#radicalselflove

Instead of doing my cognitive science, computer science, math, or phonology homework, I worked on the Radical Self-Love homework Gala assigned. Here's the first page of my Radical Self-Love Bible, which I realize isn't all that self-love-y, and my Forever21 totem sitting on my untouched math homework:

Which is my way of telling myself I cannot be afraid of failing because I will always fail. Never failing would mean that I'm doing something boring. Something too easy. Something everyone else can do. Never failing means I am letting myself be mediocre.

And I can jump off the cliff because as "The Fountain of Fair Fortune" from The Tales of Beedle the Bard so wisely puts it, there is no magical fountain. A bird already has its wings; it just has to learn how to use them.

But while I am letting myself fail spectacularly, I am not allowed to downplay anything I have accomplished. Anything.

And I am choosing not to know exactly where I'm going.

So my totem is a two-finger bird ring (not recommended for programming sessions; very keyboard-unfriendly) that's supposed to remind me that my metaphorical wings already exist, even if I can't see them, and even if I'm not sure how I'm going to use them. I have to jump anyway, because as Lincoln put it, what am I waiting for? When the surface is calm and I can't fail? I'm not going to learn how to swim without the risk of drowning.

And I'm not going to accomplish anything worth accomplishing without the risk of failing.

So I fly.

Alexander McQueen...

His shoes have served as a great inspiration for the last few years. This past collection was beyond words.

What a sad and tragic way to end it all.

Rest in peace Mr McQueen. I hope you find the peace you are after.

Better than I ever could have said it...

A Beauty in My Shoes!

I'm always so happy to see fellow bloggers in my designs. ESPECIALLY when they are super fantastic bloggers!

Gala Darling is always working it and when I saw her recent post in her new Harajuku Lovers shoes I was giddy! Look how adorable they are on her!!

I love that she's wearing the heart shaped buckle in the front... VERY Harajuku ;)

Here's a close up of the shoes...

Love love love.

THANKS Gala Darling for letting me use your gorgeous photos!!

If you guys have any links to YOU in a pair of HL shoes I'd love to see!!

dry days

I demonstrated in a previous post that my rainy day outfits all look the same. It would appear that too many days of rain in a given week also hamper my sartorial abilities on dry days. Ladies and gentlemen, one, two, and three:

Above, scarf: Old Navy. University of California, Berkeley pullover v-neck sweater: hand-me-down. Pink plaid skirt: Nordstrom Rack. Black tights: generic. Plaid shoes: Keds.

Above, gray sweatshirt: Target. Ravenclaw-esque scarf: gift. White tee: Hanes. Skinny jeans: Forever21. Plaid canvas: Keds.

Above, gray cardigan: Uniqlo. Light blue thermal: Old Navy, gift. Scarf: Old Navy. Tiered black skirt: secondhand. Black lace-up boots: Steven by Steve Madden.

My Friends are Gorgeous AND Talented!

You guys have to check this out! My annoyingly beautiful and very talented friend Skully handcrafts these beautiful one of a kind veils, and when you see them you'll make up a reason to need a veil!

Check it out- En-Veil.com

Then there's one of my oldest and dearest friends, Jessica Palermo, who is getting married next month. We're going to celebrate her bachelorette in a really exciting way! Well, In MY opinion anyway.

Jess is not your average bachelorette. She's incredibly creative (she designs Badgley Mischka footwear and is our new and improved Charles Jourdan designer) and entertainingly quirky so when talking about what we should do for her party I knew she'd be into my sort of out there theme.

The idea came from Jess and I laughing about the average party where girls wear embarrassing condom covered veils and are surrounded by their scantily clad girl friends. Not really our style.

I thought it would be really cool and glamorous to sort of do the opposite. To have all the girls dress in sexy black dresses and vintage black veils (enter the En-Veil tie-in) and call it "mourning the death of her singlehood"... yes I'm serious, and to my pleasant surprise- Jess loved the idea!

Doesn't that sound fun!?

What fun crazy things have you guys done for a bachelor/bachelorette party?? Spill it!

hello gorgeous

BY THE WAY. Unless you've been hiding under a rock, Chanel and Christian Dior Spring 2010 Couture were beautiful. Yes or yes?

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Things I Love: January 2010

[EDIT: Post attempt #2. With any luck, the font sizing and links won't have any problems.]

