Three more weeks

Until this semester is over! I'm definitely ready for all of my classes to be over; these past few months have been super-busy and super-stressful. Thanksgiving break is over (back to Berkeley tomorrow morning insanely early) so now I really have to focus on school. All I have standing between me and winter break are three papers and two finals. Oh and about a million pages of reading to catch up on. This will be me for the next three weeks:

Well, except for the fact that I hope I can stay awake studying, haha. Ok, time for me to get to bed so that I can wake up and go back to Berk. Hope you all had a great holiday!

It's My Birthday! :)

Yay for me! I'm 20 years old today. Kind of an awkward age though...officially an adult, but still under 21. Now that I'm not a teenager, I feel like I have to grow up. :( Well today was lovely. My family drove down to Berkeley and took me out to lunch at this cute French restaurant/cafe. It was nice! Then I came back home and was lazy for a while, then my friend took me out to dinner at this good Italian place. All in all, a pretty good birthday.

Here's a picture of the delicious creme brulee from lunch: YUM! Good night everyone. :)

Gym motivation...

Is it weird that when I was at the gym this morning I was motivated by a muscular black man? Ha ha, let me explain. I always see him at the gym rocking out with his ipod and having a blast. So this morning it hit me: though workouts are painful and tiring, they can also be fun and invigorating. I worked out harder this morning than I have in a long time, because I kept reminding myself to have fun and focus on the awesome payoff--feeling and being healthier. So yeah, I've had a pretty great morning here so far.  Life is good!

P.S. check out this site that I got the picture from: http://nunutoolies.blogspot.com   Isn't it super cute??

Quick random tired thoughts

Woke up and hit the gym this morning! It was sooooo good. And I love that the new time change makes it brighter earlier in the morning--it makes it much easier to wake up uber-early. Aaaaagh I can't wait to go home this weekend! And I have the concert to look forward to in 3 days! It will be so much fun.

Quick post tonight; I'm sleepy and must get some sleep so I can wake up and do this all over again. Let's end tonight's post with an awesome website I found: http://ohhellofriend.blogspot.com It is sooooooo cool! I love and want everything on that site. Ok, good night! Much love from me to you!

I have this card posted on my bulletin board above my desk...I have to keep reminding myself to do all of these things! :)

A New Start

So I went to the gym this morning. It was wonderful--60+ min of cardio! And the time change was nice too; I can always use an extra hour of zzzzzzzz-time. Anyway, I think I will start a new tradition with this blog: on the first post of every month I will write down my goals for that month. Then at the end of the month I can see what I've accomplished. 

My goals for November are:

• Work out EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
• Finish assignments at least a week in advance so that I can talk with professors, GSIs, etc to improve papers before turning them in
• Keep up with reading in all classes

Hopefully I can stick to these three goals! I have confidence in myself. :)

Song for the day: Kings of Leon-"The Bucket" (CSS Remix). Happy Sunday!

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone is having a great night! As for myself, I'm holed up in my apartment sipping hot cocoa and reading Anna Karenina--how's that for nerdy? Ha ha. I guess I'm not much of a Halloween person. Anyway, Regina Spektor was amazing last night. Her opening band was pretty freakin' awesome too. They were called Jupiter One. Listen to them. :) Bye for now.

Great start to the day!

So I got up and went to the gym at 6 this morning. I had a great workout, and it really cleared my head. These last couple weeks have been pretty crazy and stressful. Thankfully I have a bit of a break until my birthday, but then it's paper time again. I'm going to take every spare second of relaxation that I can, though. Because I really don't want to burn out. Anyway, I'm really really really excited about a couple of awesome concerts in the next two weeks. This Friday, October 30th, is REGINA SPEKTOR!!!! She's so amazing. And then the following Thursday, November 5th, is MAT KEARNEY! He's great too. I can't wait. I'm going with my favorite sister (she's my only sister haha) and one of my best friends. Ok, time to get ready for work. Love!

