Fall is Here

Autumn is here, and I'm very excited about it. If spring is about new beginnings, autumn is all about nostalgia and pausing to remember. Crisp mornings lend to long, thoughtful walks. Bright colors lend to bursts of inspiration. Harvest time lends way to all my favorite home-comfort foods like apple pies, pumpkin everything, soup, and piping hot cups of tea over breakfast. I'm not one to get really and truly homesick, but the thought of the season does make me miss the way my mom decorates our house for both Halloween and Thanksgiving and the ways I'd try to convince my dad to light a fire every night, even if it was a warmer November evening. I want to bury myself in cable knit sweaters and fuzzy socks and drink hot cider while reading a good book (in this case Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth) or daydreaming. 

From A Clothes Horse

From Living it Rural

@erincraul

From Sullivan Entertaiment

It's 2015!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Can you believe it's finally 2015? Saying it still feels like I traveled to the future, but no, the future is here, the now, the present. Celebrating the New Year has always felt like a chance to hit reset, but this year I find myself simply wanting to continue what I ended 2014 doing. I have been slowly working on myself (ya know, in the whole mind, body, and soul sense), and while I have a long way to go, I know I'm on the right path. Plus, in terms of lists, I already have one in my 100 Things in 1,001 Days. 

So cheers to the New Year. Whether 2015 is a chance for you to hit reset or to evaluate what it is you want to do in terms of self-improvement, or if it's merely a continuation of the journey you're already on, here's to hoping 2015 is filled with love, thoughtfulness, excitement, and growth!  

Youtube, Youtube, Youtube

Seriously, one of the greatest inventions from my teenaged years has got to be Youtube. Once upon a time, I had to scour the internet in hopes of finding a 30 second clip of my favorite song/video in the entire world, "My Everything" by 98 Degrees. I could picture the video in my memory, but I wanted to be able to watch it over and over again at my disposal. Cue the creation of Youtube and the .1 second it takes to search "My Everything" on its search engine. Sheer, youthful joy ensued, and ever since I've been a YT fan. Nowadays, especially having traveled, I started to really follow the whole subscribing and creating playlists and whatnot. It's just a different venue than blog reading, magazine skimming, or even watching TV shows. So, as I've accumulated a lot of subscriptions and briefly thought about starting a Youtube channel of my own videos (before I realized I'm a little afraid of speaking on camera....), I thought I'd compile a little list of my absolute favorites.

Stop Playing the Blame Game

You know what I'm frankly tired of reading and hearing? People playing the blame game, the victim game. If watching copious amounts of TV has taught me anything, it's that media and the right public relations team can twist any situation. There's not just two sides to every story, there's about a million and ten. Ultimately, though, the moral of the story is:

It's time to stop playing the blame game.

No one in life starts out in the exact same place as anyone else. Yes, some lives seem easier. Yes, some lives are really hard in the beginning. And yes, we can look at all sorts of statistics and bring in all sorts of psychology to examine people and why they become what they are. However, ultimately, it's up to Y.O.U.  to become what you want to become. People so easily resort to playing the blame game to explain why they can or cannot be who they want to be. We use factors like money, skin color, ethnicity, height, gender, age, weight, life situations, luck, and more to explain or justify why we can't be a certain way or do certain things. 

Frankly, it's time to stop. Instead of wasting time assessing what you don't have, spend that time and energy into making a better version of you. That sounds cheesy, but it's so true. And if you really, truly want something, be prepared to work your ass off for it and know that some people achieved it more easily and some people had to work harder. This applies to everything, whether it's as superficial as wanting to be a certain size or as unfortunate as your very skin color or gender stereotypically defining you a certain way. Does it sometimes suck? Of course it does. But everyone has their own "thing." Whatever it may be, and however you choose to overcome or empower it is up to you. Stop blaming and start focusing on you.

Thankful...

here

Happy American Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for the life I've been given, and the family and friends I have. I'm also incredibly thankful to not be working some crazy shift this Black Friday, and my heart goes out to all those who are stuck working Thanksgiving Day because of total greed -cough-. 

