay, so why did i list foccacia with olive oil, nachos, grilled sole with lemon-butter-caper sauce as my favorites? right...have you ever had foccacia freshly made and warm from the oven with real, authentic italian olive oil? no? oh, so that's why you don't understand why it's listed as one of my favorite foods. the rustic and simple food is often the best. did i mention italian? italian food is definitely my favorite type of food. especially when i'm eating it in italy... but on to nachos! one word: qdoba. okay, okay, these are definitely not the best nachos on the planet (but they sure seem that way at 2 am). i love nachoes. i like the tortilla chips to be homemade, with lots of black beans and cheese and jalapenos and corn and salsa and guacamole and tomatoes. wow. now i really want some nachos. they are relatively healthy if made properly and with fresh ingredients (lots of veggies, whole grains, protein). and finally, the seafood dish of choice, grilled sole with lemon-butter-caper sauce. um...yum! sole tastes like what it sounds like--a delicious piece of soulful fish. it is buttery and flaky and light, but so simply prepared that it is perfect for any season (especially summer on lake como). the lemon freshens up the whole dish, while the butter roots it down to earth, and the capers are acidic and salty, rounding out the balance between the two flavors. what's not to love?! again, a close fourth for this list was watermelon (fresh, on the rind, on a hot summer day, seedless). now i just want to go cook...and then eat. but i'm going to bed instead! tomorrow is favorite (most interesting to me) history moments.

bookie!

1. slept in today and didn't even leave the house. it was so nice! i miss just having absolutely no plans.
2. i watched peter pan because the song "you can fly!" had been stuck in my head. now the whole soundtrack is stuck in my head.
3. i baked orange-pecan-bluberry breakfast bread because i was bored. it was a bit of an experiment but it turned out well!

disclaimer: contains some plot elements for listed books, so don't read it if you haven't read these books! so why harry potter, life of pi, and east of eden? when examined together, they all seem to invoke a similar question about human nature and attempt to answer it in different ways. humans innately need to know the answers (if my previous posts have not made this clear) and we seek out those answers primarily through works of art--books, dramas, paintings, music compositions, etc. my first selection, though not necessarily my favorite, is the most well known. the harry potter series is...the closest to my heart. i grew up with the books and with the characters and my pre-adolescent and adolescent years were characterized by reading the newest book and waiting for the next one. the whole series tackles the question of good and evil remarkably well. it captures the imaginations of younger readers and raises difficult questions for older readers. the seventh book, though, stands alone as a superior work of literature. the finesse and the detail and the allegory is captivating and thought-provoking. i love the story element combined with the philosophical element. and yes, harry becomes a jesus figure, but this is the coolest way of portraying that story that i have come across. i am still waiting for my hogwarts letter... on to life of pi. again, a way of talking about life that is unique and fresh. i read somewhere that yann martel used animals as a way to project characters so that the reader would have no preconception about the characters while reading the story. it seems like the perfect palate for characterization, even though we do stereotype animals, it is not in nearly the same way as we stereotype our fellow humans. the twist in life of pi where pi offers the story that the animals on the boat were actually humans...it kind of blew my mind. i didn't see it coming, but maybe i'm just dense. the story itself is such a good read and woven so well, but the questions it raises about morality, humanity, and sanity are fascinating. east of eden i love. it's over 600 pages of wonderful writing and even better storytelling. the plot is fast-paced and gripping. i have read it three times and each time find a new piece of the story that i missed before. and the pure hatred that i have for cathy is only matched in one other novel by one other character--dolores umbridge in the order of the phoenix. that should tell you something about the characterization capability of  both authors. but the pure evil of cathy and cal is horrifying, while the extreme goodness of aaron is almost sickening. the story asks questions about the way one lives one's life and the morality of that way of life. all three are fabulous books and i love them through and through and can re-read until my heart's content and never get tired of them. another note, poisonwood bible was a very close fourth place for this list. another excellent book that has similar themes of these three!

favorites

1. went to church this morning and hung around the house most of the day. 
2. made chocolate almond biscotti and finished yann martel's new book, beatrice and virgil. can't even express how much i enjoyed it.
3. watched the miss usa 2010 pageant (without commercials). so very fun. the fakeness and the stupidity always keep me entertained.

at the suggestion of my mother, i am blogging about my favorites--a list of the top three things, in no particular order, for different categories ensues...
favorite books: harry potter series, life of pi, east of eden
favorite foods: foccacia with olive oil, nachos, grilled sole with lemon-butter-caper sauce
favorite moments in history: the revolutionary war, world war two, the roman empire (note: "favorite" is not the right word here--what i mean is "most interesting to me"--will explain later)
favorite places: san sebastian, lake como, hawaii (note: does not include my favorite place ever--my home)
favorite designers: betsey johnson, oscar de la renta, diane von furstenberg
favorite disney movies: the little mermaid, sleeping beauty, mulan
so i figure that six favorite lists will give me monday-saturday to blog about each list and the choices i made. any other lists you are simply curious about, comment and i will address them later. up for tomorrow: favorite books. but for now, my bucket list item: have a piece of writing published. and not academic writing.