I'm Obsessed!: Pitt Bulls

This week's obsession is probably influenced by all the time I've had around the house. I really love Pit Bulls. I'm probably partial because my little poochie, Bella, is a Pit Bull mix, but I can't get enough of them. She is just so sweet. Doesn't she look a bit like Jesus in the pic above? I like to say that her greatest flaw is that she loves too much. She might jump up on you, but it isn't to attack but to smother everyone with kisses. She barks at other dogs, but it's more out of play and curiosity than anger. I think my biggest thing about Pit Bulls is that they get such a bad rap. It isn't fair to the bread that they've been singled out as fighters. It's the people that train them to kill that are the real monsters. I've only had the greatest experiences with my Pit Bull. I blame her energy on her Labrador half. People should be made aware that Pit Bulls are dogs to that need love and care and shouldn't be discriminated against. My friend Amanda down in Maryland told me that they aren't even allowed to have Pit Bulls in the county. Seriously? They're illegal because a few select people decided that it would be a sport to see these dogs rip each other to shreds. I understand that it's easier to outlaw them completely, but it just makes me sad. I love my Pit Bull and I'm not ashamed of it. Dog attacks are awful, and I can only hope that in the future there will be stricter laws against such barbaric behavior. For now, I will still be obsessed with my Pit Bull.

       

Isn't she the cutest? She really hates getting her picture taken, but I've tricked her by taking photos with my phone and she has no idea. On the right sh'es there with my friend Simona who came down Spring Break of this year. So precious!

The Procrastinator

So typical me, I've been home for two weeks now and have done absolutely nothing of what I need to do. And what do I do? I do my hair and makeup and go out to hang with some friends. I've also had a hellish cold for the last couple of days. This usually manifests itself in me hanging around the house, sleeping, and staying in sweatpants. Today was different. After three days of not leaving the house (I know, I'm a shut-in), I decided to get dressed and leave. Hooray! I typically find things to preoccupy my time when I actually have important things to do (like packing all of my shit up for London).

Tsk. Tsk. I recently joined Pinterest and I've been addicted ever since. I'm really wowed by all of the different hair and beauty inspirations out there. Taking a page from all of the beautiful ladies out there, I wanted to do something different with my hair. I so often just let it hang down straight because that's the easiest thing to do. I decided to go with a messy top knot that took some time to get used to, but I think I like it. There was a little more hairspray and pins than I was hoping for but it hasn't moved all day so I guess it works. P.S.-Sorry about the above picture, I have no idea why my face and chest are two separate colors, but these things happen when you have translucent skin like me.

        

Since I was doing something different with my hair, I thought it would be appropriate to go with my "uniform." I really love big chunky jewelry so I decided to wear a couple of my gifts from the holidays. I especially love the 70sliscious earrings. My bracelet's from an awesome store that I think is other places other than Lancaster, PA. It's called Ten Thousand Villages and it specializes in goods made in nations across the world. According to their website , they are one of the world's largest fair trade organization. It's kinda been a big part of my family's life as we moved from the handmade drums of my childhood, to the accessories and home goods of today.

After I got myself all dolled up, I went over to my friend Katherine's house for some chill time. I like to think of my friends as quality over quantity. I may not have thousands of friends, but I have a handful of really great and loving people who deserve a word better than "friends." Katherine (on the left) and Austin (on the right) are two such people. We usually hang out at Katherine's house since it's bigger and basically do nothing. We'll watch some crappy TV (like Dance Moms) or just talk about life in general. Today, as you can see, we baked. I didn't really touch anything since I was still sick, but Katherine let me lick the spoon anyway (after she was done of course). It's really nice to see them since we all go to schools in drastically different areas of the country. The real reason for our for our friendly get togethers is our fictional Rock Band band: JEDARK! It's fun just mess around as a fake Rush cover band that rocks the fake arenas. I really should be packing and cleaning, but it's just so nice to relax and do nothing with a couple of friends.

Happy Chanukah!

Hello everyone and happy first night of Chanukah! I went over to my dad's house to celebrate with my sisters and step-mom and it was a lot of fun. Lighting the candles and saying the prayers has the equal amount of magic as seeing a lighted Christmas tree for the first time ever year. It's a lot of fun opening presents with five-year-olds since they are just so excited about everything. Zoe got a Barbie hair salon and Lily got a Fur Real Dog named Cookie. Cookie kind of creeps me out, but she's in heaven since she's probably realized that my father would never allow a dog. I gave them some board games: Sorry and a Scooby Doo version of Trouble. Katie opened up a preppy present of a Vineyard Vines polo that she loves. Lastly, this year I broke down and asked for a Nook, and tonight I got it!!! I didn't need anything special so I just got the Simple Touch so I would be able to read while across the pond. It's currently charging and I can't wait to play with it. This night just kicks off the holidays off for me and I wish everyone the best end of a year!

Fancified

Most of the time I feel like a stick to a pretty classic uniform which is why I haven't done any outfit posts as of yet (and I also don't have anyone to take pictures of me). I usually wear a solid colored tee with a contrasting colored cardigan, jeans, and a pair of Minnetonka moccasins. I do get dressed up for working at the Worcester Art Museum or for special occasions, but it's just so easy to know what you want to wear and look partially put together. I decided to ease myself into outfit posts with just taking pictures of times I feel especially cute and fancy. I'm sure you'll see a few pics of me in my "uniform" but let's start with this shall we?

