December 29, 2013

well. it's almost new year's eve, right?

Hello everybody! I do know that I've been missing utterly around here for three days and that I have absolutely no excuse except that I was being a bit lazy. Well, anyways, that's beyond the point. Here is the real focus: it's almost New Year's Eve (the life of parties)!
 
 
 
 
Source: Tumblr (unknown specifically)
 
I collected an enormous stack of pictures from Tumblr, and then picked my five favorites. I decided to explain the pictures, since some of them make little sense in the theme of "New Year's Eve":
1. When I look at the picture, I feel like the girl is lonely and confused, but there is still this sense of freedom about her that I love. Sometimes, I feel like that's me.
2. I'll say it outright: I'm frustrated very often. I always feel like taking a random piece of paper and practically  tearing it up. This picture shows that perfectly: the empty grayness that comes with feeling frustrated. One of my New Year's resolutions is to try and use my fluster in different ways.
3. Just because it looks exactly like today: pouring rain, and really gray, with the only color being a measly umbrella.
4. This cat is so beautiful, don't you think? My New Year's wish is that absolutely every animal on the planet will not have to live through torture and hunger and all those awful things.
5. A lot about the new year is learning to be you, I guess. And it's beautiful. This picture was perfect.

December 26, 2013

i'm living in procrastination nation right now, and i kind of like it

 (Source: on picture)
(Source: myself)
The now has stopped falling already. Everything in the city feels quiet and alone. Not that I would know much more than that because I'm holed up in my room, repetitively watching reruns of the 2012 olympics- specifically, the equestrian section. It's all so peaceful, a little bit after Christmas and a few weeks after Hanukkah, a few days before New Year's Eve. It's the break for everybody that I know, and I'm not complaining.
It feels I'm putting everything off until the next day, where I just procrastinate again. And you know what? I like it. It feels really, really, good.
 
I am reading the Gossip Girl series for the first time. Can you believe it? Everybody I can think of right now has either read every single book in the collections, or watched the TV show. I've done neither before. I would tell you that I've been reading the books the cute, traditional way, with little English tea cups and all of that, except so far, I haven't tried a single type of tea that I actually ended up liking.
Gossip Girl makes me want to write my own book. I don't really know about what exactly it would be, or what it would be called, or anything. I just like the idea of it, and as you can probably tell, I also really like to write.
 

 
Umbrellas are suddenly so into the picture. Everybody has them in all kinds of sizes and patterns and whatever else the umbrella world has thought of adding. I guess they seem kind of romantic or something like that. The two pictures I  picked out above certainly seem that way to me!
 http://distilleryimage8.ak.instagram.com/6bf576ec6e4c11e39ef30ecb098d5c88_8.jpg
This is me at the beach yesterday morning. I was wearing these enormous, oversized jeans and a giant coat that were so comfortable and cuddly (if you know what I mean)! I was just standing there, watching the still water, when my mom (who is a photographer by hobby) took a picture of it. I look like a dork. But honestly? I don't care. I like it.

December 22, 2013

daisy and the vacuum cleaner.




Well, HI. I was having ENORMOUS trouble with deciding what to make for my parents this year. Finally, I decided that I would make my mom a tote, and make my dad some lavender soap so that he can learn the true meaning of "vacation" and "relaxation". (read this if you have no clue what I'm talking about)
For Thanksgiving, The New York Times published an article (I was going to link this but of course I can't find the article) that the worst gift to give someone was a vacuum cleaner. My dad hadn't read the article, and for Thanksgiving, he got my mom a tiny personalized vacuum cleaner for her closet-room. It's now a big joke a in the family that he'll get my mom a customized bag so that she can store the vacuum cleaner someplace.
Last Sunday (I think I forgot to tell you about this), my best friend Ella and I went to some sort of fashion shows. My mom used to be a fashion designer, and her mom is a fashion designer, so I guess it was kind of fitting. Anyways, I was really impressed by this guy, and his main inspirations were corsets (can you believe that?!). It doesn't show in these two dresses, which I posted below, but I thought they were really cool and certainly on the unique side. (Oooh- and the statuettes had heels with little Eiffel Towers!)


 
I still don't really know why I named this post "daisy and the vacuum cleaner".

