Fear of Symmetry

I finally have another book review for you! No, it's not Babel Tower, which I just cannot seem to finish for the life of me.

Instead, I got sidetracked by Her Fearful Symmetry, which is the second novel by one of my most favoritest authors, Audrey Niffenegger. She wrote what is probably my all time favorite book, The Time Traveler's Wife, and it is AMAZING. Go read it now, then read Her Fearful Symmetry.

Anyhoo, Symmetry is about twins and ghosts and love and haunting, all set in an eerie old apartment building next to Highgate Cemetery in London. A woman dies of cancer and leaves her apartment to he very odd, yet very pretty and interesting, twin nieces and the story is what unfolds after they take up residence in this strange beautiful place.

The story is very complex and at times incredibly sad and haunting, but all so beautiful. I love the Niffenegger writes; I just want to crawl into her words and live there forever. Not to mention now I really want to go check out Highgate Cemetery. It just seems so fascinating.

But I must warn readers, it's not a book that makes you feel particularly happy and the ending isn't necessarily happy either. Yet it is still one of the most interesting and gripping novels I have read in a while. Niffenegger just seems to have this gift for creating a story that you might never had thought of and then going about telling it in such a unique way.

It really was a lovely book that, even after I'd finished it, was still thinking about the story for a long time. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something a little less ordinary, but still completely wonderful.

Well hello there friends!

I've been such a neglectful blogger! Things ARE happening though!

First and foremost, Happy Memorial Day! I hope you all are enjoying a lovely three day weekend.

I'm moving home officially next weekend. Words cannot describe how happy and I excited I am. I seriously think that this week is going to go by so slowly. But I will prevail!

In other news, extreme couponing. I'm into it. I've been watching that show on TLC, Extreme Couponing and I think I might give it a try one day. Because I do love a good deal my friends, that I do.

So the next two weeks are going to be a little hectic, with moving and then graduation, but I'm hoping that I'll still be able to squeeze in a few posts, so please bear with me. Things will definitely pick up after June 12! And eventually I'll start doing outfit posts, once I have someone to take pictures.

But things are lookin' good and that's all for now folks!!

Happy Tuesday!

Eeep!

Remember when I got all nostalgic about music from the 90s and Pop Up Video?

Pop Up Video is coming back! For realsies!

I'm super excited! This means they'll hopefully be doing some of the crazy recent videos out there, like the ones on this list by Flavorwire. I know I'm down for some Lady Gaga video trivia. Her stuff is trippy.

Anyway, YAY!

Yoga! Yoga! Yoga!

You're supposed to chant it, like "Toga! Toga! Toga!" (High five if you know this Animal House reference)

Anyhoo.

I love the yoga. I've been going five days a week since I started my challenge, and even though it has been subtle, I can feel a difference. I found out I'm stronger than I thought and a little more flexible than expected, and I'm only improving. I know what I have to work on (extension and holding poses longer) and what parts of my body need some help (hips). It's wonderful. One day I really want to be able to do this.

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Or this one.

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I'm going to be a little sad when I move back to Marin and leave the studio behind, because I really like it. I'm researching and trying to find a studio in Marin so I can hopefully keep up with yoga. Although, I must ask, why is yoga so expensive? There was one place that charges nearly $200 for a month of unlimited classes. That's just ridiculous. I'm willing to pay more than the average gym membership, but come on people, that's robbery. Especially when this particular studio didn't have a good variety of classes or a good space. Lame.


Today I got worked in yoga, my muscles are super tired and I can tell I'm gonna be sore. But I like being sore, because then I know I worked hard.

So there's your yoga update!

P.S. I really want the new Lady Gaga CD. I'm obsessed with this song.

Movies + Hike + Picnic

It's been a wonderful weekend at home, relaxing despite the fact I feel as though I spent almost none of it at my house; I was out and about everyday all day. Yet I feel totally refreshed? Hmmmm.

Friday, Amy and I went walking around downtown Mill Valley and had dinner at our favorite, Left Bank, in Larkspur. We discovered they have happy hour, which I swear must be a new thing because I have been going there for years, and they never had a happy hour. It was delicious. "Petits plats" that were smaller versions of some of their larger plates. We had the mussels and a little mini burger and they were amazing!