This is what I wore to that holiday party last week that I made the latkes for. I got this dress on a lucky fine at Ross (dress for less). Sometimes it a total hit or miss there, but I can usually find something I like. This was like 10 bucks including the belt. Oooohhhh. It's a really nice length for me because I do not look so nice with shorter dresses. I have a bit of a booty problem. As in it's kind of on the larger side. I make do and I love my curves, but whenever I wear dresses that are shorter, they're just obscene from the back. This one falls just above my knees and makes me happy. I really love the dot print and I feel like the colors of rust, cream, and turquoise have a very festive feel to them. I also really love the sleeves. They hit at a nice length so that they're wintery enough, but I could still wear it in the warmer months. I also like the way they gather and have a looser seventies vibe to them. What I really love about this outfit is the boots. My calves are the worst thing ever and I have the worst time finding cute boots that fit without giving my a calf muffin top. I was in DSW with my mom a couple of months ago and literally tried on every pair of flat boots in the store until I had given up hope. Then I saw a pair of more casual shoes that have a zipper up the side as well as a little one at the back of the calf so that I could zip it up or not if I so choose. They've now stretched out a bit so I can close them in all one zip. Hooray! There's not much to this outfit besides the dress and boots. I usually keep my hair long and down, but I'm trying to branch out with that as well. So there you go, first outfit post completed. Hope you had a great day.

Again sorry for the crappy iPhone photos with the shitty lighting, but you know how dorms can be and this was the only full length mirror I could find. At least I can have some fun goofing around at all hours of the night.

Home

Home, where my thought's escaping
Home, where my music's playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me


It feels so great to be home. I love the college life, but sometimes it just feels nice to go back to your childhood filled with a place of warm and love. Since I'm not in New England for the holidays, I never really decorated my room. After driving for six hours home to Pennsylvania, it felt so inviting to walk in to the Christmas tree all lit up and decorated as the presents laid scattered around the bottom. Apparently we take this holiday magic for granted because my younger sister didn't seem to feel anything. Ah well. In due time she'll leave for school and she'll miss the cozy comfort of home. I got to sleep in my antique full bed last night which was luxurious! Right now I'm just chilling and getting somethings done (like blog writing) to prepare for the holidays. What I should be doing is unpacking all of school stuff so I can turn around and pack everything back up in time to go to the UK. Argh! I'm like freaking out with so much to do in very little time to do it. I'll be back soon with a few posts I have in mind, but right now there are more important things to take care of. Aka: my mother left a quarter of a tub worth of Toll House Cookie dough in the fridge and it is just calling my name (I'm a bit of a stereotype).

My Rant Against Peppers

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Why peppers? Why?! I consider myself someone who likes everything food-wise. My favorite food when I was five was oysters for god's sake. I pride myself on trying something new whenever I go out and I have a flare for the unusual. If most people won't eat it, I will. Right now, my favorite meat out there is rabbit (which isn't so easy to get in the states). With all that said, there are somethings that I really hate and will not eat. What's weird is that these are things that most normal people readily eat. The two head contenders of my loathing are celery and peppers. But mostly peppers. Especially peppers. I cannot stand that taste, and I feel like its become a sort of curse for me. Anything that has cooked or raw peppers in it is a no go for me. Over the years I've figured out how to eat around it, but I can still taste the pepper essence. I can even taste them when they aren't even involved. Example: this one time, my mother roasted peppers on a cookie sheet because she likes them (which I'm fine with). She then washed the pan and a couple of days later baked chocolate chip cookies on it. An entire batch of cookies was ruined with that awful pepper taste. She obviously couldn't taste it because she likes them, but I couldn't be near them.

People might find this aversion odd, but we all have our thing. My friend Amanda doesn't eat vegetables at all except in the form of a salad. It's just so annoying because peppers are everywhere. I want to like them, and I try so hard any time they come up. I can't. Love to, but can't. They're so colorful and bright and really brighten up a meal, but I can't eat with my eyes so they are a no-go. The idea of stuffed peppers is appealing, but it comes around to the taste. Taste is everything in food right! Whatever. This rant is just my anger against something that I should like. I have been taken down by those colorful critters. I can handle a spicy pepper if it's cooked up in a salsa or something. But regular bell peppers are the enemy and should be stopped at all times. 

Also, have you ever cut those things open? I'm usually on crutite duty in the house and have to cut them into slices which I would normally have no problem with. Unfortunately they look like this with minnie pepper babies on the inside which kind of upsets me since I have to throw them out. Gross and not something I want to eat. Stupid peppers (said with angry face).

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Sweet Potato Latkes (Potato Pancakes)

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So I went to a friend's holiday party last Monday and decided that it was the opportune time to stretch my culinary tendons. I wanted to make something salty and something sweet so I decided on my family's recipe of sweet potato latkes (I don't like calling them potato pancakes) and those little pretzels with chocolate kisses with an m&m in the middle. I assumed it was going to be more of a Christmas fling (which is fine) but I have a Jewish friend who was going to there and we got talking about the holidays and how much we both miss our family's latkes. Diversity's always good right? I decided to call my family and they sent me up a super easy recipe. We usually do regular potato latkes because its easier to make them in large quantities since we usually have large gatherings around Hanukkah, but a couple of years ago we used sweet potatoes instead and I almost liked them more. Don;t get me wrong, I love a dollop of sour cream and applesauce on these fried goodies, but with the sweet potato, they really don't need a garnish. And they're so easy to make whether you have an actual home or are stuck in a small dorm kitchen like me. So let's get started shall we?