A S(e)oulful Reunion

Casual kimchi making

This past weekend I finally made my return to Seoul. It's been over three years since I've stepped foot in the city again, and I think I've missed it every moment I've been away. It's kind of a strange experience being back after three years. 2011 was a very different time than 2014. I'm different, Seoul's different, the people are different... All in a good way, of course. 2011 me was fresh off her first year of college, full of ideas bouncing around, poor, and very pulled in by the manufactured glitz of K-pop. It was my first time leaving the country on my own, I could barely read Hangul, and I knew very little about Korean culture and everyday life outside of K-pop and what I saw in dramas and variety shows. I relied heavily on the group of friends I made, many who were at least semi-conversational in Korean. I was thinner and younger and yet filled with more insecurities than I am now. I think cheerfully naive would be the best description.

18 Types...

Happy Friday! This video had me cracking up while I was eating breakfast this morning.

Never Forget

FIFA!

Or Why Soccer Bandwagoners are Okay

Hope you're all having fun watching FIFA! If you can't tell from my twitter, I'm pretty invested this year. I don't get to watch all the matches, obviously, since they often come on when I'm at work (#retailprobs), but I do like watching when I get the chance. I'm totally rooting for USA, obviously. South Korea and Spain were in my top three, but neither made it to the sweet sixteen, so I'm resting my hopes on you, ole US (or in this arena, should I say "young?"). 

Anyhow, this post is more about why I totally think it's okay if you're hopping on the soccer (football) bandwagon now. This is because FIFA is much, much more than soccer. Listen, soccer/football players, I get it. You've been following the sport your whole life, played it until you couldn't anymore, and now all of a sudden all these basic bitches are stomping over your precious territory? I swam my whole life, and the only time people gave a damn was when were winning gold medals or winning rivalries against those French. Everyone was suddenly into swimming, even the 400 IM. I get your pain and your mild sense of snobbery because I felt it too when it came to my precious chlorinated sport. 

However, get over it. What's important is that 1) Your sport is getting attention and 2) This is an international event that's kind of bringing everyone together. Let's be honest. On the list of popular sports, soccer isn't that high in the US compared to other countries. Heck, we gave the precious "football" name to a totally different sport, and that football is probably the most famous. You don't see companies paying millions of dollars for commercial space at US soccer games, do ya? But FIFA comes around, and all of a sudden Buzzfeed is making hot soccer men lists, embarrassing but attractive engagement photos are popping up, and your favorite player just got a thousand more followers on twitter. Embrace the positive marketing this is bringing your under appreciated sport! Each FIFA that comes along, and the better we do in the tournament, the more recognition soccer will get. 

Another thing is this: FIFA is more than soccer just like the Olympics is more than all the sports that make it up. These events are so important because they bring the international community together in a more successful way than anything else that's been done before. And in a positive way. The games we're watching are being watched by someone in a totally different time zone--how is that not awesome? Different places and cultures have their own daily lives that may or may not resemble our own, but for an entire game we're doing the same. exact. thing. And that, folks, is a beautiful thing.

On Why I Kind of Like Being Single...

Trust me, before you roll your eyes and think this is going to be another one of those articles, it's not. I don't necessarily have the anger that chick does towards young, engaged/married couples. No, this is solely about why being single right now works for me, my personality, and my near-future life goals. As the girl who would squeal over kissing scenes in any move, whether it be The Goonies or Bridget Jones's Diary, I am fully the type of person who buys right into the promises of romantic comedies and the romance genre in general. I love a good love story, whether it be tragic, realistic, youthful, older, sweet, etc. I thought The Notebook was fantastic, the first five minutes of Up had me bawling like a baby, and my all time favorite movie is A Walk to Remember. I'm all about finding the right guy and falling head over heels in love.

But not yet...

This is where I think the author and I agree, however I don't think it's true in all young couples. I'm not mature enough to be in a relationship or even be married. I have poor communication skills (but, actually, the world would be better if it could just read my mind); I get highly impatient, and, at the end of the day, I still need copious amounts of alone time. I don't know who I'm going to be tomorrow, let alone a few years down the line. Heck, I couldn't even tell you with total certainty in what country I'll be living. The only reason I do like the idea of marrying young is the crutch. That crutch of a partner in crime to experience growing up together, that person who I know I can rely on... Graduating and growing up has always terrified me, and that "safety blanket" of a husband does bring on  little stings of wishful thinking. 

