Food Friday #007 – CASPA Scholarship Dinner

A while ago, I went to a scholarship reception dinner. It was quite a fancy event, with a whole bunch of unnecessary silverware and plates, but fun nevertheless. The food was incredible – I had no idea chicken could taste so tender and delicious (no really, it was that good!) I was stuffed by the end and couldn't finish the dessert.

Application deadlines are fast approaching, and I still need to apply for more scholarships as well. I'm feeling quite stressed and a bit lost. Hopefully things will get better, but everything feels like it's taking a downturn at the moment. Even on this blog, the pictures aren't uploading properly and turning out blurry, unless I make very specific adjustments, which can be a bit irritating. Eh. :/ ◊

#obsessed: Girls Chase Boys – Ingrid Michaelson

I have at least three posts that I've been wanting to do, but since school and college apps are in full swing, I don't have the time. In the meantime, here's a song I've really been enjoying.


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Wish List / Bucket List

Around this time last year, after the buzz about "bucket lists" had died down (I'm always a little late for things), I sat down and typed a list of all the things I ever wanted to do. Then Evernote crashed in the middle of finals season and I was so mad that I pretty much never opened it again.

Today, as I was trying to clean up some of the things in my computer, I found this list again. Luckily I had the presence of mind to title the note with the date, so without further ado, here is my bucket list from October 23, 2013 with [parenthetical] commentary from present day me:

• go to a concert [I still haven't gone to one! This one's still at the top of my list. Don't know who I'd want to see though.]
• shopping SPREE [This will still be the first thing I save up my money for, just going on a full out shopping spree buying everything I want.]
• eat ice cream on a picnic [I always thought it would be funny to try to climb up a hill or go to a park to have a picnic before the ice cream melted.]
• lie in a meadow and just sleep [When I have the time...]
• cloud-gazing [Again, when I have the time]
• star-gazing [I had something with wanting to just watch the sky, didn't I]
• meteor-gazing [Pretty much the same as above? How did I make these separate at the time?]
• urban camping [I have no idea what this means anymore.]
• sing a cover [Hahaha no. What was I even thinking.]
• walk holding hands [This one's kind of sweet, but I've come to accept the fact that I'm probably going to be #foreveralone or a #catlady, so meh, whatever.]
• karaoke without a care [Did I really think I could sing at any point in time?]
• berry picking [Still seems pretty fun, but I'm more of a couch potato now, so not sure if I still want to do this.]
• sunrise on a mountaintop [Before I graduate! Or leave for college! I want to do the Mission Peak sunrise climb. Spring break maybe?]
• a music video [Not too sure what this one means. Again, I've now accepted the fact that I will never be a singer.]
• dance in the rain [Considering that California is in a drought, this doesn't seem likely.]
• art museum [Maybe Art Club could do this this year. Something good though, not just scribbly modern art.]
• coffee run [I've kind of done this, but one can never have enough coffee.]
• stay up more than 24 hours [What was I thinking?!? All nighters are NOT fun. Never again.]
• classical music in nature [Was I some kind of hippie? Why is this something I wanted to do.]
• travel [Yes. More places.]
• be a crazy average teenager [Working on it.]
• explore a city in full makeup and fashion [Still have to do that fancy photoshoot and be all badass. This will probably have to wait until college.]
• create an alter ego [Done! Kind of. Will probably be changing blog URL to that name soon.]
• answer 20 questions completely honestly [Have yet to do this, but not sure if I still want to.]
• dye my hair bright purple [This is definitely going to happen. Once college apps are over.]
• travel to cities and islands [Kind of the same thing as travel ^.]
• Ted Talk about all those things [Still love TED talks. I want to be a motivational speaker.]
• have a discussion/lecture about how/why the world is messed up [Wow. I was such a pessimist. I still am a pessimist, I guess, but the world is not all bad, and I'm not so angsty anymore. I think.]
• plot twist! [I don't know what this means.]
• read to children at a bookstore [Hmm, not as intrigued by this anymore.]
• be a princess for a day [Yes please!]