For a single batch, which will make about 26 full size latkes, you will need:

1 lb of sweet potatoes (warning this is only like one potato and seems like nothing, but you should be fine)
2 scallions
1/3 cup of all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of black pepper
3/4 cup of vegetable oil

I made about a double batch because I was making it for a party. I also made them more bite-size so they were more like a finger food then something you would need a fork and knife for
You need to peel and loosely grate your sweet potatoes. This was the only thing that took me some time because I originally thought I owned one of those big pyramid graters, but after an incident last year involving my toes meeting the grater in a bloody battle, I must have thrown it out. Instead I used the only other thing I could think of: a blender circa 1990.

I kept on having to stop and start the blender because certain chunks wouldn't break up. If you had a Cuisinart or something fancy like that that would also work very well. You just want it to be in grated strips without huge chunks. After grating the sweet potatoes, add your finely chopped scallions (there is tons of info about what part of the scallion to chop in case you are a newbie), flour, slightly beaten eggs, salt, and pepper into a bowl and mix it all together. I used my hands because I thought it would be the most fun. I found myself adding more flour because the mixture was too wet. It should be moist so that it can stick together to form the cakes, but not so that it seems to heavy. You're going to have to use your judgement here, but I found when in doubt, stop adding flour. I also really like scallions so I added more of them to add more flavor, but again, that's all about personal preference. You're mixture should look something like this.

The last step is to fry that goodness up. Take a large, preferable deep, frying pan and poor your oil in. You want to heat it up until the oil is hot, but not smoking. You can test how hot your oil is by making a little cake of the potato mixture and seeing if it sizzles when it hits the oil (newsflash: it should). I used like a dinner spoon, but others use like a cookie scoop to measure how much you want. The size doesn't really matter as long as its uniform to the rest of them. Once you carefully drop them into the oil (don't burn yourself please) flatten them with a slotted spatula so that they are more disc-like in appearance. From the picture below you can see that not all of mine turned out circular, but they were still delicious.

Wait for like a minute and then carefully flip them over to the other side until both sides are golden brown. My first couple ones were too burnt so I lowered the temperature and just threw those out. This is really all about trial and error until you get into the groove. Near the end of cooking I could get like six small latkes in the pan at once. Once both sides are all goldeny, take them out of the oil and place them on a plate with a paper towel to drain the excess oil. I then transferred them to a different plate and tented lightly with foil to keep the heat in. These are wonderful, but they tend to loose their heat very quickly so it's best to make them and serve them immediately.I was in such a hurry to get to the party without these cooling that I forgot to take a picture of my finished product (sorry). I sprinkled a little salt on the top of mine to take them across campus. I forgot to buy sour cream but I did have a jar of applesauce from back home in Pennsylvania. These go great with one, the other, or even both (how scandalous!). These are a great side dish and really just remind me of the massive Hanukkah parties we used to throw when I was younger.  Like I said, these are easy and so good. Let me know if you make them or have any questions I didn't explain things clearly enough.


P.S.- If you couldn't tell from the crappy quality, but all the pictures, except the first one, were taken from my iPhone.

I'm Obsessed!: Pop-Secret Homestyle

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Popcorn!!!! I feel like my entire life, I've been looking for the perfect microwavable popcorn. Something that blended the right amount of butter, salt, and crispness. See, I don't like sweet popcorn unless it's kettle corn at a fair because Orville just makes me sick. I'm definitely one of those girls who prefers the salty to the sweet. By luck, my mother picked up a box of this because it was on sale and I've been hooked ever since. Since I came up to New England, I've been telling anyone who will listen and stuff this gloriousness down their throat if they don't believe me. This popcorn has the right amount of salt so that you can taste it, but It doesn't feel like your tongue's being burned off from the NaCl. Not gonna lie, there have been many times (including today) that instead of bracing the cold and getting out to get food, I've eaten a bag of this as a meal. When Amanda and I get together, we will go through bags of this at a time (our record has been 4 in one sitting). Seriously, go out there and get your hands on this. Just make sure it's Homestyle, or you may be disappointed.

A Love Letter to Neil Patrick Harris

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Dear Neil,

It is no secret that a majority of the world population is in love with you, but I cannot watch back-to-back episodes of How I Met Your Mother without expressing my gratitude. In simplistic terms, it comes down to your face and sense of humor. No one in their right mind would ever say no to those eyes! Whenever my aged parents refer to you as Dougie Houser I quickly defend your right as an individualized and grown up human being. It seems like you've always been there, although it's relatively recent that you majorly resurfaced in Hollywood. Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog will make you laugh and cry, and his role in the Harold and Kumar movies is just awe-inspiring. It is your role as Barney Stinson that puts you on the top of my list. You're just the simply brosky with a heart of gold that makes every episode legen(wait for it)dary. While being this believable character, you still manage to have the cutest family ever. I'm sure you've seen their Halloween Portrait from this year already, but it's too adorable to only see once. It is so obvious that you and your husband are so happy with your children. Instead of feeling disdain towards you for not being of the same orientation as me so that we will never be together, I'm just happy for you. Keep up the tremendous work, and never change who you are.

Love,
Carly

P.S.- And if we ever meet in person, I would like to apologize if I call you NPH instead of Neil or Neil Patrick Harris, but I'm sure you'll understand.

Update: I know, I know...

Hey guys! I know it's been like two months since my last post, but I guess you now know how my procrastination tends to runaway with me. There's been a lot of stuff going on in my life which I'll talk about more when there's actual time to update everything. But here's a little list of what's going down.