December 21, 2013

my vacation bucket list


My dad told me I should probably make one. "We're on winter break, after all." That's what he said. He meant it as, "How about we all make a list of things we should work on during break?" Except he said it as a statement, not a question. My mom and I both agree, though, that breaks are for vacations, which are for doing nothing and getting bored and just being a couch potato. Which I kind of am, anyway.
I made an Instagram for my dog, Caline. Yeah, I've heard that I'm kind of crazy. So what?
Over the break, though, I'm planning to improve my photography skills so I don't have to rely on Tumblr anymore. My mom though that was a great idea! (which probably tells you a lot...)
 

 
Rookie Mag's December theme is Forever. I think that's a beautiful theme. (heh...heh- I sound reeaaally similar to my best friend's mom) Anyways, I was thinking about the time when I told my aunt about the new "in" thing here in the US, 'cause she and my entire extended family live in France. Of course. Anyways, I was telling her about all the hair bows girls my age clip to their hair, and then I told her that I felt like we were imitating the little Japanese girls from those comics in Japan: enormous hair bows, frilly dresses, and polka dots. You know what my aunt said? "I wish I were young again!" All grown-ups say that. 
Then, on Tumblr, I found this picture that says, "we are young". It's such a coincidence, but it kind of got me thinking. Those roads decked with fall's leaves sometimes feel like they go on forever. Braids intertwine in what seems like an eternal pattern. If you really think hard, a lot of things go on forever. 

December 20, 2013

quaint little things

I think we've already established the fact that I CAN'T sew. At all. Have we? Maybe not. Well, I can't. Last time I tried sewing a button onto a piece of fabric, the fabric ended up having a little too many holes to have any sort of usefulness anymore. My friend Maxine, though, totally can. She made a whole dress from scratch. In my opinion, she's a little too obsessed with making hair bows, but don't tell her I said that.
http://25.media.tumblr.com/91574b58e62ed761f6c800471dc07f4a/tumblr_mvmn8sPvjK1r8rlu7o1_500.jpg 
I wish I could sew something remotely similar to this skater skirt, though... (I got it from Tumblr)
http://24.media.tumblr.com/4a5aeb9fae98b139b5988cbed55176a0/tumblr_monxq6WOuI1rfb7c8o1_500.jpg 
This picture right here, if you don't mind my saying, is my new over-obsession. Even though I'd rather not think about how the deer came to be put on someone's bed, I've still decided that something about this picture makes me... think... (heh. That sounds weird.) (again, I got this picture form Tumblr)
 
Okay, then... it looks like I'm getting all these pictures from my Tumblr feed. beyond that. I am definitely NOT a cat person, (I am a proud horsey-rights activist and dog-lover), but this picture feels so perfect for the winter collage that I'm making. Maybe I'll cut out the cat...
 
I wish I could do this... I showed this to my best friend, and her only remark was, "All that glitter must hurt." huh.
 
Since when do I like every cat picture I come across?
 
I wonder who that reminds me of... could it be... me? Haha. This happens to me every time.
 
This is basically straight out of what I imagined Green Gables in Anna of Green Gables to look like.

December 19, 2013

my new favorite person

 
I just met Thanhha La, the author of Inside Out and Back Again, which you should definitely read. That woman is SO cool! She has the humor to last you a lifetime, to put it simply- pretty much unlike me. Since nobody understands the strange sense of humor that has been running down the family lines for the last million years, and since I am stuck inheriting it. Unfortunately. 
Inside Out and Back Again is a story that takes place during the Vietnamese War, about a girl named Ha, her mother, her three brothers, and the memories of her missing-in-action father.  Ha comes from being a joyous Vietnamese, papaya-loving girl living in south Vietnam to becoming somebody who feels as if she isn't recognizing her own self. At the peak of the war, Ha's family makes the trip and comes to the United States, in Alabama. There, she tells about the struggles of learning English, figuring out that her host was not a cowboy, and standing up to Pink Boy the bully. It's written in poetic verse, but is very understandable. 

 
When I read the book, even though it was amazing, I didn't really understand just how fascinating Thanhha La herself was. Her humor is, like I said before, to the moon and back, but what I personally find the most interesting about her is the fact that she actually lived through the experiences  she describes in her only novel. Especially her love of papayas.