My style in a nutshell:

Look what I created!  I love/want everything that I put together... :)

Romantic meets eclectic... by pinkstarburst44 featuring Dorothy Perkins

Items in this set:
Venice Boot Stretch, $50
Woven Flats, $52
Mac C mink twist frame bag, 45 GBP
Gold flower stud earrings, 10 GBP
Shell Flower Clip, 6 GBP

I found this cool website...

It's polyvore.com...you can create different fashion looks and stuff.  I like it!  Here are some of my favorites, inspired by the lovely Zooey Deschanel.  Her style is amazing! 

 

 

Gorgeous!


I'll be back later today...

I'm Back! (Finally)

So, it's been freakin' forever since I've posted something.  School basically took over my life (and my sanity).  But I have a bit of a break in the onslaught of homework, mid-terms, and papers.  I've decided to welcome myself back with a fashion post.  I really love Emma Watson, Natalie Portman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rachel McAdams, and Keira Knightley's different styles.  So here are some pictures of these stylish ladies!  I can only wish to be this fashionable.  :) Enjoy!

It's been a while...

Wow I got so used to posting on a regular basis, and now it's weird being back...though it's only been a few days.  Needless to say, after my relaxing weekend home, it's back to real life.  Meaning homework, midterms, work, and no sleep.  :(

On a better note, tonight I saw a great documentary ("Food Inc.") and attended a discussion panel after.  The panel explored the problems (economic, social, ethical) of the agricultural industry, and suggested steps we can take as consumers to change the system and improve the quality and ethics of the food we're eating.  Michael Pollan, the author of The Omivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food was there, along with Eric Schlosser, who wrote Fast Food Nation, and Robert Kenner, the director of the film.  It was a great experience and I encourage all of you to check out the film and the books (if you haven't already).  I'm off to bed--love to all!

to learn more, go to foodincmovie.com

Post-Concert High...

Actually I'm really tired right now, haha.  But Bon Iver (and Megafaun, their opening band) were so effing amazing tonight.  I love their music a million times more now (and that's saying a lot, because I freakin' loved them before).  I'm off to bed but here are a few shots of the show:

The Fox Theater

The Fox (again)

Megafaun

Bon Iver

Bon Iver + Megafaun

One. More. Day.

Just have to get through tomorrow then BON IVER (!!!) and HOME.  I really need a break.  Though it won't be much of a break because I have a lot of catching up to do.  But we'll see how it goes.  Good workout this morning; did the usual 65min.  I have work from 9-2pm tomorrow, AND it's the day of the huge UC-wide student-faculty-staff walkout.  I'm really interested to see if it lives up to all of the hype. 

New favorite music of the moment (I know, I know, I change music interests often--I like to call it MADD; no, not as in mothers against drunk driving but rather Musical Attention Deficit Disorder).  Anyways, back to the point.  A singer-songwriter that I really like right now is Greg Laswell.  He kind of sounds like Mat Kearney--great voice, catchy rhythms, and fantastic lyrics.  He has three albums and a few EPs out, but I think his most recent album is the best one.  It's called "Three Flights From Alto Nido."  Listen to "The One I Love" and "How The Day Sounds"--they're my two favorites so far.

I hope everyone is enjoying the end of the middle of the week!  It's all downhill from here, right?  :)  Much love to all and I hope you have a good night!

Blah.

It's only freakin' Tuesday.  This week has been so long already.  Bon Iver on Thursday!!!  Can't wait.

Good workout this morning; 65min etc.  So tired though.  Probably because I get ~5 and a half hours of sleep per night which is not enough.  But I have to work out in the morning because otherwise I will never get to the gym.

New favorite music: Ellie Goulding.  She's apparently an "electro-pop" artist and she's really good.  She does a remix of Passion Pit's song "Sleepyhead" that is effing amazing.

Ellie Goulding

People in my office are getting sick again...this time with the stomach flu.  Not looking forward to that one.

Sorry this has been such a blaaaaaah post (apt title).  Love.

Oh Mondays...

