Finals Week Lockdown

Sorry to interrupt your usual blog-reading, but this blog is going on

FINALS WEEK LOCKDOWN!

Via

I am like this poor little dog, only replace the library with the crate. It will be my new home. 

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

• No posts until Sunday, May 6th
• No commenting on other blogs/replying to emails

Since I have two weeks off before Rome, I'm going to focus on this blog after finals and come up with a changed blog template! Yay! So if you see anything funky going on with the layout, it's a work in progress.

A picture of the past week and next week, just to prove to you all I have no time to blog.

So, see you all in a week! Wish me luck!

H&M Pastel Shorts

H&M is jumping on the colored shorts trend for summer. I don't know about the quality of their shorts, but they're a lot cheaper than other colored shorts I've seen this season ($13 versus $40!) It also seems like H&M went the pastel route, whereas places like J.Crew went for neon and bright colors.

Here's two quick sets featuring some newly arrived items at H&M: one set focusing on the mint shorts, the other focusing on the peach ones.

One thing I love about the colored short trend is that they're surprisingly versatile. I believe that any of the three tops below look good with the apricot shorts: just change your hair, accessories and shoes a bit to fit the outfit and you're good to go. I think some people are afraid to try this trend because they don't think they'll get much wear out of the shorts, but if you mix-and-match like this, you'll probably end up wearing them a lot.

What do you think? Are you loving the colored shorts trend like me? I'll probably be doing a post on the brighter versions of colored shorts soon, so stay tuned!

New Header!

Just a super quick post for today. I wanted to show all of you my new blog header! Look up, look up!

Isn't it adorable? Rachel from The Air Force Wife designed it for me. I love how it has my Pinterest, Twitter and RSS feed linked into it. She also made me a new button and favicon.



Thanks so much Rachel! I love the new look of my blog! 

Pinteresting Wednesday

Let's get this straight. I'm one of those people who said they would never join Pinterest. Who didn't get the point of it.

Now, I don't know what I would do without it. I sit in the back during my sociology class, and at least six or seven of the girls in my class spend the whole hour and a half browsing Pinterest. I'm becoming one of them. Everytime I find sometime on the web, I know have this instant reflex to click the "Pin It" button and add it to my little boards.

I'm linking up with Michelle at The Vintage Apple for "Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday". Here are some of this week's "Pinteresting"finds!

Source: flamingotoes.com via Becky on Pinterest

Source: choosecraftiness.blogspot.com via Becky on Pinterest

Source: craftgawker.com via Becky on Pinterest

Source: glittershewrote.com via Becky on Pinterest

Source: store.delias.com via Becky on Pinterest

Source: piperlime.gap.com via Becky on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Becky on Pinterest

Source: piccsy.com via Becky on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Becky on Pinterest

Source: quickmeme.com via Becky on Pinterest

Word Affirmations

I don't know about all of you, but I'm stressed out. The end of the school year always brings on so much stress. Not only am I worrying about finals, but I have to worry about moving all my stuff out of my dorm room (I honestly don't know how we're going to get my futon out of the room!). I'm also worrying about Rome, which is a little ridiculous. It'll be my first time going on a plane all by myself, and I'm going all the way to Europe. Not only that, but I only know one another person from my school over there. I really am bad at meeting new people. Sigh.

Via

Anyhow, the point of this post is to tell people how I deal with stress: through word affirmations. I've been known to worry excessively over things ever since I was a kid. I think it's genetic, since my parents are worry-warts too. One day my mom printed out a list of adjectives that she thought described me: one for every letter of the alphabet. Every night before she tucked me into bed, she'd make me say one of the words to myself. We'd go through the whole list over and over again, highlighting the words we completed with different colored markers each time.

I know, it sounds cheesy, but it really works. Seriously, right now, I want you to sit down and make a list of 26 adjectives, each corresponding with a letter of the alphabet (xylophonic is the only good "x" adjective there is, I'm warning you now).

Here's a list of the ones I just came up with:

*Amazing*Beautiful*Creative*Daring*Energetic*Fun*Gentle*Happy*Ingenious*Joyful*Keen*Loving*Meritorious*Nice*Outstanding*Preppy!*Quaint*Radient*Smart*Talented*Unique*Veracious*Witty*
Xylophonic*Young*Zealous

Because I'm a visual learner, I went to tagxedo.com, which made this funky little word cloud out of the 26 words I chose. It was really a lot of fun: you can customize the colors, the shape of the word cloud, etc.