But at the end of the day, I like this being alone thing. I wrote a post when I was still nineteen, and I don't think too much of that has changed now that I'm nearly half way through being 21. There's a lot I want to do for me, and I don't want to consider someone else in those decisions. I want to travel the world on a whim, sprawl out in my bed as much as I want or even just have my living space the exact way I want it--toilet lid down, lights off, laundry everywhere. Who knows? I'm still growing. I have yet to go on a day (still!), I have yet to meet anyone who makes me want to puff out my chest a little more and try to flirt, and I have yet to figure me out. 

While I can't wait to meet the One, or even the kind of One, or even the Horrible Mistake, I'm pretty okay with being with me, myself, and I. I've been this way since 1992, and it's been working for me so far. Do I think some people, especially people my age, get married for all the wrong reasons? Of course! Do I also think some young people get it right early and seem pretty darn happy? Of course! I don't feel entitled or somehow evolved because I like being single at 21, but I also don't feel utterly pathetic either (which, when you think about it, is good since my 12-year-old self had plans for marriage and pregnancy by 23...). Sure I'm still big spoon-less, and I'm still waiting for that fireworks kiss (or even a mere romantic one at best), but it's not a wait that's putting strain on me. 

No, what's really putting strain on me right now is waiting for the next A Song of Ice and Fire installment...

In Light of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

So here's the deal. I am, and always have been, a fan of the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and the whole concept of the Angels advertising. I enjoy the sparkles, the bedazzled bras, and all that goes into creating the VS image. I don't watch the show for pure fitness reasons (or to bemoan my own lack of a perfectly sculpted backside, frontside, or stomach area), but I watch it for the pure energy and celebratory feeling I get each year the show comes around. This isn't the serious, sometimes moody sometimes judgemental, runway show of fashion week (month). VS Fashion Show is a celebration of a brand that manages to appeal to men and women alike for very similar reasons. It's fun. For me, it celebrates the woman's ability to be sexy and silly and funny. These chicks command the runway because they strut in a body in which they are totally happy. Yes, these bodies happen to be long torsoed, long legged, and perfect, but, hey, any size can strut with this confidence.

I don't know. The way the VS Angels show off how happy and confident they are in their bodies doesn't make me want to turn around and do pilates full time or run a thousand miles. It makes me want to reach that level of confidence in my own body. Instead of frumping it up like I'm wont to do (oversized crewneck sweatshirts, anyone?), I want to put on a fitted dress and a pair of pumps. I want to actually do my hair nicely instead of shoving it back into a ponytail. I think that's why I like watching the show every year, and I get incredibly irritated by all the sarcastic comments about it. These are the chicks that will laugh with you all through the morning, dance with you in the middle of the club, and sing karaoke until your throats are sore. In the meantime, they make you feel as -insert classic adjectives about VS models- as they feel.

So next time you roll your eyes at Karlie's perfectly long legs or Alessandra's insane post-baby bod, remember they're struttin' the same thing you could have if you let yourself-- confidence.

Also, how awesome was T.Swift? Even though I wish she had sung something else besides "I Knew You Were Trouble," since I feel that's her go to song for things like this, I still loved it! Haters can shush, T.Swizzle is here to stay!

XOXO, Gossip Girl

When I watched the final movie of the Harry Potter series, I bawled like a baby the moment they showed the Harry, Ron, and Hermione trio standing at the end of the battle of Hogwarts and segued slowly into them as adults sending their children off to the great school. I cried for the same reason I cry at all endings of epic stories, it was an ending. This story had been my story for the last twelve years of my life. From the time I angrily opened the books in third grade, disappointment in my wordy texts while my sister got a baby doll with freckles that actually peed, to staying up on New Year's Eve 2011 until 3 in the morning to watch Deathly Hallows Part 2, Harry had been there to witness it all. This story had been in my life for all of life's major growing pains, and as I watched Daniel Radcliffe transform into a middle aged man sending his children off to school, I realized I was on my way there too. Sure I've still got plenty of years until I reach marriage and children--I still have yet to meet my second half or even have failed experiments, but still. If Harry was married with kids, it meant my childhood was officially at its end.