1. My first semester of junior year is coming to an end! Monday is my last day of classes and I only have an art history paper and final before I'm home free! I should be studying/writing/cleaning, but I figured a little me time on this here blog is well deserved.
2. The Holidays are right around the corner. I'm lucky enough to be a part of a family where half celebrates Christmas and the other half celebrates Hanukkah. I'm really excited because for the last two years, Hanukkah has been while I was still in school, 340 miles away from home. My friends here have been great and for all eight nights we would gather in my room where we "light" an LED Menorah I bought and sing the prayers before I open a little present sent from my family. It's been a nice little tradition, and I'm more than ecstatic to share a something culturally different (although my friend Simona is also Jewish). But there's really nothing like lighting the candles with your family and eating your body weight in latkes and brisket. Then there's the magic of Christmas! My mom's home right now decorating our tree with the ornaments from our childhood and I'm so excited to just bask in its awesomeness. I also know some of the gifts I'm getting and I am very excited for them.
3. Lastly is probably the biggest thing going on in my life right now. Next semester I will be studying abroad in LONDON!!!!!!!!! It gets closer and closer with each passing day and I just get more stressed/excited. I've never been to the UK and getting the chance to live and intern over there is something that I couldn't have imagined. It's been a very stressful roller coaster of applying for the program, getting in, and recently having to lay down a large amount of dough for a visa. My loverly friend Amanda is joining me on this adventure and we are going to tear it up. Besides living and working in the city across the pond (yeah cliches!), but we're also hopefully taking 20 days after the semesters done to travel to Paris and all around Italy. I'm currently looking for deals on a trans-European pass so if anyone out there knows about any student deals and would like to share that information that would be great

     

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Lots of really exciting things happening over here at Camp Babione and I promise to be a little more up on my posting, especially when I'm abroad. Wish me luck!

Hey Guys, I Read a Book for Pleasure!

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It feels like while at school, there is very little time to do simple things like reading for pleasure. If I"m going to read something, it usually is for a class and is not something that I always enjoy. This past week however, I actually spent an entire Saturday afternoon starting and finishing a book. It was so enjoyable and really nice just to be fully absorbed in a story.

In case you couldn't tell, I read the much talked about novel Room by Emma Donoghue. If you know what novels are out there right now, I"m sure you've heard about this. My English-major friend Austin (who is now in Scotland studying abroad so I'm going to pass her book around to my friends until she gets back) gave this to me to reading just by saying, "Carly, you have to read this. I read it in like four hours and it was amazing." We sort of like to think of ourselves as book-loving folk so I tend to listen to her suggestions. This. Book. Is. A. Ma. Zing!!!

I'm not going to spoil anything, but I'll give you the premise. The entire novel is told from the perspective of a five year-old boy, Jack, who lives with his mother in a single locked room. It's the only home he's ever known, but as his curiosity grows (and his mother grows less sane) he starts to wonder about the rest of the world. This book is such a quick read and sucks you in immediately. Jack's innocence and the world he creates around him pulls at your heart. This is probably the best book that I've read in a while. So go get your hands on a copy, snuggle under covers, grab a cup of tea, and enjoy.

Does anyone else have the same problem with having time to read? What are you reading now? I'm always very interested in suggestions from the real people out there.

Let's Get Inspired: Cool Weather

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I'm thinking about starting this new segment on  Framed Personality. If we open our eyes to the world around us, we'll find a whole host of things that inspire us. To me Inspiration comes in many shapes and sizes. I could be inspired to bake a pie, hem some jeans, read, a book. That's the beauty of it.

This week's inspirational theme is Cool Weather (and yes I'm going to capitalize it). It is now officially October which means Fall should be in full swing. These past couple of weeks in New England have been pretty warm and very humid. I'm so looking forward to the cool breeze outside and what I like to call Sweater Weather. I recently bought a bunch of cardigans on sale at my J. Crew outlet so I've been itching to wear them out, but it's been too stinking hot to do so! Bring on the cool.

Cool Weather inspires a lot of things in me. I'm not really into Spring Cleaning, instead I wait until this time of year to get my room/life in order. This weekend, the temperature dropped and I actually vacuumed my dorm room much to the surprise of my mother. I also don't really like coffee during the warmer months, but once the mercury goes down, I start my little Keurig and get the coffee brewing. The Fall also inspires a sort of polarity in me. I love taking brisk walks outside, and then coming into the warm and curling up under my duvet with a good book. I like the idea of both outside and inside within a small time span.

I also really just love looking out of m window onto the quad while the leaves change colors and start to fall. I just hope that the transition into Fall in Worcester is smooth. It's been really rainy and grey here. Bring on the clear blue skies and the subtle breeze and let's wear those cardis!

So what does the Cool Weather inspire you to do? Any other inspirations out there this week?

I'm Obsessed!: Parks and Recreation

I've been having an exceptionally productive weekend so I decided to reward myself with continuing this momentum and putting up another post. This week, my obsession is really just a continuation of a love I've had for the past couple of years. Parks and Recreation is a fantastic show that's been around for the last four fall television seasons. Initially I didn't get on the Parks and Rec bandwagon because I unfortunately thought it was going to be a less-funny outdoors The Office. Oh my honky-dory goodness, I was sooooo mistaken. Two years ago, I was surfing on Netflix like I usually do and thought I would give this show a try (each episode's only like 25 minutes so what was it going to hurt?). For awhile they only had the first two seasons up, but they recently put the third up and it's awesome! The fourth season also started back up on NBC like two weeks ago so I'm actually able to be up to date on the happenings of Pawnee, Indiana. So who makes this show one of the best out there today?