Well, okay. Beyond that. I made a whole set of moodboards today. Just because. I'm getting into holiday/vacation mode, I guess.

 
Turned into:


December 16, 2013

dancing like the snow

I have a LOT to go through with you right now, especially since the last few days were incredibly, um... Saying "life changing" sounds too forceful. Let's forget about that and move on.
The Julliard School had a fantabulous performance. One of my actually pretty good friends was, of course, the star. Okay. Intermission. Before I go on, I'd like to mention that I am absolutely inflexible. I got it from my dad, unfortunately. My attempts at creating something practical out of ballet, quite evidently, failed. That's all you need to know. Let's get back to the story.
The performance at Julliard was all ballet- but not the fall-out-of-your-chair-in-boredom kind of ballet. They had cool music, not to mention costumes and scenery. Watching the dancers, for me, was something I will never forget. The grace with which they moved and stretched, well... I will never be able to accomplish anything remotely similar to that. And yet, strangely, it made me feel free. Like not even the sky was the limit. (However, we all unfortunately know that there are limits, particularly to my flexibility!)
The best part- or one of them, at least, is that it's finally started SNOWING!
As the holiday break is getting closer, I've decided to start a diary. Correction. Another diary. I already have about two hundred notebooks that have been attempted to be used as diaries, but failed me. And I'll just keep trying again. .

December 10, 2013

the difference between mush and snow

Wait- I had a really funny story that I wanted to tell you right now, but I just forgot it. Oh, wait- I remember. However, now that I think about it, I'd rather not say. You know that moment when you're about to DIE because you told a story that you thought was simply HILARIOUS, but apparently, your audience doesn't really agree on the funny part, and you try to make something extra up so that the person/people will laugh? I was just thinking about how ridiculously often I do that, since nobody ever understands my sense of humor.
ANYWAYS, you know how on Sunday I was wishing so desperately for some snow to start falling? Well, it finally happened! except it was mush. i needed an umbrella in order not to feel the almost-rain. Global warming is really awful.

I

I kind of miss the summer, and yet... I would love to see some more snowflakes.
I think that most people I know hate snow. Probably because it's freezing. Yesterday, my dad was sitting on his little IC boat, in the middle of nowhere, with absolutely NO wind, and negative temperatures, and he STILL wanted to sail. Nothing against sailing on my part, unless it's the winter! Lord(e).
 Her expression... it's a prizewinner. In my opinion.

December 8, 2013

snowfall

Well, hello again. I really wish it would snow this year over here, but at the rate the weather is going at, that might take a while. It's way to much like Spring right now- don't get me wrong, Spring is my favorite season- but it just doesn't feel fair to me. Snowfall is my absolute favorite part of any year! 
I think that it's lately been one of those weeks of pure thoughts. I keep seeing things that make me kind of upset, though I don't really want to share them right now. In a way, the song "Timber" is making me feel a bit better- it's so inspired, that it makes me feel like saying, "So what? This is life!" But it's not as easy as that. 
I went through millions of websites and this and that, and found all sorts of things that little by little are making me feel a bit happier. Altogether, I don't exactly feel awful anymore!
 
This is my favorite book, both ever and right now. It just came in the mail yesterday, after I'd finished reading the prequel, The Selection. This book is perfection to me! I really don't want to give any spoilers right now, but I will say that it's continuing the story of how America Singer is fighting for Prince Maxon's love, but with some surprising turns and discoveries in between. I summarized the first book here, if you're interested.
http://distilleryimage11.ak.instagram.com/d590dec45ba611e3962312f43f382231_8.jpg 
This girl's Instagram account is a pure heaven to me (this is one of her pictures, just to credit the source). She has her own horse, Benji (I'm SO envious of her), and she has dedicated her entire instagram account to him. Literally. 
http://distilleryimage1.ak.instagram.com/c88676d4602f11e38ec60ed5b89ef40f_8.jpg 
This is one of my own pictures. It's so simple and, let's face it, kinda cheesy. But in any case, it still reminds me that even though I don't have my own horse the way Brittany up there does, I still love riding and have it there for me as my ultimate passion.