This is a little late.

Dear 2010, you're kinda cute. Let me count the ways!

• frozen spoons
• Closet Confidential, a real-life book by Winona from DaddyLikey that I am totally willing to pimp. It should be required reading for women everywhere. Especially the part about having a handbag ready for an emergency.
• my new lace-up boots
• Scheme
• Crepevine
• my mother
• 17 Again and Zac Efron

No, srs, guys, where is my mature, loving, family-oriented 37-year-old-man in the body of a 22-year-old Adonis? [via]

OHAI. [via]

• babies
• when you go on comegetused just hoping to make a few bucks on your old textbooks and it turns out your buyer is kinda cute
• Ling-Ling
• that my generation of celebrities is accessible on twitter and tumblr (Dianna Agron's tumblr and Cory Monteith's twitter!)
• Tony
• Special K and Gordon:

• fitting into my Prada skirt that I barely fit into last year
• my aunt for thinking of me before giving away her old clothes
• lining my skirts because I can expend more mental energy on not tripping and less on whether my skirt's gotten stuck between my legs yet
• Avatar
• the Cartier exhibit at the Legion of Honor, where I learned what a bandeau is

• cleaning out my makeup bag
• playing with Carissa in our blanket fort in the living room
• coral-pink Neutrogena lipstick
• blog comments
• YOU GUYS! Seriously. All 2.5 (aka ~90) of you. Your comments are JOY. Except you, Chinese Spambot. Your comments are not joy. Maybe I should just leave them there instead of deleting them from now on.
• Connie
• my apartment because oh there is nothing like having a quiet, empty building to yourself after a month at home in a house with heavy familial traffic
• that I have gone back to normal shampoo + conditioner having tried 'poo alternatives for 8 (?) months
• Daniel because finally there is someone equally enthused about course material! Anyone who has "faɪnəli ɡɔt̚ aɪ pi eɪ ɑn hɪz mæk!!!" as a Facebook status has to be awesome.
• Jessie
• falling asleep in CS3L lecture and waking up to Professor Harvey asking for a 2-word Beatles song, calling out "Hey Jude" from the back row, which he used, and then falling asleep again
• Ching
• my Skullcandy headphones
• Dr. Bronner's lip balm on sale at Target
• Saturday night family dinners
• feeling sleepy at 11 PM
• nurseries and the smell of wet earth and miniature daffodils

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• short skirts
• Marc!
• "Fix You" and this cover because I totally do have a crush on the lead singer
• my Hunter rain boots
• Stephanie my lab partner! Here's to 3-hour 8 AM labs!
• Carmen & Liz
• SET!

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• Mihran and Kathleen
• Soda because it is a really nice building and there is never a line for the women's bathroom
• apartment meetings where we go over our rent and utilities and animal menstruation
• every single time that I reaffirm that I really, really like linguistics
• Sunshine
• planting my snow and sweet peas and the subsequent dirt under my fingernails
• my tiny 9-person linguistics discussion with the Uma Thurman GSI
• my mother's old trench coat and the love and labor that went into taking up the hem and letting out the sleeves by hand
• fucking my fear because it is good for me
• breaking my shopping ban
• getting into my waitlisted classes (12th for a 50-person class and 23rd for a 150-person class)
• This extremely useful diagram provided by the management:

LOOKERS! The first edition of 2010 and the first edition ever with LADEEZ. 'Cause I have the biggest crush on Dianna Agron. But first, the ... less fair sex:

Above, I have no idea who this is. But he is obvz my soulmate because I make that face too. And I have a trench coat. We were made for each other. [via]

Above, HAIR UNF. [via]

Above, THAT HAIR. THOSE SHORTS. The fine blond hair on his legs! (But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!) Thank you, T. S. Eliot! [via]

Above, Matthew Morrison + a cigarette = so bad it's good. [via]

In complete honesty, I can't decide if Jake Gyllenhaal with a Harry Potter scar, Harry Potter glasses, and Harry Potter convention pass is sexier than this Jake Gyllenhaal:

Aaaaand time for some major Dianna Agron spam (with a bit of Lea Michele):

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By the way, um, isn't that black top beautiful? [via]

And one for the menfolk 'cause dressed down is sexy too. [via]