#1 Ron F*****' Swanson!

I absolutely love this god-like man (You see that mustache right?). He is the director of the Parks and Recreation department of the Pawnee Government and could care less what anyone wants/thinks/fears. He is a rock that has very strong libertarian values and wants the entire government to crumble around him. All of his opinions aside, he is a truly caring person with the heart of a lion. He loves meat even more than I do. Was shaped by his two ex-wives and mother, all three named Tammy. That it's necessary that I, and now you, love this man.

#2 Leslie Knope

Amy Poehler is a genius here. That's all that really needs to be said. I personally find Leslie Knope's optimism inspiring. I wish I could be as goal-driven as her. She really has all of her ducks in a row (don't worry, I'm like  70 years old so I can use phrases like that) and that's all I really want with my life.

#3 Andy Dwyer/Bert Macklin

His childlike innocence is just so endearing. He's such a simple person with simple needs. Anytime he says anything I swoon. He's a real life shoe-shiner for God's sake! I didn't know they still had those! He loves often and hard. He's the lead singer/guitarist of a band that is usually called MouseRat, but has gone through such band names like Scarecrow Boat, Just the Shaft, and Threeskin (formerly Fourskin). He is introduced to us in the first season as a man who fell into a large pit and broke both of his legs. He is the man.

#4 Tom Haverford

Tom Haverford! This pint-sized man uses the government to his advantage to promote both his club and his own business Entertainment 720. His partner in crime's name is Jean-Ralphio. That might be the best name in the history of names. He gets this smile and look on his face when something goes his way that just kills me. He is also the inventor of the magical machine DJ Rumba which is half Rumba vacuum half iPod. He's very insecure about the way he looks and just wants to live the millionaire's dream

#5 April Ludgate

This is probably just because she reminds me so much of my younger sister Katie. She has a dry sense of humor and has a very difficult time expressing her feelings. She speaks fluent Spanish and has lived with a boyfriend in Venezuela. She loves Andy with all her heart but doesn't like to show it. She's also Ron Swanson personal assistant because she doesn't answer phones or let anyone borrow Ron. She likes people, places, and things!

So what are you waiting for? Go to Netflix/find a person you know with Netflix and watch every episode of this gem. I promise you will not be dis appointed. Just to give you a clue, when I need something funny but well-known on in the background I either choose Arrested Development or Parks and Rec.

P.S.~ I was really hoping that Pawnee was a real place that I could visit, but when I googled it, this is what came up: http://www.pawneeindiana.com/

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Everyone Loves a Sale

So I'm sure I"m the last one to tell you all this, but MODCLOTH IS HAVING THEIR HUGE SALE . If you couldn't tell by the absurd size of the print, I'm pretty excited. I absolutely love modcloth's stuff, but I apparently have expensive take because everything I want is out of my budget. Sometimes we just have to face the facts. It is very hard to be a college student with a limited budget and look fabulous in all the new stuff. I'm really trying this year to budget my money so I can save something for my hopeful stay in London next semester. I personally think I've been doing pretty well not spending on a whim. What really saved me was only purchasing on sale items. Welcome modcloth's last hurrah sale! I only bought like five things, but I love them all and can't wait 'til they get here. I'll be sure to share if everything works out.

So get your butts into gear and go check out the sale! Things are selling out fast so there's not a moment to lose. Quick! To the time machine...or modcloth.com .

I'm Obsessed!: Om Shanti Om

I really should be working on an essay for my Leonardo da Vinci seminar that's due tomorrow, but I've decided to put that off because I need to rant and rave about something first. See I have an obsessive personality that has gotten me into shopping trouble in the past. It is a three step process for me; I see object, I want object, I must have object or else I will surely perish from want. Luckily, I've been able to get through this process without actually breaking down and buying everything I want. I've learned its not the end of the world if I don't own everything I could possibly have. Even though that's the case, I feel compelled to share whatever I am currently salivating over. This is going to be at least a weekly installment so hopefully I'll show you some new things and you can open my eyes to new things in return.

This time, my obsession is not a pair of shoes or new book, it is a movie. Om Shanti Om. Those out there that know about this film are instantly my favorite people. I watched this last year for a friend, Amanda's film class and she just recently bought it so we of course watched it again. Whether or not you love Bollywood films, like I do, this will be an instant classic. Without giving too much away, Om Shanti Om starts during the 1970s at the pinnacle of Bollywood-ness. We meet our hero (Om) and heroine (Shanti) and how their souls become intertwined.And its directed by a woman which is such great news, and I think she did a phenomenal job.  There's a lot of funny dialogue and the musical numbers are simply fabulous. After our last view, I had to go out and buy the soundtrack and I have not been disappointed.
Here are some of my favorite musical numbers.

Please excuse all of the white back up dancers (in slightly racist black-face in the beginning), between them and his rippling body, its a bit of a distraction. I rock out to this probably on a daily basis.

This is a long one, but it's basically a long party. Who doesn't love parties? What's great about this piece is the amount of celebrities that keep popping up. Even with my limited Bollywood knowledge, I could recognize a few faces.

This is by far my all-time favorite!!! All of the different parts just come together, and the mixing the old with the young is simply divine. She is absolutely gorgeous, and its just a fun song. This number should be more than enough to convince you to watch this movie!

So what are you obsessed with lately?

P.S.~ This is currently my desktop background.

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I'm the Fairest!