I had a great workout this morning!  7+ miles, 800+ calories, 65min.  It made me feel really good.  Other than that, today was pretty ordinary.  Oh except that the weather was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l!  It was supposed to be horribly hot, but it was like low 70s with a cool breeze.  Gorgeous.  Then I had work (sigh) and class (ugh).  Now I am home and feeling lazy.  I think I'm going to join the English Undergraduate Association, because it seems fun and will provide good exposure to professors etc.  And it's only an hour a week.

Oh sad story (not really): the self-defense class I was going to take at the YWCA is all full and they won't take anyone else.  :(  It apparently sold out, which I can understand.  But it seemed fun and quite useful.  I'm sure they have waves of classes though, especially with something like self-defense.

Not much else to report on this front.  Perhaps more exciting news tomorrow?  LOVE!

Busy Day

I've got a pretty full day in front of me...mostly homework, ugh.  But my dad is coming to visit me (yay!) and so he's taking me grocery shopping which is nice.  I have a ton of reading to do; since I'm going home next weekend I'd like to do this week and a lot of next week's homework so that I can relax as much as possible at home.

We won our football game yesterday!  And USC (university of spoiled children) lost!!!  And the Georgia Dawgs won too!  All in all, a great football day.  I forgot how much fun college football is.  We play USC on October 3, so just a couple weeks from now.

To end on a weird yet happy note, I was pouring Splenda into my oatmeal this morning, got distracted by something, and looked down and saw that I had a mountain of sweetness in my oatmeal, in the shape of a heart!  I thought that that was pretty cool.  Hopefully that means today will be a good, productive day.  Happy Sunday!

Back from the gym...

Did my hour+of cardio!  While I was at the gym, there was a karate thing going on in one of the smaller gyms and there were so many cute little kids doing karate!  When I have kids I definitely want them to be active, but I don't want to force them into anything.  I just want to introduce them to all different sports and see which ones they like, if any.  But seriously, soooooo cute in their little karate attire.  :)

My current TV show obsessions: Project Runway, The Biggest Loser, Criminal Minds, Bones, Dexter, Grey's Anatomy...Enough to keep a girl occupied for a while.  :)  I am SO excited for the show "Dexter" to start!  I think it starts Sunday the 27th, so only about a week to go!  Criminal Minds also starts this week.  And the Bon Iver concert is this Thursday.  Well things are certainly looking up on the procrastination front haha...Love to all!

Day 1 of busy weekend...

I'm proud of myself for getting up so early; this week made me so exhausted that all I wanted to do was sleep for a week straight.  But I will go to the gym so I don't have it looming over me for the rest of the day.  The gym opens at 8am on weekends, so at least that gives me a bit more time to sleep.  Thank god for caffeine though, really.

I'm going to the farmer's market today with my friend.  Hopefully I will get lots and lots of good, fresh fruits and vegetables.  Then I have to go to Safeway and do laundry and oh yeah, tons of homework too.  Grrr.  Well I'm going home next weekend so I can have that to look forward to and motivate me to get through the week.  More to come today/tonight.  Love!

That kind of morning...

Yeah I knew today was going to be a looooooooong day when I nearly walked out the door with my headphones and a container of floss instead of my ipod shuffle.  So tired.  At least I made it to the gym and I don't have any classes to worry about today.  Only 7 hours of work woohoo.  Ugh.  I need an attitude readjustment haha.  But thank god it's Friday.  I've decided that Sundays are my catch up on sleep days.  So gym tomorrow at 8 when the gym opens, then Sunday I do whatever exercise I feel like (if any at all).  Well off I go to work.  Hopefully I'll have something better to post tonight, instead of a collection of complaints.  :)  Love!

Lazy lazy morning.

Workout completed for the day!  My cardio at least.  So I guess my morning didn't start off that lazily...but I'll do weights and crunches tonight I think.  Well it's a cold, foggy morning here.  But I love it because you can bundle up and feel cozy.  It makes me want to curl up and go back to bed though.  :(  Sadly I have work at 9 and class from 12:30 to 3:30...but then I'm free to relax and forget about school for a few days (since I don't have school on Fridays).  I have a lot of catching up to do this weekend, as usual.  But I'll take tonight off probably. 