Every night before you go to bed (or whenever you're stressed out, really) pick one of your adjectives and think of a time when you exemplified that adjective. I'm sure you can come up with a situation, and it'll give you a smile. If you do this every night, it eventually becomes a routine and gives you just a minute of positive thinking in your day.

Yes, I know, thinking of the adjective "amazing" tonight before I go to bed won't make my upcoming organic chemistry final any easier. But maybe, through repetition, I'll start believing that I am amazing: I can pass those finals and I can go to Rome by myself. We're human beings: we underestimate ourselves and never give ourselves enough credit. Practices like this can help boost our confidence just a bit.

P.S. I also made a word bubble out of the most-used words on my blog! Check it out.

One Direction: If Only I Was 13 Again...

I have another regret for you all. I regret that I missed out on the "boy band" craze.

Via

Via

I was too young when Backstreet Boys and NSYNC* were big. I vaguely remember them being popular,   but I must've been only six or seven.


I do love this video of two boys lip-syncing to to "I Want It That Way". They're pretty good (and I love the random guy in the background on his computer, ignoring the whole thing!)

And now I'm too old for the new boy band craze. I'm talking about One Direction, of course.


Have you all heard of them? They're the new boy band, all under 20. Their music video is actually really cute!

My roommate and I are obsessed with this song--it's just so innocent and sweet, unlike most of the songs you hear nowadays. We've joked about going to see them in concert...we'd be surrounded by 13-year-olds.

Via

Needless to say, they're my new "guilty pleasure" band. Anybody have any guilty-pleasure music you listen to?

More Awards!!!

Kelsey from The High School Prep has been kind enough to nominate my blog for not one, but two awards! Thanks Kelsey, I really appreciate it. Everyone, go check out her blog  for all things preppy!

Each Nominee Should:

1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award

2. Add an image of the Versatile Blogger Award

3. Thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link to their site

4. Share seven completely random facts about yourself

5. Include this set of rules

6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination

My Random Facts:

1. I LOVE Essie nailpolish. I'm wearing Essie's "Orange, It's Obvious" right now.

2. Maybe I'm stuck in the 90s, but I believe that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan make the best romantic movie couple ever. Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail...all classics. Can they please star in another movie? Please?

3.My dad is a pilot! I don't know if I've mentioned that on this blog yet. He's a captain for American Airlines. Everyone always asks if I've ever flown on a plane that was piloted by him...nope, not yet!

4. I have to spend the $700 left on my campus meal card in the next two weeks, or else I lose the money. I honestly know don't know what to do when the average meal costs $7.00...

5. I've been published! I was published in the December 2010 magazine of Teen Ink with a piece called "My Summer with Denise". It talked about my experience volunteering one summer. 

6. I have around 5000 songs on my iPod. Yep, you guessed it, I haven't listened to most of them.

7. My parents bought me an ant farm for my 8th birthday. I don't know what compelled them to buy it, honestly. We left on vacation and my parents promised me that the ants would survive over the weekend. They didn't. It was absolutely TRAUMATIZING seeing the container full of dead ants, especially since I thought it was all my fault.

Rules:

The Liebster Award is for up and coming bloggers (200 followers or less) that you think deserve recognition for their fabulous blogging abilities.

Here's how this award process works...

Each nominee should:

1.Choose five blogs to give the Liebster Award to. 

2.Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

3.Post the award on your blog.

4.List the bloggers you gave the award to with links to their sites.

5.Leave a comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award.

6.Share five random facts about yourself

More Random Facts (I'm running out of them! So here's just three more):

1. I've never been out of the country or overseas, which is why I'm so excited to go to Rome this summer! It will be my first big adventure, though I'm slightly terrified for it.

2. I made a rope of nylon in organic chemistry lab last week. Yeah, that's about exciting as that lab gets.

3. I don't own a Longchamp. It seems like everyone on our campus and every blogger owns one. I love the look of them, but I'm so reliant on my Northface backpack for school that I feel like I'd never use it.

Nominated Bloggers:

I'm going to cheat--I already received the Versatile Blogger award, so I'm just going to nominate ten bloggers for both of the awards instead of doing fifteen for the first one and five for the second. 

I'm trying to nominate people who I haven't nominated for awards before.Also, per say the rules of the Liebster challenge, I only chose bloggers with less than 200 followers.