As promised, here is a closer look at the well-known film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I just want to get one thing clarified before this whole shebang: I really don't like this movie. And by don't like, I mean loathe. As a child, the only thing I thought scarier than Snow White was Dumbo (is anybody going to argue that it is not the trippiest thing out there?). I feel like there a lot of things just...wrong with this movie. And it's all of these little quips that makes this film so easy to scrutinize. I would just like to say that everyone is entitled to personal preference and if anyone likes this Disney flick, that's just fine and dandy.

But first, a history lesson. Snow White's kind of a big deal because it's the first feature-length animated movie.  In 1937, Walt won an Honorary Academy Award for his crazy innovation in film technology. Funny little tidbit, he received one full-sized Oscar and seven miniature ones for all of the dwarfs. [Sidebar: I hate that the plural form of Dwarf is Dwarfs according to Disney it could have just as easily been Dwarves. It doesn't bother me as much that he uses the politically correct term because they always seemed like fairy-tale creatures living in the middle of the woods.] Let's start the movie.

So in typical Disney fashion this movie starts off with a older matriarch who is jealous of the youth of her younger ward which is typically her step-daughter. Queeny here seems to spend zero time ruling her kingdom, and all her energy into making sure she is the prettiest person in the world. I like how she thinks that this is no big deal. She does have a pretty fierce face, but is it that great? Anyway, she talks to her magical mirror who constantly says she's the fairest of them all. Don't we all sometimes wish our mirror would say that you were looking hot today? What nice validation! Then one day, Poof! Her step-daughter is declared the prettiest in the land. This gets queeny in such a tissy that she decides that Snow White must die. Just to make this perfectly clear: because a magic piece of glass said a sixteen year old girl was "fairer" than a middle age woman that stresses about appearances, the teen must die? Where is the logic in that? That's really where my biggest beef with this movie is. This is the only Disney villain that I don't understand the motive. Other people want the power or the prestige and that's what makes them grumpy, the Queen here just wants everyone prettier than her dead. It makes zero sense to me.

Anyway, the Queen sends her hunter to take the princess out into the woods and kill her. As proof she asks that he cuts out her heart and puts it in a pretty ornate box. Whoa! We're getting into some pretty dark Disney stuff here, which kind of makes sense because this movie was never intended to be a kids movie. Continuing, Snow White changes from her rags into a glorious dress and cape ensemble so that she can pick berries in the woods in her finer clothes. This is already an indication that she is not the smartest character out there. So the huntsman takes her out into the woods and is about to stab her, when his conscience gets the better of him and he can't go through with it. He insists that she runs far away so that the Queen can never lay a hand on her. As Snowy runs, the forest becomes dark and all of the trees look like scary monsters that are going to eat her. She appears to be much more afraid of these fictional dangers than the man who was standing above her with a knife five minutes earlier. She then begins to cry which brings the sun back out and all sorts of woodland creatures come out to comfort her. She immediately forgets all of her troubles because she has now contracted rabies. That's not quite right, but I feel that the fuzziness erases all of her worries away. She starts talking to them, and they obviously all understand her and try to cheer her up. As she perks up she starts to ask about the practical aspects of her exile. This is the only practical and smart thing Snowy does in this entire movie. She realizes she needs shelter and asks her new animal friends if they knew of any place near by. 

Instead of sharing their forest home with her, they show her to a little cottage in a clearing. She knocks on the door and when no one answers she lets her pretty little self in. Is that good manners? I think not. How many times have you knocked on a complete strangers door and just let yourself in when they don't answer? I'm not judging if you enjoy breaking and entering, but it's not my cup of tea. And what does she do once she's in there? She critiques the way the little children keep house! And the must be children since everything's so small and only children could be that messy. Instead of minding her own business, she decides to clean up the house. So she doesn't get her little dress dirty, she makes the furry creatures do all of the dirty work. She holds a broom and pretends to be sweeping, but it's the squirrels and bunnies that are doing the dishes and sweeping the cobwebs out. How selfish could you be? And when she's done, she finds the beds of the owners and decides that it would be polite to take a nap in them!!! Urgh, she just annoys me so much it hurts.

Heigh Ho! Here come the dwarfs home from a hard days work at the gem mines. Why are they mining precious jewels? It looks like they just keep them in a vault with no intention to sell them. It also appears that they don't really need an income since they make everything they need. As a kid, this made zero sense to me, but it did mean that I got to hear my favorite song in this whole movie so that was a plus. So the dwarfs come home to a clean house, which would terrify me, and they think an evil cleaning monster is in their beds. It turns out just to be a naive princess who needed her beauty sleep. They decide to keep her, because who doesn't love free labor? She'll keep their house tidy and cook all of their meals for them. Sexism at its best because once again, there's no reason for the dwarfs to go to work. They could cook for themselves like they have been for the past however many decades. 

That night, they all dance for joy and we start to really get all of the different personalities down. Doc, Happy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Bashful, and Dopey all want to dance with the new lady so that when they over power her later on in the night, it won't seem quite so forceful. Grumpy wants nothing to do with the gang bang so he sulks in the corner. All of the dwarfs seem to know what's up except for Dopey, who I think is one of the saddest Disney characters out there. He clearly has some mental disabilities that the rest of his friends/brothers (?) exploit at every possible moment. Since he doesn't talk, he really can't protest. They all make him risk his neck for the safety of the rest of the clan. It makes my heart hurt.