Anyhow, before I wax on about Harry Potter too much, let me turn this post to another life mile marker: Gossip Girl. As I type this, I am watching the series finale to the CW show, and I'm realizing that I am watching yet another epic in my life come to an end. While I recognize the show lost its magic somewhere early on, the story itself had seen me through my suburban life and introduced me to the ridiculousness of the rich fantasy life I hope I never actually live. I didn't start with this show in 2007 as a sophomore in high school. I started with it back in sixth or seventh grade when someone slipped me the book, opened to the chapter about how many calories sex actually burns. I read through this series up until the show came out, and I grew with these characters as much as I grew with Hermione. Blair had always been my favorite, in the show and out. I remember Chuck with a snow monkey and seeming to be gay, Jenny as being short, brunette, and busty, and, of course, Vanessa with a shaved head and a tummy paunch. Oh, and if critics initially thought the show was inappropriate and racy, they would be floored by the content of the books. Through them, I experienced sex, drugs, and parties and got answers to questions you don't think to ask in public. I love what they did with some parts of the show, even if the utter extravagance of the plot lines got to be too much (a 19-year-old in charge of a company, huh?). Chuck and Blair never existed in the books, Blair and Nate were the endgame and focus... Actually the triangle of Blair, Serena, and Nate were always endgame.

I'll never forget freaking out with excitement over this ad!

Watching Blair and Chuck marry surrounded by family, only to be followed by Serena and Dan getting married at the very end made me realize another ending was coming. After all, Dan Humphrey is the TV Gossip Girl, and as they say in the show, this generation is over and it was time to become grown-ups. So here's to the show that brought me more of New York City, an insight to fashion, and an enjoyment of the crazy games girls play. It's been a wild ride.

What's Sexy?

This is from a comment on Garance Dore's question of what is sexy. I just thought it was absolutely poetic.

"If it’s contrived, it’s not sexy. Sexy is when you laugh uncontrollably with a mouthful of coffee. Or when your eyes reveal exactly what you’re feeling when you look at someone you painfully desire. It’s when your hair falls across your mouth as you’re turning over in bed. Or when you’re sitting quietly on the couch absorbed in a good book with your hair in a messy up-do, glasses on your nose, no make-up and wearing thick, wooly socks that were stolen from his drawer. It’s springtime when you’re both pottering around in the vegetable patch and the afternoon sun hits your squinting eyes. It’s your distinguishable giggle from across the table at a noisy dinner party. It’s the tear glistening in the corner of your eye when you’re trying to be strong. It’s coming back from a run with pink cheeks and sweat at your temples. It’s responding to your lover’s passion with equal fervour. That, is damn sexy.” - Amalia

Have You Seen this Video?

It's been spinning around my Facebook for a few days, and I just watched it. Thoughts? When I'm not in the middle of writing my final paper for a class, I'm going to take time to comment on it.

Think Different.

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kinds of people.While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

World Suicide Prevention Day

My college suffered a loss last night from apparent suicide, and we're all grieving right now whether we knew the fellow student or not. Today also happens to be Suicide Prevention Day. I'm not going to fill this post with sentimentality, but just know that you are never as alone as you think and your death would affect more people than you know. #shoremenstrong

Inspirational Monday...

You know, for as much as we push girl power in our society--to the point where sometimes I even roll my eyes--, I find that somehow it's still necessary. And not just for girls, for both parties. Something like individual power. If someone's hurting you? Speak up. If someone's being mean to you? Speak up. If someone is taking advantage of you? Punch them in their awful face. I'll probably write a more extensive article on this at one point, but for today I'd like to share some things I've found to be a inspirational when it comes to inspiring individual power. I love that these are top 40 songs right now!

Sarah Bareilles' "Brave"

"And since your history of silence

Won't do you any good,

Did you think it would?

Let your words be anything but empty.

Why don't you tell them the truth?"

Katy Perry's "Roar" 

"Now I'm floating like a butterfly

Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes

I went from zero, to my own hero."

Happy Monday! 

THE 90's Teen Movies

Guys, I love cheesy teen movies. Particularly those between around 1995 to 2003. The high hopes I had before entering high school were endless. I was convinced I'd be that pretty girl hidden behind nerdiness and some guy looking like Heath Ledger or Freddie Prinze Jr. was going to fall for how smart and witty I was and then I'd turn into some Hottie McHottie. Prom? I'd be hotter than the hottest girl at school. Senior year? I'd get myself into an Ivy with the hottest boy on my arm. He would also be like Chad Michael Murray in A Cinderella Story. We'd quote Tennyson to each other, and he'd even like my cat. It was perfect. 