So that's that. My old bucket list. I think I've actually changed quite a lot in the space of one year. This list feels like its 50% another person, not me. I saw a comic the other day, with something along the lines of "I'm not where I want to be, but I'm also not where I used to be, and I'm glad for that," and I think that's quite true. Whatever may come, I'm interested to see how I'll be different at the end of it. ◊

Fall Break Update and The Panic/Anxiety Scale

This week is a break, and a well-needed one at that. Schoolwork, extracurriculars, and letter of rec packets have literally made me sick last week, with a fever, stomachache, clamminess, and other general discomforts. I missed 1.5 days of school on Wednesday and Thursday, but since I used those days to sleep all the time and down about a gallon of chicken soup and tons of vitamins, I was able to go back to school on Friday to catch up everything that I missed. Unfortunately, I also passed it on to Diana who sits next to me in art (sorry!), and she ended up out for the rest of the week.

Break has been quite uneventful thus far, and I like it that way. I did nothing on Saturday, but it was mostly unproductive resting. I like to distinguish between "productive resting" and "unproductive resting" because sometimes, just doing nothing doesn't really contribute to feeling more relaxed. Productive resting (especially in a clean, quiet environment), such as making nice things to eat, sitting comfortably in bed reading, leisurely cleaning up and organizing, or focusing on music and only music, leaves me in a distinctly more peaceful state, while also helping to get some things done.

On Sunday, my productive resting activity was candle making; I found some old candles pieces and holders, and decided to tackle the DIY project of making them into new functional candles. I might go into detail later about it in another post, but since I didn't take pictures during the process, it might not be a step by step guide (it is easier and harder than you think at once). If I am aware of it, I make an effort to do productive resting, but sometimes it's very easy to fall into the activity of unproductive resting.

Still, despite having plenty of time to work on things, there are so many things to do (more letters of rec, college apps, speech writing, SAT prep,) and I guess I'm getting anxiety over those things, but sometimes it feels like the anxiety just pops up for no reason. Today I finally tackled a four page bio packet, which should have taken forty minutes, but ended up taking at least four hours because I found it so hard to focus on the work. Tomorrow I'm going to be painting Homecoming skit backdrops, an activity that I enjoy, and that will hopefully relieve some stress. Starting Wednesday, I want to go to the library to work on all of the other things, and be done with it by Saturday in order to have another day to rest on Sunday.

#obsessed: Stay High (Habits Remix) – Tove Lo ft. Hippie Sabotage

One of the little things I enjoy when my family is out for the day is being able to play music from the little radio/alarm clock/speaker device I keep on my chiffonier. The sound quality isn't the best, but the music fills the room and still feels distant and mysterious at the same time. I came upon this song in my art teacher's classroom, and later again through Spotify radio.

Food Friday #006 – BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse

DIY Exfoliating Face Scrub

As much as I am intrigued by bath and beauty products such as the bath bombs and body scrubs from Lush, I regrettably do not have the time nor money to go out to buy them. So instead of waiting for a free day to come by to go out and shop, I decided to make my own.

#obsessed: Rather Be – Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynn

I know I just made a #obsessed post not to long ago, but I've literally, in the most literal sense of the word, been listening to this song on loop all weekend, nonstop. There's been so much good music lately, from Taylor Swift's new single "Shake It Off", to Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj's "Bang Bang" (honestly so catchy, I'm definitely doing a post about it too, soon). However, for now, I'd like to focus on this one because it's a bit of an older song, released at the end of 2013, but I've only heard of it now. The violin is insanely catchy, and whole song just radiates a clean, clear, crisp quality. I like it a lot, and hopefully I'm not the only one hopelessly obsessed with everything about it.


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Food Friday #005 – Johnny Rockets Burgers

#obsessed: Monsters (Acoustic) – Timeflies ft. Katie Sky

Timeflies is one of my favorite music groups, so I am surprised that I have not done a post about them yet. They are an East Coast duo that mostly does covers of popular songs with freestyle raps, describing themselves in a genre they call "Electro Hip Pop Dub-Something". Rez is the remixer, and he plays too many instruments to count; Cal is the rapper, and his freestyling skills are mindblowing. They started on Youtube, and I was introduced to their channel by a friend last year. Since then, they've grown so much, releasing another full album of original songs and touring all around the United States.

Even without all of the amazing digital beats that Rez puts in, their raw talent is extraordinary. It's incredible to think that they are basically completely self-made, reaching #1 on the iTunes chart before even having a label. Here is the acoustic version of "Monsters ft. Katie Sky," of one of my favorite original songs they've made. Enjoy!

Other favorite songs/covers include:

• Royals
• Save Tonight
• All The Way
• Just Can't Get Enough
• I Need Your Love

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