The next part of the film, I fell asleep through so please bear with me. The huntsman returns to the queen with the heart of a pig as evidence that Snow White is really dead. She then consults her mirror to see if he's telling the truth (then why would she need the heart?) and finds out that Snow White still lives happily in the woods. Since she is also magic she transforms herself into an ugly hag who is going to try and sell a poisonous apple to the maiden so she drops dead. There's only one loop-hole to her whole plan; if Snow White is kissed by her true love she'll awaken from her sleep of death. Why doesn't she pick a more fool-proof method of murder? You don't leave things like that up to chance!

The dwarfs leave for work the next day warning Snowy not to leave the house because the Queen could be out looking for her. This includes not letting strangers into their house. She nods absent-mindedly and starts making lunch for the little people. Then all of a sudden, BAM!

This shows up. How terrifying is that? This is probably where children are taught to be afraid of ugly people and how they all must be monstrous witches that wish to poison you. Why in the world did the Queen turn herself into something so ugly? She could have just changed into a normal looking peasant selling apples, that would have probably worked better. Snowy does not appear phased however and lets the stranger with the scary face and hands into her home because she says she has delicious apples. The woodland creatures see the Queen enter the cottage and race off to the mines to warn the boys because there's no way a teenage girl can handle this situation on her own, right? They're too late and Snowy takes a bite of the poisonous apple and drops dead. The dwarfs realize exactly how late to the party they are and race after the witch. By the way, it is now storming out (the weather in this fantasy land certainly is volatile!). They chase her up a mountain and she eventually plummets to her death, so that loose end is tied up. But what about Snowy?

The Dwarfs use all of their precious resources and build her this elaborate glass coffin because they can not bear to put her cold body in the ground. They stand a 24/7 vigil at her grave for over a year because now, work doesn't seem nearly as important as mourning someone they knew for a day. All of the animals show up to pay their respects as well and everyone is very sad. After a year, a prince rides up since he has heard tales of the princess in a glass coffin. He walks up, and the first thing he does is kiss her smack dab on the lips.

Here's the thing. Her body has been sitting there for the past year. She would have been decaying through that time since she was in fact dead. Would you want to kiss her? And how in the world did he know that would do anything? He's barely mentioned except for a couple of lines of song in the beginning of the movie. He just assumes that he's her true love and that's that? We don't even know his name!!! But it works, and she wakes up and goes off to be another subservient woman for the man who rescued her. The Dwarfs are ok with this plan and let her go off with this complete stranger. The movie then ends on happy note for everyone. What they probably fail to mention, is that the Prince then over hunts the woods and kills all of Snowy's friends. She also never visits the Dwarfs again because she now lives like a queen in a castle. I don't mean to get side-tracked, but that brings up another good point: who was ruling the kingdom since the queen died and the princess was in a glass coffin? Was there complete anarchy? And now that she's back was everyone happy to go back to being second-class citizens? I highly doubt it, but that's not how Disney films work, and that's why I love them!

One last remark on Disney in general. You can over analyze every kid's movie out there and find flaws in every single one. It is one thing to comment on these, and it is a complete other to take offense and write off all Disney films out there as sexist, age-ist, racist filth. You're more than welcome to do this, but it's like ruining  a part of childhood that I personally cherished greatly. 

I really love discussing Disney so drop a comment and I'd be more than happy to respond. I hope you liked my first deep look at a film, and look for more to come, I"m going to try and make it a weekly thing that is not so text-heavy (sorry!). Do you like Snow White? Did you ever see anything wrong with it as a child or adult? Let me know, it would be great to hear from other people out in the world.

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I'm Back and I'm Free!!

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Hello again Blog!!!Leave it to me to start something and not follow through. No more, that is the old Carlyand the new Carly is going to be organized, fresh, and exciting. Yesterday I had a bit of a wake-up call from someone very special to me and I've decided that now is the time to get my ass into gear and really make something of myself. My biggest problem is my lack of organizational skills. I think the state of my room reflects a lot on the state of my mentality: cluttered. I just seem to always have too much stuff going and no cohesive way of making everything work. I had a meeting yesterday with someone who opened my eyes to how screwed up I really am. My family has been saying the same things to me for years, but it feels so different to hear it from someone you've come to respect. Her biggest thing was that she can see the potential that I have, but I am constantly setting myself up for failure. I realized this on my own, but to hear it come from someone else was a whole new experience. 

Here's a little tidbit about me; I am an awful procrastinator and last semester was probably the lowest point in my life thus far. I let a fantastic opportunity slip through my fingers because of my own doing. Along with that, my grades began to slip and I just felt crappy. I was always one of those lucky people in high school that never really had to study to get good grades. Were my grades amazing? No. But I could live with what I was given to me. I was always behind the crazy assumption that a lazy B+ was better than a hard A+. That's just the mentality I have always had and for the majority of the time, I've been fine with it. Than last semester happened. I didn't do my work on time, and the work I did hand in was shoddy at best. This really manifested itself in my Writing About Film class. Every week we had to write a two page essay on a film, and every week Sunday would come around and I would scramble to turn in something that could be graded. I ended the semester with the lowest grade I've ever gotten.

I think these moments of lowness (is that even a word?) were just the things I needed. I will never let my procrastination and lack of organization get the better of me again. There is no reason for it! This semester is the semester I'm going focus on making me a happier, more organized person. I started off on the wrong foot, but I"m positive I can rectify this situation. The woman I talked with yesterday was very forward about how its one thing to say "I'll try to be better" and it's completely diffferent to have real steps that can make you better. I don't know exactly what those steps will be yet, but I'm working on setting them up. Last night, I did all my laundry and cleaned my room, which is a very non-Carly thing to do. Today, I've sent out the emails that have been eating away at the edges of my mind, and I've started writing for this blog again! I'm so excited to be doing something constructive. Destruction is for work sites, not for my daily life.

