American Red Cross

photo credit: http://artwelove.com.

     When I was in high school, I gave blood all the time and even set up a couple drives [one of which was the most successful blood drive in the Portland area for Summer 2009. We had to start turning potential donors down because we ran out of bags!], but I hadn't given blood since I graduated. Until today. 
     I am so afraid of needles and can't think straight or answer simple questions [like for the health history questions they ask before you can donate] before giving blood because I am freaking out. But I know how important it is to donate your time, money or blood to the American Red Cross and that the amazing feeling that you get after donating, knowing that you potentially saved three lives while only giving up about an hour of your time and a pint of blood that your body replenishes in about 24 hours, makes everything worth it. It's like going on the Tower of Terror at Disney. You're freaking out the whole time in line, thinking over and over that you're going to chicken out, but once it's over you think, 'hey! that wasn't too bad. When can I do it again!?' hahah that might have been a lame metaphor, but it really is kind of like that. Once it's over, you forget what you were so freaked out about and all you can think about is how great you feel for doing something so good. :]


Click here to find a blood drive near you!

Currently listening to... "Someone Like You" by Adele. I may be a few months or so late on this, but I'm loving me some Adele right now.

Dr. Dre.

     I'm so hardcore, it's scary. And I love this song.

But only watch/listen to this version until the 4:26 marker. Because after that, Hittman [by the way, who the hell is Hittman??] destroys every good thing that Dre and Eminem had accomplished.

Currently listening to... well.. duh.. just think it through and you'll figure it out.




P.S. Alcatraz is on tonight! And guess what! Glee is doing all MJ songs on tomorrow's episode. I can't wait :]

I had a grand day.

My clothing choice of the day.
As you can see, I'm still working on the whole
self-portrait thing. 

Today's been a good day. It all started with that morning jolt of my alarm clock at an unearthly hour [which I won't complain/brag about here] then to Leavey for erging [or sleeping/chatting/internet-surfing for the coxswains among us] at 5:50am then on the water at Lexington by 7:15. I was in the launch this morning, which is kind of a drag compared to being in a boat, but it was fun this morning with a couple of my favorite rowers in the launch with me. 
     Then I got some time before class which unfortunately did not equate to a shower [being as my floor's bathroom was being cleaned until I left for class, but I can't complain since some people have to clean their bathrooms themselves] but I did have enough time to get cute, but not enough time to chicken out of wearing my new jeans [they're kinda flashy]. 
     But it ended up being a good decision because a couple of ladies in my first class commented that they liked my pants and said that I should start a fashion blog! So then the idea came to me that my sisters [Shannon of Simply Shannon and Jessyka of Let's Talk About Beer] and I should expand our blogging horizons and do a collaboration style blog! We all have such different looks, so I feel that we would grab a lot of different types of readers [and this way we won't have to blog everyday! which we aren't very good at with just one blog]. Great idea? I thought so.
    And on top of all this, I got some packages in the mail and... guess what!? It's Friday!! [Friday. Gotta get down on Friiiiidaaayyy! Sorry. I had to. That song's never going away, so get used to it]. So no waking up at the butt-crack-of-dawn tomorrow morning and the Novice Lock-In is tomorrow night [any novice reading this, all I can say is this: beware). And I think I'm gonna get my hair did at some point this weekend. Possibly today. Even thinking about going back to the red..  hmmm.. 

Top: Material Girl by Madonna. Jeans: Cheap Monday.
Boots: sadly, I don't know! All I'm getting from what's written on the actual
boots is that they were made in China. Whoops.

Currently listening to... "Time Turned Fragile" by Motion City Soundtrack. Ah, MCS. Just to listen to you on the highest volume and sing at the top of my lungs is enough to make any day a grand day. 

old photographs

      Stumbled across some photographs from the graduation party for sister Jessyka from Let's Talk About Beer [who sadly, isn't actually in any of these pictures] tonight as I watched my favorite movie, How to Deal, for the thousandth time [which is a blast from the past in and of itself, since I found the receipt for the movie tonight and I bought it in 2006].

Waiting for Jessyka to get her diploma!

I'm pretty sure that this picture is still on the frig at home.

Looks like I've always been a crazy party-fiend.

creeper-peeker.

currently listening to... Mandy Moore having obscenely melodramatic outburst. My personal favorite? "Why doesn't anyone trust me to know what I know anymore?!"

New Year's Resolutions!

     Okay so I know this is roughly a month late, but I was giving myself some time to get a feel for 2012 and think through what I wanted to accomplish throughout this year. But recently, my sistah over at Simply Shannon did a post on her resolutions on a month-by-month basis [which I really hope works out for her!], so I decided to give it a shot! I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions because I feel like I'd never stick to them and I like to think that I can make goals for myself at any point of the year, not just January first, but I decided, what the hell, I'll pick out a couple things to really focus on.


     First of all, I'm gonna spend more time with the lovely ladies that I will be living with next year. We'll be together 24-7 this time next year, so we might as well start figuring out each others' tiniest subtleties now [if only because we won't be able to escape them later!]. 

This will be framed and on the mantle at Lemonade Stand next year.
Photo by Meggan Sisto.

     Next, I'm going to focus on my chemistry grade and get a high B or A this quarter. I'm not sure where this chemistry thing is going for me, but while I'm at it, I'm gonna give it my all. 

No more sleeping in class!
Photo by Sean Sullivan.