Totally random, but I think I'm going to take a self-defense class at the YWCA in October.  I think it's a 3-week class, Tuesdays and Thursdays 7:30-8:30pm or something.  We'll see how that works out.  Love!

Uber-quick post this morning...

I realized that my mornings consist of lots of numbers: today I woke up at 6, went to the gym at 7, burned ~700 cal, went ~6.5mi, worked out for 65min.  I like numbers though; I can develop a routine within my hectic life.  And working out always makes me feel better, no matter how painful it may be.  :)

My new favorite food item is fat-free Greek yogurt.  I went to Trader Joe's and got some Fage brand yogurt and it is so good!  I got the plain kind and I eat it with Splenda.  It seriously tastes so indulgent and delicious but for 1 cup it's only 120cal and 20g of protein!!!  

It's a great post-workout snack, since you're apparently supposed to eat protein after a workout to build muscle more efficiently.  Gotta go shower now but love to all!  I'll post more later!

Tuesday Snooze Day

I wish it was a snooze day haha.  I woke up at 5 this morning, got to the gym a little after 6, worked out for a little over an hour, burned 800ish calories, went 6.5ish miles.  I really like working out early in the morning because the gym isn't crowded and I can work out for as long as I want on a machine, instead of having to abide by the stupid 30min time limit on cardio machines.  And I like getting home after class and being able to take it easy and not worry about fitting in a workout when I'm exhausted from the day.  

This morning I have a bit of extra time, because I called in to work and asked if I could work from 10-1 instead of 9-12 (because my 12:30 class got canceled).  It's nice to not rush the morning.  And the people I work with are so nice and really try to plan around my schedule.  It's a lovely day so far here in Berkeley; the temperature is a cool 61 degrees, but it's sunny and the sky is perfectly clear and blue.  Enjoy the beautiful day!  :)

Monday night...one day closer to the weekend.

Quick little post tonight, since I'm pooped.  I watched the True Blood Season 2 Finale tonight and it was so freakin' good.  I'm in love with that show.  Yeah so clearly I haven't been productive tonight.  Oh well, I thought I'd give myself a little break.  But my goal for tomorrow is to get up at 5 and get to the gym by 6:15 so I can be back at my apartment by 7:45 or so to get ready for work.  Busy busy busy.  Ooooh today I bought my football ticket for the Big Game (Stanford v. Cal) on November 21st.  It will be so fun!  Well I'm tired so I leave you with this lovely image:

Best TV show EVER.

A good start to the week...

Guess who woke up at 6am and dragged her behind to the gym?!??  Me!!! (As if you didn't figure that one out).  I'm so proud of myself.  I did a little over an hour of cardio, then jogged part of the way home from the gym.  It's not very far, but it was all uphill so it was pretty tiring.  According to the machines at the gym, I burned off 770ish calories and went a total distance of 6.5ish miles.  But I never trust machines; I think they always overestimate the amount of calories burned etc.  But still, a great start to the day.  I've decided that I'm going to wake up early and get to the gym before work at least 3 times a week, and the other days I'll go after class.  Well I've got to go get ready for work, but I'm sure I'll have more to say tonight.  Happy Monday (ugh another week, ha ha) everyone!

Sunday...Fun Day?

Nope, not a fun day.  I have so much homework to do, boo.  :(  At least I worked out this morning, so that's one less thing to worry about--though I think I'll try and work out again tonight if I have time.  The more cardio, strength, and ab work the better!  Oh and I went to Trader Joe's too!  And decided I am in love with that store.  So many good things!  I loaded up on fruit and veggies...grapes, carrots, bananas, salad mix...yum!  I also got some Greek yogurt to try, because I heard that it's got more protein than ordinary yogurt.  We'll see how it is.  And Trader Joe's has the best dark chocolate, so I treated myself to a couple of bars.  I got some delicious brown rice sushi that I'm saving for dinner tonight and possibly tomorrow...good fiber!