1. The Jones @ Jupe Fashion

2. Lauren @ One Sweet Fairytale

3. Chris @ The Third Act

4. Kasia @ Koju Bofu

5. Alisha @ Don't Stop Believing

6. Gabbi @ North Shore Prep

7. Renin @Running Codes in Heels

8. Lilly @ Lilly Limes

9. Ellyse @ Daily Hearts

10.Axl Rose @ Stealing Med School

Congrats everyone! I hope you enjoyed my random facts and I can't wait to read all of yours.

Bargain Hunting at Marshalls

Via

Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Filene's Basement--I've been to them all. I was practically weaned on off-price stores. I remember being dragged to TJ Maxx all the time when I was a kid (I'd play "hide and seek" in the clothes racks, much to the employees' dismays). Now that I'm older and actually like shopping, I love the stores.

Via

I was pretty much this kid whenever I went into a clothing store.

Sure, it's hit-and-miss. Sometimes you find great deals, sometimes you don't. But it gives me so much joy whenever I read on the price tags "Original price: $74.99. Your price: $19.99".

Since I needed a few more outfits for summer, I decided to stop by Marshalls to see if there was anything interesting. I ended up with far more outfits than I expected!

I bought:

A plain dark-pink shirt that fits really well. I love the color, so I had to get it.

A pair of white shorts. My old pair is starting to look like a diaper. Seriously, they've gotten way too big over the years, so I knew it was time for a new pair. Also, you can't tell in the picture, but they have buttons and pockets that look almost nautical.

A beige lace shirt and pink camisole. Strangely enough, the lace shirt looks really similar to one that I just posted in one of my Titanic outfits. I wasn't looking for it or anything. I just happened to come across it!

A grey Ralph Lauren v-neck. I have a whole bunch of regular Ralph Lauren polos, but I like this shirt because it's a little more casual. Honestly, I don't think I'm ever going to shop at a Ralph Lauren outlet store again--Marshalls had so many of their clothes for sale.

And finally my favorite: coral and orange floral-patterned shorts from Calvin Klein. They were originally $60, and they scream "Becky" all over them. I've been looking for some funky shorts forever, but wherever I find them they are either too cheap looking our out of my price range. I've come up with so many ways on how to wear these, and I might do a post on them soon.

All and all, it was a good haul and I got all of the above for a very reasonable price. If the Olympics had a bargain-shopper event, I'd win the gold metal--just saying. 

Do any of you shop at "bargain" stores? What do you think of them?

iPod Nano 1st Gen Replacement Program

Did anybody ever buy the original iPod Nano? The one from around 2005?

Via (with article about the recall)

I did. And apparently the things are now fire hazards. All these years, I've been keeping in my pocket something that could spontaneously combust. I could've died. 


A couple sued Apple after their iPod Nano exploded. I always say that Apple has the best customer service, and this is more proof of it: they are recalling all first generation Nanos and will replace them, free of charge, with new generation ones. So of course I'm taking advantage of the offer.

My Nano was my present for my 14th birthday. I vaguely remember making a Powerpoint for my parents telling them why I needed a Nano so very badly. I just thought their sheer size was amazing--I could literally fit a thousand songs in my pocket! Needless to say, I thought I was "so cool" bringing my Nano to middle school and listening to it during our lunch break.

See? My parents even personalized it for me with my name. Part of the replacement deal is that I have to send Apple the Nano so they can make sure I'm not using it anymore and risking my life just to listen to Nicki Minaj. It's kind of special to me, and I'm sad to see it go...

...ok, not that sad. Because look at how cool the new Nanos are!

Via

Some interesting features about them:


*Half the size of my 1st generation Nano, which I already thought was small!

*Come in a rainbow of colors, and they seem to be more scratch resistant than my old Nano

*24 hour battery life! My old Nano had, what, a 6 hour one?

Via

* Built in clip: I can attach my new Nano to my pocket and listen to it when I'm walking to class

*Twice the amount of GB

*Built in pedometer/work out system! I'm so excited about this. If you wear the Nano while working out, it'll upload your stats to Nike+'s website and tell you how many calories you burned. It'll be a great incentive to get me working out

Via

*CLOCK FACES! I don't know if I'll ever do this, but you can attach the Nano to a special watchband and wear it as a watch. SO AWESOME! Remember how I was just saying that the watch was dying out?