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Saturday I went into the city with Amy, because we were going to check out a few estate sales, which actually turned out to be kind of a bust. I mean, don't put that your sale has designer bags and fine jewelry when we get there and that is clearly not the case. It's just rude, isn't it? But we ended up walking around the Marina and I ate a red velvet SusieCakes cupcake at 10 in the morning. Because that's how I roll.

Then, Jenny, Amy, Amy's sister Mary, and I went and saw Bridesmaids. Um it was hilarious. I was seriously laughing the whole time. I highly recommend it, as it show how women can be just as funny (even a little raunchy) as dudes. See it people.

I finished up the weekend with a hike/walk and picnic with Amy in Tennessee Valley. There's a trail there that goes all the way out to this little beach and it is so pretty!

So that's my weekend folks! Happy Monday!

Some poetry for your Thursday

I feel as though my blog got a little neglected the last few days. Sorry about that, there's just been nothing really exciting happening lately. Just working and going to yoga everyday. (Though I will post a yoga update soon!)

Ummm let's see....my oven has been disconnected since last Thursday because it didn't meet carbon monoxide standards or something, and it was really annoying not having an oven for a week. I couldn't cook ANYTHING. But today we got a shiny new oven so I can cook again! Yay!

I was going to post a pretty poem about nature, because it's a pretty day, but all the nature poems I like are Romantic era poetry (Coleridge, Wordsworth, Keats, Blake) and those poems are kind of dark and depressing because the nature is a metaphor for sadness, blah, blah, blah. So I decided to scratch that because I didn't want to be a downer. Instead, I will leave you with a favorite poem of mine, which as actually a children's poem, but I dare you not to smile while you read it. I dare ya.

THE OWL AND THE PUSSY-CAT
By Edward Lear, 1871

The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!'

Pussy said to the Owl, 'You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?'
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.

'Dear pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?' Said the Piggy, 'I will.'
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.

See, cute right?

P.S. Friends, how would you feel about me starting "what I wore" posts, (outfits posts) not just of me, but of friends as well? Thoughts?

Movies! Movies!

The Cannes Film Festival is happening right now, so I've been looking at a lot of pictures of all the stars on the red carpet, at photo calls, reading interviews, because I'm obsessive about certain celebrities...you know. But this year, in addition to some awesome Pitt Porn (term courtesy of Lainey), which is when the Brangelina show up being to pretty to handle, there are quite a few movies this year that I'm really into.

So check out these trailers man, and tell me how awesome some of this stuff looks.

Well, this one looks kind of creepy, but also awesome. Salon gave it a pretty decent review, and I will be seeing it when I comes out in the US in June.

I have no idea what this is about. I want to see it, mainly because the trailer is just so incredibly beautiful.

 This too looks disturbing, haunting, yet incredibly brilliant. Plus you gotta love the Swinton.

And then there's this. Because I'm a sucker for Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. And pirates. I like pirates.

I'm excited for summer movie season, I'm thinking this might be good year. New Pirates. Hangover Part II. X-Men: First Class. Bad Teacher. I wanna see Thor too. And the final Harry Potter...sigh. That's gonna be a toughie. I might actually cry when I see Deathly Hallows Part Two. Plus all these amazing, unique, indie, and foreign films from Cannes, which are coming out soon as well (hopefully). A good time for movies! Escape the heat, grab a giant popcorn and diet Coke, and go live in a fantasy land. Sign me up!

Oh Happy Weekend!

Well hello there weekend. So nice to see you! I've impatiently waiting your arrival all week.

I'm off to Marin for the weekend, to have drinks with friends, attend a lovely birthday BBQ, and of course, bug my dad.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend too!

Cheers!

P.S.  I might have found someone to take my room! Keep your fingers crossed!

Springtime cravings

Maybe it's because of the change in the seasons, the warming weather, the freshness that comes along with the springtime, but I have been seriously craving (and eating) nothing but lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

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Lucky for me, Davis has great produce, and therefore great farmer's markets to help me stock up on all these yummy things!

As a part of being healthier, I'm really trying to eat lots of fruits and veggies. I have always liked them, but sometimes I forget and eat way too much junkier food, like chips. Chips are my downfall. And chocolate. But I'm liking how I'm feeling, with the eating healthier and the yoga and the running, so I'm really doing my best to keep it up. It can be difficult, but it's totally worth it in the end.

No too shabby, Shabby Apple

I ordered this lovely dress from Shabby Apple a few weeks ago, and it finally arrived last week!

