26 January 2012

Cheer Up!

Sometimes when I need cheering up nothing does it quite as well as adorable baby animals. All photos link back to source.

25 January 2012

20 Things I'd Like to Say About...

1. I don't remember a time where I haven't been exhausted or highly caffeinated. I'd like to thank Starbucks and my Keurig and my insane course load.

2. I can and will use twitter for my random, occasionally witty thoughts that are only amusing to myself and my room mates. (follow me at @kisforkristenX)

3. Watching "The Office" will always always beat out doing the massive amount of reading due tomorrow morning. Always.

4. Don't tell me I don't have a lot of work to due because I'm an art student. My graphic design major has the most requirements of all the majors at this school AND I'm double majoring in Communication and Cultural Studies as well. Bitches.

5. I wish that I personally had the willpower to stop myself from online shopping more however if I'm going to be honest it's because the mail-room-guy judges me so much, every time.

6. I always feel so guilty about getting take-out but the cafeteria only has four varieties of rice and two types of pasta on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

7. Having the top bunk is a wonderful excuse to have my room mates hand me things and to leave my bed unmade, among other things.

8. The only downside to having a bunk bed is being 19 and having a bunk bed...

9. Please don't be awkward in the hallway. I'm too awkward to deal with all of us being awkward.

10. It's okay for me to make ridiculous threats because they are all grounded in great works of film or literature.

11. There are other fashion options besides sweat pants and Northfaces, Ladies.

12. Don't be afraid to speak your mind. It's worth the risk.

13. Don't let anyone or anything hold you back from something you love or being happy.

14. Christmas ornaments are appropriate decorations year round.

15. Any outfit immediately becomes better when numerous patterns are worn simultaneously.

16. The worst days become manageable with time and effort put into my appearance.

17. Don't think, just do.

18. On second thought, you should actually think some things through.

19. Normal sleeping schedules are for when you're dead.

20. I am awesome because I think I am and through that logic, you can be too!

21 January 2012

Dress Me Up: First Day of School

This semester I had two first days of school. I had one class start this Wednesday and then three start this Thursday. Old habits die hard and I had to dress up for my first days of class. I love dressing up. It makes the day a million times better just by putting effort into what I'm wearing and I feel better about myself.

20 January 2012

A Few of My Favorite Things Friday. // No. 003



1. iCal - The calendar application on my MacBook is a life saver. That's a screen shot of my schedule for next week and my To-Do list and it's only the first week of the semester. With such an overwhelming amount of work to do, it's essential for me to stay organized so that I actually know what I have to and do it.
2. Chocolate covered strawberries and my room mates - one of my room mates works at my school cafeteria and can bring home food and there was chocolate covered strawberries today and she had my other room mate bring me some at work. I love them almost as much as I love strawberries and chocolate. It was a great surprise at work and a delicious snack.
3. grubhub.com - I almost don't have the words to describe how much I like grubHub. You can search for takeout places in the city you're in and search by cuisine type and read reviews. Also they provide menus for the participating restaurants and you can order just by clicking on the menu item. There are a variety of payment options: PayPal, card and even by cash. They let you know how long your delivery will take and after four orders you can play a game where you after the chance to win free food!

17 January 2012

Dance Class


I'm so excited to start dance class again. My college consortium offers free dance classes for students and I signed up for ballet and modern technique classes. I danced for eleven years (ballet, jazz, modern, pointe) and quit when I was a junior in high school. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life but I had to do it. It was something I loved; I felt beautiful on pointe. Unfortunately, some people are mean and I was bullied a lot and went home and cried almost every day. It still makes me mad that I let a clique ruin dance for me but it was right at that time.

I took an advanced ballet class last spring semester and failed horribly. I wasn't as flexible or coordinated as I used to be and my leg muscles had gotten weak. I knew all the steps, I just couldn't make myself do it. This semester I'm taking intermediate classes. It should slow things down a little and get me back into the swing of things. I'm sure the first couple weeks will be hard but I'm also going to start eating better and exercising to get all my muscles back into shape.
It's a lot of work but one my dreams is to be back on pointe.
[photo credit.]

13 January 2012

A Few of My Favorite Things Friday. // No. 002


1. Sushi. I love sushi. It's so pretty and it tastes so good. I got this sushi at the mall... I know. I'm sure some Japanese sushi artisan somewhere is screaming in pain for a reason unbeknownst to them because of mall sushi. Anyways, I apologize to this person and will continue enjoying my 16-piece $9.99 special when I'm eating in the food court. However, I do reserve the right to turn into a snob and order $30 worth of sushi from my favorite take out place the night before my first paper is due. (Is it bad to already plan poor studying and eating habits before the semester even begins?)
2. Mama, I'm Swollen, Cursive's album from 2011. This album is so good. I've loved Cursive for years and this album made me love them all the more. Listening to it has gotten me through some less than happy times recently. It's perfectly upbeat and celebratory for those of us "wearing out our heels on the road to hell." It's a great album for almost any mood and I listen to it a couple times a week. [picture credit.]
3. Boston! I'm going back home to school on Monday and I couldn't be happier. Rhode Island is full of unhappy memories, has no opprotunities for me and worst of all is the place I feel most alone. I'm a completely different person when I'm home and happy in Boston.