*Radio capabilities: there are a ton of radio stations and Chicago that I want to discover

I'll keep you all updated when I get my new Nano. For all of you who still have a first generation Nano, send it in!

 

Rebel Regrets

I'm not much of a rebel, but the few times I've chosen not to listen to my parent's advice, I regretted it.

Remember when wearing feathers in your hair was big last year? Yeah, my mom hated the trend, told me it was disgusting. I tried it anyway.

Via

REGRET. I put a pink feather in my hair and it got nasty and matted within a week from my shampoo. I had to pull the stupid thing out because I was so disgusted by it. Waste of money.


Six Flags? My parents told me not to go, that I would have a miserable time due to my motion sickness (which runs in the family, apparently).

Via

REGRET. I had a pounding headache for days from riding all the rides. I love roller coasters, but I guess I'm not up for them.Waste of money.


And now...my ear piercing. The world's shortest-lived piercing.
My parents brainwashed me, telling me for years how I wouldn't like a cartilage piercing, that it didn't go with my style.

(Sorry for the repeat pic, it's the only one I have of the piercing!)

Well, I didn't listen to them. I got my upper ear pierced. And they were right: I hated it. I think it looks great on some people, but for me it was almost pointless: my hair covered it up. And although it didn't hurt getting it pierced, my ear was so sore afterwards. The earring just felt weird. I don't know if I was mentally uncomfortable with the piercing or physically uncomfortable, but after about a day, I came to the conclusion:

My parents were right. I didn't like the piercing. I took it out as soon as possible so the hole would close up and wouldn't scar. Now you can't even tell that the earring was ever there.

It takes a big person to admit that their parents are always right. It's taken me 20 years to figure that out.

Has anybody ever come to an epiphany like this?

Weekend in Review (3)

Sorry I've been a little MIA! With school wrapping up, I've been super busy with tests and papers. Things are going to get even worse as final exams begin. I read all of your comments and I really appreciate them! They make my day :)

It was one of those strange weekends. I was supposed to study for my orgo test this weekend...and somehow I ended up with my cartilage pierced.

Friday
My friends wanted to go to Claire's to get their second holes and cartilage pierced, so I decided I'd come along to give some moral support. I know, I know--Claire's is not a good place to get your ears pierced. But it seemed to work out well enough for all of us.


Yes. All of us. Somehow I got sucked into getting my cartilage pierced. I don't know why I did it, honestly. It was such a last minute decision. I think I just wanted that rush of adrenaline that comes from doing something completely unexpected and left field.

Don't listen to people when they say getting your cartilage pierced hurts. It was nothing but a sting! I guess people do have different tolerances for pain, though, and I have heard that some people have thicker cartilage than others. I guess I got lucky.

My college had our Relay for Life on Friday. Has anyone else done this? It's a 12 hour event from 6pm to 6am in which people take turns walking laps around a gym or a track to raise money towards the cure for cancer. I intended to attend, but due to one complication after another I couldn't in the end. t really hope to get more involved next year.

My friends watched Moneyball this weekend. Second time I've seen it, and I still don't get it. I love Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill, but the movie was just too complicated. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up in a sports-y family...all the baseball talk in the movie sounded like Swedish.

Saturday
I had an orgo test on Monday (didn't I just have one?) that I spent the day studying for. At night my friends and I went to a fashion show that was sponsored by all the Asian Student Organizations on campus.

I was looking forward to something like this:

Via

...but it was more just girls wearing the shortest and tightest outfits possible. They weren't even fashionable, just...ugh.


We got takeout from a thai restaurant nearby called Summer Noodles. It's located right underneath the Granville El stop, so it's in a shady area. But the inside is so modern and chic. Plus, they make a mean pad thai.

Via

Via

Sunday & Monday
I'm combining the two because, due to getting only a few hours of sleep Sunday night, I felt like I was living through one very long day. One very long day of studying orgo, complaining that I didn't want to study anymore, and passing out on my notebook and getting ink stains all over my face.

Source: google.com via Michele on Pinterest

Story of my life. I also took out the piercing I just got...I know, I know. I'm crazy, I waste money, I'm too spontaneous...trust me, I've heard it all these past few days. But the piercing was a revelation of sorts for me. I'll be posting about my "ah-ha" moment shortly!

I hope you all had more interesting weekends than I did. Here's to another week!