What about you? Are there days you feel completely at a loss in the chaos that surrounds you? How do you stay organized and get everything done on time?

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P.S.~Sorry for such the heavy text post, I'm currently working on starting up a scheduled posting that I think will be a lot of fun and not so much "real world" stuff. I just needed to get it off of my chest. Sneek Peek: I'm going to start discussing movies so get ready for my first one...Snow White.

Birchbox

Thanks to Rachel  over at Rachel Phipps, my eyes have been open to a whole new world. She recently did a post on something called Glossybox. I immediately went to check it out. Glossybox is a company in the UK that sends out about five beauty products a month for you to try at home. My interests were piqued, but as I started to scope around the site, it said that they couldn't ship to the states. Total and complete sad face from my side. Luckily, someone on the site said that Glossybox wasn't necessary for Americans because we have Birchbox. I had never heard of this either so I had to go check it out. Oh my god, I was so happy with what I found! It was exactly the same as Glossybox and it actually cost the same. I was afraid that since it cost 10 pounds over there it would cost like 15 bucks over here. Nope! It is only $10 a month for 4 to 5 different high-end beauty products that are sent to your house without shipping charges. I am so excited. I ordered mine and should be here around the tenth of June and I cannot wait. I've been in situations where I've spent more than 10 on a tube of mascara that I end up hating and have to throw away. If I'm going to spend that money, I might as well get 5 things that I can try. I'll have to let you know how it all goes down when my package gets here, but I'll be waiting at the window like a sad puppy until it does!

Beautiliscious

I'm back from the salon and boy do I have red hair!! Unfortunately, the weather here has still been less than pleasant, and I believe it will really glow in the sun, so you'll have to wait for some pics of it. I've gotten some mixed reviews from the rest of the fam, but I personally love it!

I have a little confession to make. I love shopping. This might not seem like such a surprise from a twenty year-old woman, but It's becoming a bit of a problem. While I like shopping for clothes, I really like all the little things that come with being a girl. I guess I get it from my dad who is obsessed with any sort of gadget whether it be for computers or for camping. I'm the same way when it comes with hair and skin products. Through my various purchases over the year, I've been able to weed out the dud products out there that sound good, but in reality just cost a bundle and don't stand up to the hype. I've put together a little list of the products that I currently use and think that the world needs to know about.





These are two products that have become a must-have for my daily. The L'Oreal Go 360 Clean cleanser is awesome and cheap! I really like the scrubby thing. It gets my skin squeaky clean without causing any breakouts that I've experienced with other cleansers. The moisturizer is equally great. I've tried all of the different expensive moisturizers from department stores, but they all clog my pores which is a big no no. This one, since it is oil free, feels very light while still deeply locking in all the goodness.

Who doesn't love a facial scrub? And with a combination of pore scrub and Burt's Bees how can you go wrong. I've had some issues with other scrubs I've tried and they haven't been...well scrubby enough. I like a scrub that you can feel removing the dead skin cells (how scientific).Since Burt's Bees prides themselves on natural ingredients, this scrub uses real peach pit parts to help renew your face. I use this about once a week, and it's like a little facial in a bottle!

While we're on the discussion of scrubs, I absolutely love this body scrub. It's by the British company Soap and Glory, and what initially drew me in was the cute packaging. I'm a sucker for something in a cute wrapper. All of their products have a vintage vibe that I can totally get behind. Again, this body scrub has all the little granuals that you can actually feel working your skin. This is especially great right after shaving your legs. Silky smooth!

These two items are the main reason for this post. During spring break, I was with my mama in Target and I came across this new brand: Yes to.... They have an entire line that features only natural ingredients to promote the natural beauty in your skin. These are from the Yes to Carrots line (the other ones have cucumber, blueberry, and tomato depending on what you're skin needs are).On the left here is the body lotion that makes your skin feel baby soft. It also has this great clean sent that doesn't seem bogged down with a lot of perfumey smells like a lot of other lotions out there. On the right is the facial mask. It is this refreshing mud mask that feels good on and off the skin. I highly recommend both of these, and I can't wait to continue my collection these products!

Now lets move on to a little caption on my hair. Being born with pin straight hair is something that I used to see as a curse. I have always wanted curly hair, and have even endured TWO perms in my lifetime both with disastrous results. I've come to embrace the straightness and the fact that I don't need tons of product to tame my hair. With that said, the longer my hair has gotten, the harder it has been to keep its strength up. So along with strengthening shampoos and conditioners that I use, I've recently come across this.

I really enjoy having a nightly routine that I have to go through before I can catch some zzzs. I found this in the drug store the other day, and have used it religiously since. You rub it into your hair, focusing on the tips, and you go to sleep. It smells divine, and when I wake up, my hair is as soft as can be. My hair just feels healthier because of the botanicals used and the fact that it's sulfate-free means it won't make your hair dry and brittle. 

And there's just a little taste of what I have on my bathroom counter. What kinds of things do you guys use? I"m always on the look out for new and exciting things that I can waste my money on so please be honest. I've seen all of these products for sale at a number of Targets so they're all affordable and do great things for you! I am not getting paid to sell any of these things. It's just a way for a normal gal like me to give the world an honest view on a small fraction of stuff out there. Instead doing the whole blog trend of saying what people wish they could have, I've decided to do something on the things I already have. I just like keeping it down to earth. I hope everyone had a stupendous day and good night!