07 January 2012

Progress.

I'm on day 4 of blogging. So far so good I think. I'm going to try to blog regularly, about life and things I like. I'd like to establish another weekly series or two other than I Want It Wednesday and A Few of My Favorite Things Friday, just so I have a schedule to follow while I get into the whole documenting my life thing. By the next time my series role around I'd also like to have designed some sort of banner for the top of my posts. I love design and I'm hoping that through blogging I actually have some reason to make pretty photo spreads and banners and that sort of thing becomes regular for me. It's time for me to get into bed, watch the Food Network and eat some chips and hummus. Good Night!

A Few of My Favorite Things Friday. // No. 001

Sometimes I have some thing and I want to tell everyone I see how much I like it. Even I think it would be weird to go up to people and say "Look how awesome my ______ is!!!" Instead of telling random strangers what my favorite things are, I'm going to post a few of them every friday.
So my favorite things of the week are... *drum roll*
1. Roxy Shoulder Bag. I had been eyeing this bag since summer. We got them in at the store I work with and only sold one between July and now so they were reasonably cheap (I spent about $20 on it). Usually I don't like brown purses but this one is the exception. It is just big enough to hold my essentials (wallet, phone, book, lipgloss, hand sanitizer, keys) and it has two huge side pockets that are great to stick my phone and camera in for easy access. The shoulder strap also makes it great to bring to parties or concerts.
2. Victoria's Secret Sexy Little Things Fragrance Spray. This smells so good. So good. it's smells florally, light and not too sweet (I'm bad at discribing fragrances....). It's probably one of my favorite fragrances. Also I love love love the packaging. The lace design with the silloutte key hole. I love it. There's nothing I like better than a great product with great packaging. Maybe I should do a series about packaging..... (hmmmm)
3. Alex & Ani Expandable Wire Bangles. My mom got me these for Christmas and my birthday. I think they're so cute. I hadn't heard of these until a few months ago even though they, like me, come from Rhode Island. They are really pretty, go with everything and each have motivational meanings and positive energy (somehow infused in them..?). I have a K charm, the Star of Venus charm, the Path of Life charm and the Skeleton key charm.

05 January 2012

Penny wants Pasta!

In my post earlier today I talked about how I made fresh pasta. My dog, Penny, was pretty involved in the process as she likes food more than anything else. In the first picture, she's resting: she was not into waiting for the water boil with me. The she begged me with that adorable face to give her pasta, so I did. After when there was none left, she decided that I was withholding her new favorite treat so she pouted in the corner with her stuffed, pink puppy. Yeah, I'm pretty obsessed with my dog if you couldn't tell.

Fresh Pasta

Today I made fresh pasta. It's something I've always wanted to do and I finally did it and it came out really good. My mom and I really liked it however my dog probably liked it the best!
Fresh Pasta (3 to 4 servings)
2 1/4 cups flour
3 eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil
1. Pour flour onto cutting board and make a well deep enough to accomodate the eggs and oil.
2. Carefully mix the ingredients into a dough. It should be sticky and a bit of warm water can be added if the dough is too dry and flour can be added if the dough is too wet.
3. Knead dough for ten minutes then wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.
4. Roll out a third of the dough at a time to the desired thickness and then cut into shape of your choice.
5. Let pasta dry for 30 minutes and then boil in salted water for ten minutes or until the pasta is cooked to your specifications.

{{{I Want It Wednesday 1.}}}

04 January 2012

Nostalgia

Today felt like I was still in high school, but in a good way. Wait what?
I know. It's weird. I spent a good part of my day watching Gilmore Girls, which I adore. I own the entire series on DVD; it's hilarious and I get caught up in Lorelai and Rory's drama again and again even though I can just about quote every episode. My old GameBoy DS also made an appearance when I was looking for my DVD remote so I turned it on and have played the Sims Bustin' Out almost all the way through at this point. I'd be embarrassed for myself to admit this pretty much to the entire internet but the Sims games are just fun and addicting and I haven't played with my GameBoy since maybe my freshman year of high school. My nana made spheghetti for dinner and it's one of my favorite things to eat when I'm back home and I never have pasta sauce as good as hers. After dinner I went out for coffee with my friend Erin. Erin is one of my best friends and we've been close ever since we sat next to each other in our English class freshman year. We don't see each other too much since I go to school in Boston and she's in Providence but whenever we get together we also have a lot of fun.
So weirdly enough, I had a good day back home in Rhode Island. It was semi-reminiscent of my high school years (which sucked) but today seemed to compile all of the good parts.

02 January 2012

Hello there!

The conversation that’s been happening in my head recently goes something like this:
“So Kristen, we’re in the year 2012. You turned 19 about a month ago. What are you doing with your life?”
*cricket noise*
“Yeah that’s what I was afraid of. You’ve done things in the past year though, right?”
“Of course.. I’m not sure what though…”
“Maybe you should pay attention.”
“Maybe you should shut up.”
So like any logical person my next thought is that if I want to keep track of what I do and things I accomplish or want to remember, then obviously everyone else in the world wants to know about it too. Am I right?