Summer Solstice

Happy Summer Solstice!

Did you watch Gold Diggers today?!

(soundtrackcollector.com)

I DIDN'T!!!!!!!

Gold Diggers is seriously one of the best movies ever, and it all revolves around the summer solstice. Every year ever since I was five, I watched Gold Diggers with my mom on June 21st. Every year that is up until last.

We only owned a copy of this cinematic genius of a movie on VHS*, and when we stuck it in our VCR (yes, we still own one, but if it helps, it's a VCR/DVD combo) last year on this date, everything went horribly. The devil VCR ate my precious Gold Diggers and destroyed it. Now I can't watch my movie anymore. And I'm pretty convinced it just wouldn't be the same on DVD. There's just something magical about a good tape.

Happy Summer Solstice? I THINK NOT.

*Side story: Last Thursday, my boyfriend, Wolfman Steve, and I went to see Midnight in Paris at the Sundance theater (it was weird and wonderful- and then there's always that moment when you're thinking about how much of a genius Woody Allen is, but then you remember that he ended up marrying his daughter). They had a poster hanging up in the theater for Bill Cunningham New York, probably one of the greatest movies ever made. When I saw it, I pointed and exclaimed, "When do you think that's coming out on tape?!"Steve pretended to not know me, and when I told my mom this story, she told me I was old. I can't help it if I love me some VHS.

Mary-Kate and Ashley

Yesterday, June 13th, was Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's birthday. I made a cake to celebrate.

It was a white cake with homemade chocolate frosting and fun little candies for decoration!

MK and A were my OBSESSION when I was young. Not much has changed, hence the cake.

I always had an interest in fashion, but they really inspired me and propelled my intense love for the sartorial world. Passport to Paris and Billboard Dad literally were life-changing.


Please tell me you remember their bra-strap dresses, fun barrettes, and beaded necklaces that spelled out their names.


Don't even get me started on their crossbody backpacks with sunglass holders on the front strap. I had an identical silver one from Gap. It was the greatest fashion find of my life.


Their layering techniques in this movie are still genius. And this was the start of their elaborate updos that were piecey, full of barrettes, and impossible to re-create. These updos were perfected in their cancelled-way-too-early show Two of a Kind.

Mary-Kate and Ashley are still my fashion icons, and my slight obsession hasn't quite faded yet. I think I would still be willing to sit on the floor of the Mall of America for eight hours waiting for them, only to burst into tears the moment they took the stage for an appearance.

Yes, this happened. It was the greatest day of my life.

Style Guru?

Whenever I need to take a new Style Guru Bio picture for College Fashionista, it is usually a disaster. It always involves something like a lack of interesting backgrounds at home, my mom's technology shortcomings, or my frustration with Steve's inability to be a professional photographer and turn me into a model. I'm not really an in-front-of-the-camera gal.

Even though the photo shoot for this summer's bio produced some faboosh pictures, I have a few things to admit:
1. It was very unplanned and unorganized.
2. It was done in 15 minutes in an open space behind my apartment building in Madison, right before Steve and I were leaving to go home for the weekend.
3. The turban was an afterthought.

Anyone can see my favorite pictures from the shoot, but only you, my blog readers, get to see these beauties:

This is what I get when I tell Steve I like candid.

This is what I look like when I'm yelling at Steve.

I have no explanation for this, but this is an explanation for my lack of friends.

Sammy Loves Coco

(FYI- If you think that the title of this post and the premiere of Ice Loves Coco this Sunday have nothing to do with one another, you are sorely mistaken.)

Mission Complete

Found the two lilac trees and/or bushes in all of Madison. They're in front of Lathrop Hall if anyone is interested. That is also my location until the lilacs die. Please send me cookies and forward my magazine subscriptions here, please.

Lilacs = Life

Well, now that the hell that was this past school year is over and I am done working and killing myself for mediocre grades, I can concentrate on the important things in my life like blogging and reading magazines and books until my eyeballs start to bleed.

Also on my list of important tasks to do in the beginning of this summer break? Lilac hunting. Lilacs are very particular little beasts that bloom whenever they feel like it and only do so for a week before they decide to die. I don't really mind how finicky and impossible they are though, because that one week they are alive is the greatest week of my whole year. At home, I'm surrounded by three lilac trees that make my life heaven, but since I have a job and internship in Madison now and cannot be home during the weeks, I'm surrounded by dumpsters and parking ramps. And the Red Shed.