    Thirdly, I'm going to work on my confidence in the boat. I've talked to some other coxswains and a couple of my rowers and they've all said that, for the most part, I've got the goods, but that I just need to commit myself, so I can instill confidence in my rowers. It's simple, they won't trust me 100% until I trust myself 100%.

Gonna have more of these tosses in the spring!
Photo by Karla Gaitan.

    Lastly, I really want to explore this film photography thing that I'm dabbling in. My last two rolls turned out okay, with some pretty shitty shots, but also some pretty great ones. I'm hoping to take more trips specifically for photography and also to start some kind of photo series featuring my boys. I also plan to take a film photography course through SCU this spring, so I will learn how to develop my own film! How rad is that?

Okay.. well, those are my 2012 goals for now. Social, Academic, Athletic, and Creative. I'd say that that just about covers everything! And hopefully all of these are going to change/grow for the long run, not just these next eleven months. 

Wish me luck!

currently listening to... My Favorite Accident by Motion City Soundtrack.

Alcatraz

photo credit: http://images4.fanpop.com.

     I just spent roughly two hours of the maybe eleven hours that I plan on being awake today watching the premiere of Fox's newest drama, Alcatraz.  I cannot wait until next week. I'm hooked already.

photo credit: http://www.samneillonline.com.

very punny

My friend Michaela showed me this. I want to live this conversation. I want to be those blue speech bubbles. 

film cameras

     So on this last MLK Day [if the world does come to a crashing halt in December this year, which I kinda hope it doesn't], as I wait patiently between water practices, not doing the homework I've successfully avoided so far this weekend, I decided to let you all in on my newest photography obsession. I think I've mentioned before that my mother gave me my father's old Pentax ME for Christmas, but just yesterday I bought myself a new clicker!

photo credit: http://www.pentaxforums.com.

     My new toy is a Diana Mini Camera all decked in white [like nowhere I go for Christmas]. It's so light, it's like a toy. I'm kinda afraid I'm going to break it, but it's also so easy to carry around. 

photo credit: http://microsites.lomography.com.

     My first film from the Pentax [mostly of Venice Beach, click here to see some digital shots I took on that adventure] turned out great. Some photos were a little grainy [but that might have been caused my slow learning to focus correctly, not that I'd admit to that], but most were pretty great, in a soft, retro style. But then I worked on my second roll for a long while [from that trip to Venice until the day before I left for school] and came up completely empty handed. I don't know exactly what I did wrong [I have a couple theories not really worth mentioning], but the entire film [all 36 shots!] came up blank. Blanky McBlankerson. It was truly devastating. But I shall prevail! And explore the sweet features of my new babe: like multiple exposure, long exposure, overlapping exposure, and square/ rectangle frame capabilities [I'm really excited about this last one!]. I'll let you know how the first roll goes, even if I can't actually post any photos [maybe I'll take a digital picture of any especially great shots?? hahaha seems like I'd destroy the universe through implosion if I do that. Maybe that's how the world really will end in December! So yeah.. this the last MLK Day... hahah].

Currently listening to... Sparks Fly by Taylor Swift.. hmm. love her. 

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone's new movie

photo credit: http://downloads.xdesktopwallpapers.com.

Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone were adorably perfect together in Crazy, Stupid, Love. That's just a common truth. And now they're filming another movie together, The Gangster Squad. It's not coming out until Fall 2012, but I'm already wetting my pants I'm so excited to see it.

photo credit: http://www.visualhollywood.com.

photo credit: http://collider.com.

photo credit: http://collider.com.

photo credit: http://4.bp.blogspot.com.
On the set of The Gangster Squad.

 Now they would make some beautiful babies!

Grenoble, France

photo credit: http://www.happytellus.com.

     I guess where I'll be next fall! Grenoble, France. yep. How rad is that? Alls I gotta do is finish my application, turn it in, and well.. get picked and everything. ahah but I'll get it. Positive vibes!

photo credit: http://www-mitacs2009.imag.fr.

photo credit: http://middleware05.objectweb.org.

photo credit: http://upload.wikimedia.org.

Ke$ha make up

     Before I flew back to Santa Clara for the start of winter quarter [first day of classes officially over as of now!], I had a grand ole time experimenting with some old costume make-up. And of course, with said costume makeup, I did Ke$ha make-up [which is, if you live under a rock and are not familiar with, is colorful and glittery, very glittery, and generally is only on one eye, while the other eye is more subtle] and then cooked stir fry for dinner for my family and then baked cookies. I guess I was trying to be ironic.


This is how it turned out:

A close-up.

A little more in character.

Inspiration [along with the SeaWorld tee shirt I was wearing]
Photo credit: http://1.bp.blogspot.com.

What I'll tackle next time!
http://christwire.org.

Currently listening to... "Your Love is my Drug" by Ke$ha [duhhh].

I'll take ya to tha candy shop

     So I'm having a Emma Stone marathon [so far we've watched Crazy, Stupid, Love. and Easy A] with my sister Shannon [from Simply Shannon] and I'm going through some photos from my Orlando trip this break [yes, I'm going through photos again... but I'm still trying to collect pictures to put up on my wall at school and/or put in a scrapbook!]. And during my endeavor into past photo folders, I found a couple of great pictures from inside Honeydukes in HarryPotterland!

Hurr they are:

Currently listening to... Criminal Minds. [Another home invasion episode. It's so obvious who the killer is, I just keep yelling: "It's him! Don't go somewhere alone with him!" but they never listen, do they?]




P.S. Shemar Moore [Derek Morgan on the show] is super sexy. And he went to Santa Clara! I guess sexy people are just drawn to the school. :]