I got Mika's new CD, "The Boy Who Knew Too Much," and it's really good so far.  I love him!

**side note:  I love his CD cover art!  Both album covers are so cool!**

We annihilated Eastern Washington in the football game yesterday (yay!).  Oh and a little shout-out to the Georgia 'Dawgs too!  Bears and dawgs are the best, haha.  Well I guess I should go start my reading.  Savor the fleeting moments of this precious weekend everyone!  In my personal opinion, every weekend should be a 3-day weekend..  :)  Bye for now!

Slow Saturday

Last night there was thunder, lightning, and rain in Berkeley!!!  I lovelovelove thunderstorms.  :)  I woke up (got woken up?) at around 2am and stayed awake until around 5 just watching and listening to the wonderful chaos.  Anyway, once I woke up for good at around 8:30, my eye was hurting so I went to the health center.  Turns out I have a stye (a small infection in my eye); nothing serious though which is good.  All I have to do is apply hot compresses to my eye periodically.  I think I accidentally burned part of my eyelid...

The health center is really close to the gym, so I worked out (woohoo!).  An hour of cardio.  :) I think I will try to fit in some 30-day shred tonight as well, to get in some more cardio, strength, and ab work for the day.

Well, our football team is kicking butt in the game right now.  :)  GO BEARS!  Have a fun Saturday night guys!

Yum, dinner!

I'm eating dinner as I write this because I hope that switching back and forth between typing, eating, and drinking will help me eat slower.  That's one of my biggest problems; I usually come back from work and class so ravenous that I eat way too quickly and end up stuffed!  Anyway, today was sooooo long.  No class, but work from 10-5, sadface.  This weekend unfortunately will consist of tons more work (school work, not work-work): lots of reading and catching up in all of my classes.  I'm going to try and catch up on some sleep too.  And grocery shopping somewhere in there too.

Sorry this post has been so boring--I know my to-do lists don't matter much to anyone else.  Have a great weekend everyone!  I leave you with another one of my go-to cooking items:

 

Pappy's Garlic Herb seasoning goes well with everything!  I put it on salads, eggs, chicken, turkey, and anything else that I can think of.  :)

Almost the weekend!

Today was SO hot in Berkeley!  Literally you walk outside and the sun bakes your skin in a second.  Pretty sure I lost half my body weight in sweat.  Anyway, I'm super tired tonight, for no good reason.  Maybe H1N1?!?!  Haha I hope not.  But just to be on the safe side I think I'll pop a bunch of vitamin C and sleep a lot tonight.

My new favorite food item:

 

Veggies you can steam in the microwave!  5 minutes and BAM you've got some good veggies for dinner.

On that note, I need to go get my laundry now.  I feel so domestic because I just cooked myself dinner now I'm doing laundry!  :)  Good night everyone.  Stay cool!

HAPPY 9/09/09!

Quick post tonight:  Today my dad came to visit me at school and take me out for appetizers.  :) I'm lucky because my parents don't live really far away, so it's doable for them to visit occasionally.  Plus it's nice to feel like I can easily go home if I want to (i.e. when I get tired of school, haha).  I hope you all are enjoying this lovely Wednesday.  Can't wait for the weekend though, as usual.  There's a showing of the Pixar movie "Up" on campus on Friday night, and I think I'll try to get some people together to go.  I heard that the movie was really good, so I'm looking forward to it.

Let's see, what music have I been listening to lately?  Jason Mraz, Justin Vernon (of Bon Iver)'s album "Hazeltons"...OH!  Apparently Pete Yorn (love!) and Scarlett Johansson made an album together called "Breakup," and I was listening to a few tracks on it and it's pretty good!  The songs that I listened to mainly had Pete on vocals, but Scarlett sounds good too.  So yeah, check it out!

OK, that concludes this broadcast haha.  Have a lovely evening!