Every once in a while I'll come across a flowering tree in Madison (in fact, to my surprise, I discovered there is one right outside of my bedroom window in my apartment! It was starting to bloom and be fabulous during exams, but then it poured rain for two days straight and the sweet little blossoms just gave up on life), but most of them contain berries that when squished, smell exactly like vomit.

When I left home yesterday to come back to Madison, the lilacs hadn't bloomed yet, but those little buggers are close. I hope to find at least one little lilac tree or bush very soon, or I will cry all year until the lilacs bloom again.

How's that for uplifting?

Here is the sad, sad flowering tree outside of my window.

Happy summer!

FOUND: Inside a Bathroom Stall in Vilas

Team Kathy

I went and saw Kathy Griffin in Milwaukee two weeks ago. I love Kathy and was thrilled to see her live! The show was at the Riverside Theater which just happened to be So. Cool. I was especially intrigued by the red curtain. They were filming for her special that will air on Bravo the night I was there, so there were cameras everywhere and we were all lit up in the audience. It was so much fun!

Watch for me on "Kathy Griffin: 50 and Not Pregnant." HA!

Oh, and of course I had to have fancy nails for Kathy!

Bieber Fever Doesn't Discrimate

My Introduction to Television lecturer has total Justin Bieber hair. It is long with the swooshy bangs and everything. Seriously, it's Justin Bieber hair.

BUT! JUSTIN BIEBER GOT HIS HAIR CUT YESTERDAY! This was huge news on all of the celebrity gossip sites. I found out through a text message from my mom though that read, "OMG The Biebs got a haircut!" I kid you not.

So, when I went to lecture this morning, I was planning on laughing to myself about my teacher's outdated Bieber 'do, only to find that he too had gotten a haircut. AND IT IS EXACTLY LIKE JUSTIN BIEBER'S NEW HAIRCUT. Minus all this hair product happening below.

(people.com)

Here's my theory: When I was a little girl, I was seriously obsessed with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and whenever they got their hair cut, I would get my hair cut exactly the same way. I'm pretty sure my Introduction to Television lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is doing the same thing but with Justin Bieber. How could this not be the case? IT IS WAY TOO MUCH OF A COINCIDENCE, AND I AM ECSTATIC.

Valentine Package

I came back to my apartment last Thursday to find this glorious package waiting for me in front of my door. I was thrilled to say the least, because A. it was a package FOR ME! and B. it was for Valentine's Day! I ripped it open immediately even though it explicitly says to not open it until the 14th. Puh-lease, Mother. Yeah right. Here's the package opening experience:

(I Clone Stamped both addresses off this package in case any of you are creepers)

This card is me. Heart purse AND heart sunglasses?! This. Is. Me.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day is my favorite. Any holiday that revolves around hearts, red, pink, sparkles, candy, and love is a-ok in my book. Actually it's more than that; it's more like an obsession.

Let's just say that my dishes are sparkly and heart-shaped, a giant red heart pillow resides on my bed at home, I have been carrying a red heart purse for approximately four years, and lots of my jewelry is heart shaped. Also, I gasp every time the Macy's Valentine's Day commercial comes on. I'm probably missing things too. You, my reader, are probably thinking about how terribly tacky this all sounds, but I promise you, I do my hearts, and love of hearts, with taste.

This morning I took a little time to decorate my apartment for this glorious day. It turned out so cute, and I have no plans on taking these decorations down anytime soon.

P.S.- I thought of something else I own that's heart-shaped: sunglasses! I wore them today. Once again received looks, once again don't care.

Let Them Eat Cake!

Remember when Marie Antoinette, directed by Sofia Coppola, came out five years ago, and everybody, especially in the fashion world, went crazy? I do, because I still am going crazy. I cannot get over this movie. I talk about it all the time, think about it all the time, and even wrote a College Fashionista article that was Marie Antoinette themed.

The night I found out I was having a snow day the next day (which was a week ago already! It would be super helpful if I could have another snow day this week, please.), I not only stopped everything I was doing to paint my nails, but I popped in this movie and watched it late into the night. The end was a real downer, but the rest of the film still has me dreaming of pastels, sparkles, feathers, and decadent desserts.