Anyhow, school didn't turn out that way at all. I became more like Julia Stiles from 10 Things minus the skeevy ex trying to hit on my baby sister and no Heath Ledger to come sweep me off my cynical feet. And there was definitely no major transformation, though I do think I looked pretty damn good at my junior prom and winded up at a pretty awesome school. However, this does not stop me from straight-up loving a rewatching my favorite teen movies, so here's my throwbacks to the nineties/beginning of the new millennium. 

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

This movie is classic. The quotes, the one liners, the absolute greatness of every single cast member. Julia Stiles and Gabrielle Union in their prime. Heath Ledger before he became giant. Joseph Gordon Levitt in the role we all remembered from him until 500 Days. Even douche bag Joey Donner was awesome. I have not met a single person who does not like this movie, guy or girl, hipster or jock, douchebag or nerd. It's timeless, and it's quotes are endless. Plus, it's based off of a Shakespeare play. Gold. Pure. Gold. When Bianca has her moment at the end and the credits roll with "I Want You to Want Me"-- I can't even.  

Clueless (1995)

Guys, since when has Paul Rudd been a truly successful romantic lead? He's been okay, but nothing compares to his near heartthrobness in Clueless. I also really think he hasn't aged much in the nearly twenty years since its release. Neither has Alicia Silverstone or Stacey Dash for that matter... Anyhow, this movie didn't fall across my lap until I got older, and it's been true love ever since. It's based off of Jane Austen's Emma, popularized the term "Whatever," and gave us insight into the rich world of mid-nineties Beverly Hills. Who could forget Cher's timeless advice? Or clever comparisons? Or her terrible gaydar? Or Brittany Murphy's makeover? Cher had the confidence we all could have used a dose off in our mid-teen years, not to mention the fantastic hair and nifty wardrobe creator.

Live Your Life to the Fullest

I love videos like this. More reasons why Buzzfeed is the best. Also, a little reminder that every once in a while, you need to drop your life and go exploring, whether it be a hike on a weekend, driving a little past your exit on your way home, or hopping the next plane going towards anywhere. This world is too incredible a place to never see at least some of it!

How Will You Use Your Beauty?

I stumbled across this interesting video about the bikini the other day, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. While I admire Jessica Rey's lecture and her interesting solutions (Rey Swimwear is inspired by Audrey Hepburn. There are bathing suits named "Sabrina" and "Holly"! Brilliant), I don't know that I agree with her assessment on the bikini. She describes a study that essentially says the men view women more as objects than as people when they wear bikinis, and this leads to her ultimate question of "How will you use your beauty?" Do you want to be objectified? Do you want to be seen in a human light? I like her questions.

I'm not, however, crazy about her opinion on bikinis. Mostly because I happen to like wearing them. When you're stuck in racing suits all summer, all day, all year for swimming, a bikini is like that big slice of chocolate cake at the end of a long, only semi-successful juice diet. It lets you breathe. It lets you move. And, oh my gosh, you won't get the dreaded circle tan on your back and the pasty stomach that makes you feel a little bit wider in comparison to your ridiculously tanned arms and legs. You need to go to the bathroom after a swim? No need to wrestle with that tight, clingy spandex thing. Up and down and out of that disgusting place before you can feel too freaked out.

Wearing my bikini circa 2008 after a long summer swim season.

I've grown up loving the little suit, and feeling my most comfortable in my navy and white polka dot bikini. Of course, right now, I have no desire to put on a bikini with the way my weight has skyrocketed in the last year, but I still love it. And I don't love it because I want to appear like a sexual object to the opposite sex. And I also don't wear it because I think it makes me seem sexier/prettier/hotter/etc. I wear it because it makes me feel comfortable. The only time I prefer a one piece to a bikini is when I go off the high dive or swim in a particularly wave-y ocean.

I do think it raises an interesting discussion about the idea of nudity and modesty. Modesty is nice, and I love clothes that are typically described as "modest," but I don't think nudity has to be the polar opposite.

What do you think? Definitely watch the video! If anything it makes you think a little about what you wear!

xoxo,

Samantha Elisabeth