P.S. Go see this movie!  I love it sooooooooo much.  Zooey Deschanel & Joseph Gordon-Levitt are so great together:

Tired Tuesday

Ugh I think I'm coming down with something.  Hope it's not swine flu...knock on wood.  Anyway, on to more exciting news.  Tomorrow night I'm going to see the new Tim Burton claymation movie "9," which is kind of cool because tomorrow is 9/09/09!  School has worn me out already, even though it's only Tuesday.  Three more days and then it's the weekend, haha.

Also, I'm so excited because I just bought another Bon Iver ticket (for my Papa) for Sept. 24 at the Fox Theater in Oakland.  And I'm going home that following weekend.  So all I have to do is get through the next three weeks of classes.  OK well I'm going to go eat some more Vitamin Cs...Bye all!

 

Photo courtesy of Pastemagazine.com

Music is life

I'm in a music mood at the moment, so I thought I'd post a few pictures from some of my favorite concert adventures.  Happy Labor Day!

  Death Cab for Cutie at the Greek Theater

 Andrew Bird at the Greek

 Ra Ra Riot at the Greek

 Kings of Leon at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

Fleet Foxes at the Fillmore

Quick ego boost

So I was really proud of myself this afternoon and I thought I'd share why.  I did workouts 1 & 2 (18 min each) of the Jillian Michaels workout DVD not once but twice!!!  So that gives me over an hour of exercise today.  :)  My muscles really work hard during those workouts; I hope I see results!  OK well that is all I suppose.  Just thought I'd boost my own ego, haha.  Love to all!

Just Because...

I'm in the mood for some eye candy:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Caleb Followill, and Robert Pattinson...doesn't get much better than this!  :)

Well I'm off to work out and do some homework, ugh.  I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful Sunday afternoon and the long holiday weekend!

Photos courtesy of GQ and New York Times

Relaxing Saturday

I'm so happy it's the weekend.  Between work and school, I rarely have downtime during the week, so weekends are my chance to recharge my batteries.  :)  We have our season opener today (football...GO BEARS) and I hope we win!  Unfortunately I didn't get tickets this year, but it's pretty fun to hear all the crazy drunk people cheering outside my apartment.  (I live pretty close to frat/sorority row).  The weather was beautiful today, warm with a cool, refreshing bay breeze.  MUCH better than the hot weather we've been having.

On a totally random topic, I organized all my school stuff today which made me at least feel productive.  I wrote all my deadlines on the calendar and made a reading list, and I was pretty surprised that everything seems pretty doable this semester.  I'm taking 4 classes for 16 units total, which is on the higher end of what people take.  It's especially hard for me because I'm a double major--I basically have to take twice the workload that most people take, and all my classes have to be letter-graded since they're major classes.  But hopefully I'll make it through the semester!

Anyway, since it's getting to be that time of year again, here's a super-cute jacket by Anthropologie (can you tell I'm obsessed? haha) that's perfect for the cold fall weather:

Bye for now my lovelies!

Barely September and already planning New Years...

Yay for the first fashion post!  OK back to business...so I'm flying out to visit my best friend over Christmas break, because, well, I absolutely love and miss her to death and because it's kind of become a tradition for us to spend New Years together.  We both think it would be really fun to have a little New Years get-together with some of her friends, so getting a super-cute cocktail dress has been on my mind lately.  I totally love Anthropologie's selection of dresses, like these:

I like these dresses because they're classic yet flirty and fun, which is exactly the style I would go for.  I have a feeling my poor bank account will take a beating if I ever go to the Anthropologie store in downtown Berkeley...

While I'm lusting after Anthropologie's clothing items, here's one of their pieces of furniture that I would totally sell my soul for:

How gorgeous is that??? I mean really.

Well, to end on a musical note, Jason Mraz (one of my favorites) is playing with Brett Dennen (another of my favorites) in Berkeley in October...I think I'll have to dip into my concert fund for that one too.  :)

Have a great Friday night everyone!

 All photos on this page courtesy of Anthropologie.com