(vain.com)

(shopstopsite.com)

(movies.nytimes.com)

(findingmilkylane.wordpress.com)

(jeweledelegance.blogspot.com)

I must be off now- need to install a ship into my bouffant!

P.S.- Did you know Marie Antoinette actually never said, "Let them eat cake!" ? I think I'll still eat cake anyway though.

My Nails at the Moment

I love doing my nails. When they're not done, I feel boring and plain, and when they're chipped, I am convinced I look like a hillbilly.

Last night when I found out there was going to be a snow day today, I dropped everything I was doing and did my nails. They are fab.

On the majority of my fingers is Sally Hansen "Virtual Violet" and on the specially chosen fingers (?) is OPI "La Paz-Itively Hot" and Covergirl "Disco Dazzle."

Best Friends and the Aftermath of the Best Concert

Curly-Q

I made this fun project for an introductory fabric embellishment class at UW-Madison. The assignment was to take a piece of fabric that is as long as I am tall and completely cover it with one element of embellishment as densely as possible.

My fabric is pink tulle that I scrunched together to add more texture and thickness, and my embellishment is pink pipecleaners that I pierced through the fabric, then curled around my finger.

This is probably one of my favorite projects I have ever made, but it was a beast to complete. It took a lot more pipecleaners and time than I could have ever anticipated.

These curly-q's now reside on the teeny wall in my tiny Madison room between the closet and the door to the kitchen (don't be too jealous of my groovy, mustard yellow refrigerator).

Walking in a Winter Wasteland...I Mean, Wonderland

When I woke up at 6:30 this morning and was greeted by 1 1/2 inches of unexpected snow with plenty more coming, I wanted nothing more than to be directly on top of the equator at that exact moment.

I am not a winter-hater, but there is only so much a person can take when her only means of transportation are her legs and the unreliable buses of Madison.

Later in the afternoon when I was walking back to my apartment and receiving many confused looks (I think it was my purple sequined beret. Get over it, people, because chances are I like that hat more than I like you. Sorry.), I came upon this frozen skeleton of a bush. At that moment, I hated winter a little bit less.

People on the equator never get to see beauties like this one.

I am Twelve.

I bought a sparkly, purple gel pen last week.

From the chaos of starting a new semester, discovering half of my class schedule needs to change, and finding out working at 6am is much harder than I thought it would be, to catching a horrible cold that knocked me out all weekend and made me incapable of doing any homework, I can easily say that gel pen was the best part of my week.

I've been too embarrassed to use it though to write on the sign-ups that go around classrooms for one reason to another. Seriously, what I am? Twelve?!

And then I though about it. I have not changed much from twelve. First it was the gel pen, then I noticed my closet (which happens to just be racks in my living room. What?). Almost every item in it is studded, sequined, bejeweled, furry, or fluorescent. Huh.

Then I thought about my recent taste in TV and movies. Kourtney and Kim Take New York was everything I hoped it would be last night. I seriously considered wearing my Dash t-shirt and holding my autographed copy of Kardashian Konfidential while watching the show. I refrained, but mainly because I had already put my pajamas on and couldn't possibly think of moving unless it was to go to bed. Also, I spent all weekend upset because The Princess Diaries is not on Instant Play on Netflix. Really, Netflix? Next time I get to Target, I really think I'm going to purchase the DVD myself so I never have to experience that withdrawal ever again.

So what I've come to realize is that I am twelve. But I am like, the ultimate twelve year old. So, I'm just going to go with it.

And I am totally going to use my purple, sparkly gel pen on sign-ups in class from now on.

(totalfilm.com)

A Merry Christmas

For every holiday, I make an effort to decorate my little apartment a bit, but it's just never as good as being home.

Little Madison Apartment:

Home:

See what I mean?

I hope your Christmas tree looked as glorious as the Luterbach tree did on Christmas morning!

EXPECTO PATRONUM!

If I didn't try very hard, I don't think it would ever feel like Christmas during finals. Finals have a tendency to suck every bit of joy out of your soul- in fact, finals and dementors (HARRY POTTER REFERENCE) are equals.

Studying for my nutritional science exam could have never been bearable without Archway cashew nougat cookies, a sparkly sugar cookie candle, or warm vanilla chai tea in a fancy "S" mug that was a Christmas gift from the one and only Emily Mitchell.

Hearts & Bows- A Collaboration by Ariel Arnson and Sammy Luterbach