beyond awesome!

I totally wish this was me!

Send offs, Goodbyes, and See You Laters

Today's the day, my last day here in this house and in this um, fine city/town/thing. Tomorrow I head on my way home and leave behind everything and everyone I've come to love in the past 7 months. I'm usually pretty good at goodbyes because I know that they aren't permanent and are really just see you laters, but today I said one that is a see you in about 2 and a half years, and I'll have another one tomorrow too. I'm opening a new chapter in my life when I get home. One that will have my first real job, and another change is that I'm more responsible for myself now, so I'll be at home, but not of the home. jk. well, kinda? It's going to be different, I know that much.

Life

A day for me!

Just a little reminder to those of you that are my single sisters, or brothers too I guess, Valentine's Day is a dumb excuse to have lustful feelings and highly overrated. Tomorrow I've got different plans in mind. Its not a day to love some guy, but a day for me to love myself. For a list of ten very good reasons, check out what my friends at ElleGirl have to say and follow their advice.

You Know Me. Or You Think You Do

Mmm I love The Format! I went to their concert in Pocatello in December and it was so good!

That picture is kind of crappy, but I did my best. We had really good spots right in front during the opening band, Lydia. Oh man!! I LOVE Lydia!!! They were amazing!!!!! I guess recently the only thing I seem to be updating is my taste in music. In fact, to make it a little bit easier I'm going to put my playlist on the page so you can listen while you read. Sound good?

Caught In Suspension

YAY!!!
Life is pretty much amazing right now. The start of a new semester has brought new roommates, new friends, old friends, a new bedroom, and of course the best New Favorite Music!!!!
Let me let you in on a secret, BRAND NEW!! Ok, so they aren't really a secret, but I love them now and I didn't know about them before. I'm also a music video watching obsessor. I guess one secret I can let you in on is Greg Laswell. The song Sing Theresa Says is so beautiful!
Taking Back Sunday is one of my stereo's best friends, as well as The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Mae, Cartel, Cute is What We Aim For,The Used, Finch, and this other random mix of classical music and Josh Groban.
I started this post like weeks ago and now that I'm looking back over it, it's kind of pointless and I'm probably going to just rewrite what I was originally going to say later. I've been putting all of my blogging energy into my blog for class because I'm going to get a grade on that one, so that's just kind of important to me. So I'll be back later then I guess?

A Fashionable Life

The perfect future for me has me as a fashion designer. For the past year or so I've been compiling notebooks with my favorite styles and patterns and looks as well as drawing some of my own designs and modifying some things that aren't up to my dressing standards of modesty.
Do you thing Urban Outfitters would hire me eventually? That'd make me oh so happy!

Blast From the Past

I've been gone for a while eh? Well, here's where I've been, stuck in dreamland, wishing that I could travel back to the days when life was black and white and beautiful. I've got a retro heart.

I headed down to the library and checked out Roman Holiday, with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck and ended up watching it at 2 in the morning with my mom. I was so tired, and wanted to go to sleep, but there was no way I was going to turn off a movie like that! I loved the cinematography in the last shot, and even though my mom was dissapointed in the ending I loved it.
I've been so inspired by Audrey Hepburn, probably because of my friends idolizes her, so it rubbed off on me. I can't wait until I can get the new book about her. It's $32.97 at Amazon. Every few pages there is a pocket filled with reproductions of tickets and letters and scripts with her notes on them, as well as drawings that she did for UNICEF. The book is a wonderful tribute to her life and is full of beautiful pictures and stories from her life.


But my obsession with the fab fifties doesn't stop with Audrey. This picture of Natalie Portman is one of my favorites as well. I guess I really do just have a thing for all things retro.

Eggs-citing news!!!

So I've pretty much professed my love for humidity a few million times to date. Want to know why? Dry air kills curls!!! So for those of you suffering the same stick straight fate, try the following curl miracle:

In a small bowl wisk one egg white with a pinch of sugar until the white breaks apart and small bubbles form around the edges of the bowl. Apply to damp hair like gel or mousse.

Trust me, it sounds weird, but it works wonders! You don't have to be Goldilocks for this to work either, it will bring a noticeable wave to any type of hair! And there is no need to worry about smell, it is odorless. If you still crave the great smell that hair products have, spritz hair with a nice smelling body spray. Enjoy your new vibrant look!

Some Needed Relaxation

Why let the holidays stress you out? I decided to beat the workload and take a pre-stress day off, maybe by reversing the cycle I can be fully energized and ready to take on the next few weeks ahead of me, filled with finals, big project deadlines, switching bedrooms at the semester, and getting ready for my trip home for Christmas. Ugghhh. Just thinking about it makes me tired and ready to give in. Luckily I dragged my body out of bed around 1:00 today after going to bed around 5:00am. Enrichment Meeting was at 4:00, and though I was reluctant to venture out into the cold snowy night to head up to the Hinckley Building halfway across campus I did it anyway at the promise of a "Pamper Night" activty. Let me say, I am sure glad I went! Not only was it a reason to get dressed today, but I got to know some of the girls in my Relief Society better, learned how to make guitar pick earrings, which I've been dying to learn how to do, but I also got some great recipies for at home spa tricks!!! And because not everyone is fortunate enough to be in the 45th Ward Relief Society B, I'm going to share them with you:

Exfoliating Body Scrub
Mix two cups of Epsom salt (or Sugar) with 1/4 cup petroleum jeslly, your favorite moisturizing cream, water, or baby oil. Add a couple drops of essential oil. Apply to skin in circular motions and rinse with warm water. After showering you can also rub handfuls of Epsom salt or sugar over wet skin. Rinse off and towel dry. Apply moisturizer for baby soft skin. always exfoliate before shaving, never after because it will BURN!

Hot Oil Hair Treatment
Mix one tablespoon of honey with 2 tablespoons of olive or canola oil in a cup measure. Heat mixture. I found it easiest to stand in the bathtub and turn my head over to apply the oil and honey mix, but just be sure to coat hair evenly, avoiding roots. Cover hair with a plastic grocery bag and let it "mairnate" a while, about 10-20 minutes. Rinse with warm water and enjoy your new head of wonderfully hydrated locks! This is an especially handy recipie if you are used to humidity and now have to deal without....

These two I haven't tried yet, but I can't wait to!

Spa Index Bath Cookies
2 cups finely ground sea salt
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup cornstarch
2 T light oil
1 tsp vitamin E oil
2 eggs
5-6 drops essential oil of your choice

Preheat your oven to 350 F. Combine all the listed ingredients and form into a dough. Using a teaspoon or so of dough at a time, roll it gently in the palm of your hand until it forms a ball. Form all dough into one teaspoon balls, and gently place them on an ungreased cookie sheet. Consider sprinkling the bath balls with herbs, flower petals, cloves, citrus zest and similar aromatic ingredients. Bake your bath cookies for ten minutes, until they are lightly browned. Do not over bake. Allow the bath cookies to cool completely. To use, Drop 1 or 2 cookies into a warm bath and allow to dissolve. Yield: 24 cookies, enough for 12 baths

Roman Bath Soak
1 cup of fine grade oil (consider sesame, olive, apricot, or avocado oil)
1 cup of mild shampoo or liquid castile soap
1/2 tsp. of fragrance oil or essential oil of your choice

This is easy but indulgent soak which is ideal for winter dry skin. Combine all of your ingredients in a clean bottle or jar. Shake vigorously before each use, and dispense one to two tablespoons into your rapidly running bath water. You'll find the addition of mild shampoo helps to both emulsify and disburse the oil liberally throughout the bath water, for even distribution and coverage on your skin --- instead of the tub.