I unfortunately do not have a picture of myself in said dress, as it is currently at my mom's house. But it fits beautifully and I am planning to wear it for graduation. It's lightweight and the color is stunning!

It is a little long for me, it hits me right below my knees, which is not flattering, so my wonderful mom is hemming it (just a little) so that it looks absolutely fabulous. But I do really like the dress and will definitely be purchasing again from Shabby Apple.  Like maybe this dress. Or this one. You know, there just might be too many to choose from.

A Yoga Update

Image via www.yogafuture.com

Remember when I said I was going to challenge myself to do yoga at least 6 days a week until graduation?

I'm actually sticking with it. And kind of proud of myself? In the last seven days, I have done yoga five of them. The only days I took off were Saturday and Sunday because I was at my mom's and really didn't have the time. I also have to say, I am really loving it! On Thursday I took a class at a local studio, loved it, and bought a month of classes. I forgot how much I prefer a class to a DVD, because I like having an instructor to correct me and make sure I am doing all the postures correctly. Plus the classes are longer and way more challenging than any DVD I have ever done. I really like this studio and the instructors,  so I'm trying to go as much as possible in the next month.

I'm discovering new muscles and even though it's only been a week, I can tell that I am improving, which is a very nice feeling. I find yoga very satisfying, more so than other exercise, maybe because it's a mind and body workout. And, unlike weight lifting or typical gym stuff, I actually feel motivated to do it because it's not repetitive. I mean, I still like that stuff, but I feel like I might start focusing more on yoga and cardio than weights in the future. Plus I don't want to get bulky, which sometimes can happen to me. I also want to look into dance classes, especially for when I move back to Marin. Right now I'm just feeling very motivated to become a more fit and healthy person and it's really exciting! Stay tuned!

A Night at the Monster Ball

I have a love/hate relationship with Lady Gaga. I find her both exciting and interesting as well as exhausting and annoying. But I do like most of her songs; they're great for dancing, working out, longs drives in the car, etc. But sometimes her act/schtick/whatever you want to call it just gets annoying and I have to take a break from her for a while. Then there was the disappointment of Born This Way. I mean, it's a good song, I like the message, but it wasn't as good as I expected and hoped it would be. I mean, this is the lady who gave me Bad Romance, a song and video that literally blew my mind when I saw/heard it. In a good way. I have some hope with Judas, because I really like it, maybe because it reminds of Bad Romance? I do have a lot of respect for Lady Gaga, she writes, produces, composes, and is very involved in every aspect of her image and career, and she is a tireless campaigner for gay rights.

Anyway, yesterday I watched her HBO special Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden.

I really wanted to see her in concert, but this entire tour has been completely sold out every time I try to get tickets. Or they are just REALLY expensive. I like going to these kind of big, lavish arena production concerts because they are FUN. I went and saw the last Britney Spears tour and it was awesome. You just dance and sing along the whole time and it's really wonderful.


After watching the special, which was really well done, I kind of fell in love with Lady Gaga again. First of all she doesn't lip sync (ahem Britney) and she still sounds amazing. She dances, wears crazy outfits, covers herself in fake blood, plays piano, it's awesome. But I just really liked when she would talk to the audience, which she did quite a bit, talking about growing up in New York and always wanted to play Madison Square Garden, telling everybody to get drunk and have fun. I guess it made her seem a little more human? Because sometimes I really think she might be a robot.

So, if you have the opportunity, check out the special, or if you're really lucky, go see her in concert. I think I have to now, because if a taped special was this much fun, imagine a real show!

Mama's Day

There I am, in her belly!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM! I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!

(I pretty much think you're the coolest mom ever)

This kind of made my day

Tina Fey + Amy Poehler= AMAZING

Yoga Challenge

Image via www.yogafuture.com

So I like yoga. I've been practicing on and off since high school, but I've never been a yoga devotee. Well that is going to change my friends. I've decided to do yoga and run every day (or at least 6 days a week) until graduation, which is June 12. I started yesterday, with a 3 mile jog and a 30 minute Vinyasa flow yoga workout, and I very much enjoyed it.

While I do have several yoga workout DVDs and there are many available on Netflix instant, I also want to try a class, so tomorrow I'm going to check out Barefoot Yoga here in Davis, maybe get a month of unlimited classes, so I have even more motivation to practice. I do want to become really good at yoga, but I know it takes time.

Also, running is kind of awesome and even though I've only been doing it regularly for the last few weeks, I can already see a difference in my stamina, so yay! I want to run a half marathon on of these days and now I'm starting to think maybe that will be possible some day.

So friends, runners, yoga experts, do ya'll have any advice for me?

Happy Tuesday!

Today it is hot. And I took full and complete advantage of that hot and lounged by my lovely apartment pool. I will definitely miss this pool when I leave, I will admit that my friends.

I only stayed out for about and hour and a half, and I do wear sunscreen, with a higher SPF on my back tattoo, but it was still wonderful. I think I really needed all that vitamin D, because I'm in a totally happy mood right now. I hope you all are having a wonderful Tuesday!

CUPCAKES! CUPCAKES! CUPCAKES!

In case you couldn't tell by the title of this post, I like cupcakes. Or any sweet, chocolate-y cake/cookie/brownie type thing. And for the last two weeks I have had an undying urge to bake cupcakes. So tonight I did.

For the record, I really like to bake but currently lack the tools to do all the baking I want to. Not for long though, because once I move back to Marin, I will have access (thanks Dad!) to all kinds of tools. KitchenAid mixer people! Until then though, it's had stirring and sticking to easy stuff, mainly from the box, not from scratch. Sad face.

Anyhoo, I got some chocolate cake mix, whipped frosting, and pink sprinkles and held a little baking party by myself in my kitchen. I swear that's not as strange as it sounds. I just really like to bake. And I had the kitchen to myself with no interruptions. So.

CUPCAKES!

Look how pretty they are, baking in the oven. Chocolate!

Then, frosted and pink sprinkled!

And they are delicious! I only ate two (shocking!) but they are moist and the frosting is divine. I finally satisfied my cupcake craving, and the results were magical.

P.S. I also ordered a copy of Bossypants yesterday and should be getting it soon! I read the first two pages in Urban Outfitters yesterday and was cracking up, so I'm really excited to actually read the whole thing. Tina Fey, I love you!

Met Gala

Tonight is the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Gala and this year's exhibit is centered on the late and great Alexander McQueen (the label that did Kate Middleton's wedding dress!). It's basically fashion's biggest night of the year and honestly it's something I will always dream of going to. Because it is the night where everyone brings out the big guns and wears the most fabulous of the fabulous.

Go check out the red carpet pics, they are pretty awesome, and E!Online has a good photo gallery of the gowns for people who get excited about this stuff. (Like me!)

Though, I think Gisele Bundchen is my favorite, which strangely she always seems to be?
 Like 2010. And 2009. And 2008. I mean I always like several of the amazing gowns, but hers always knock my socks off. See?

Who is your favorite?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The flea market...and tacos!

Ummm...I'm in love with the Alameda flea market. Or Antique Faire. Whatever it's called, I want to live there, or at least purchase everything for my future imaginary home there. It is HUGE. It has everything and I loved it.

Amelia and I woke up at the ungodly hour of 5am and drove to Alameda, so we could get there when it opened at 7, but it was so worth it! There was so much amazing stuff, I can't wait to go back next month, and the month after that and the month after that and forever and ever....

Uhhh..what was I saying? Oh! I did get some stuff, including two pairs of vintage shoes, a vinyl Pink Floyd, a vintage slip, and some old glass bottles I plan to use as vases. I also fell in love with several old rotary phones and typewriters. So of course, these are now two things I have to have. Oh and you know I will.

Now bring on the photos!

I want everything on this desk. And the desk.

Yeah I'm totes a model

I cried a little on the inside because I couldn't take this bed set home. It has a canopy!

After we flea marketed our little hearts out, we headed into the city for some Tacolicious tacos in the Marina. They were incredibly delicious. They also had this beer with this spicy lime stuff added, a spicy beer, that was all kinds of wonderful tastiness. 

We got a lot of tacos. Yeah.

Those tacos were utterly amazing. We got the platter of 10 tacos, so one of each plus two of a few of them. I think my favorite was the fish taco. Yum. I'm still thinking about it now. I highly recommend Tacolicious for anyone who loves a good taco and really good beers.

Today was so fun, but now I am so incredibly tired, it's time to eat some Chinese takekout with dad and watch Family Guy. I hope you all had a lovely weekend!

P.S. I'm trying to wear my red lipstick everyday for a week, and so far so good. Today it held up really well, even after lunch, and I got a few compliments from vendors at the market!