Ahhhh... volleyball. Sports. I've sort of been putting off on that one for a bit of a while now. Let's face it: most people, when they first see me, mistake me for a girl who spends all her time at one ball sport or the other. Truth is, my only feeble muscles are the ones I get from horse-back riding, period. Me spending time at ball sports, and enjoying them? What a joke! I honestly don't really see the point of them. (This is top confidential information: I have a completely perpetual fear of balls. You're staring, I assume.)
20130621-123220.jpgMy dog. Because she's my best friend, even though she punched a hole through my cashmere sweater. (Love you bubu!)
And you know what? I feel SO much better now!

December 7, 2013

my favorite things this week: walking through space

I'm admittedly proud of my Instagram account, mostly because of the pictures I've managed to take- but that's beyond the point today. I'm trying to experiment with creating collages. What do you think of the first one? Wait, don't tell me- it's terrible. I know. However, I still used it as my cover album for my little playlist of 8tracks music:

 
Well, what do you think? You can probably listen to it as you scroll through the ages and ages worth of pictures I'm about to put up. Ooh- and I decided to make a holiday gift guide.


Have a good weekend, everyone!

-these are all taken from my Instagram using an iPhone 5. the collection and collage were made by me.

December 6, 2013

fizzy bubbles

 


I'm sitting here while sucking on a blow pop and trying to figure out what in the world i wanted to say today. I'm sitting in a library- I should know exactly everything that I want to say, but no. Too bad.




I love Diane von Furstenburg's new collection- that probably has something to do with the fact that I'm completely and utterly addicted to color. However, even though I love the way the dress above looks, I don't think I'd want to wear it. Things like this seem to get old way to fast.
I also have a new book for you guys to read: Wicked Girls, but of course I forgot who the author is (once again, you can catch up on other books here). Wicked Girls is written in the form of poetry, but story-like. It tells the tale of a group of girls, and their involvement in the start of the Salem Witch Trials- and this time, they're the bad girls. The ones that started an age of pain and torture for many innocent people. I think, though, that it's fictional, so you really don't have to worry too much.
I have a ton of pictures from this week on my instagram, which you can find right here.
enjoy your friday, everyone!

December 5, 2013

oh, joy.

Hi there. It's almost the weekend. Actually, it feels like the weekend already. The world seems to just be humming around in endless circles, and it feels like the birds are tweeting all day long. Those are only my fantasies, though. It's almost winter. We all know that doesn't happen in the winter.
It still stifling and humid where I live, though. There's no sign of the happy, white winters we've always had. Me? I blame it on global warming. Stupid global warming. People are basically killing themselves, a whole continent, and one of the world's most important cities (New York is predicted to soon be entirely submerged). Oh well. Enough of that. I want to think happy thoughts.
I changed my blog's name. Before it was The Neon Guava, and now it's The Blue Papaya. I just think that The Blue Papaya sounds much better. However, theneonguava@gmail.com is still my email address and all my social accounts are still the same.

You know that out-of-nowhere trend with braids and  plaits and those pretty hairstyles? I really want to try them on me one day, but I absolutely can't imagine myself wearing two braids. For as long as I can remember, I've been wearing one of those slouchy high pony tails (if you know what I mean). Me with two braids in my hair is practically like... oh, I can't find anything to compare it to.

I also wanted to recommend a book that I've been enjoying a LOT these past few days: The Selection (i wish i knew the author at the moment). It's actually a trio, but the first book is my personal favorite. It's slightly like the Hunger Games, except much more romance and gush than violence (in fact, there pretty much isn't anything horrible in the book). I don't know about you, but I absolutely can't get through the Hunger Games without having half a heart-attack and nightmares for two weeks. ANYWAYS, The Selection is about 35 different selected girls, each from one of the 35 regions in the land of Illea. One of them, America Singer, has absolutely no interest in what she has been selected for: to win Prince Maxon's heart, and the crown.
(dot, dot, dot...)
I'll leave you hanging. It's much more fun that way.

December 3, 2013

little tiny hooligans

WELL HI. I didn't really know the total, true defenition of "hooligan", so I looked it up: a violent young troublemaker, typically one of a gang. However, since I like the word so much, I'll just pretend it means something along the lines of "minor catastrophes" or 'troubles". Because that makes it all sound much better and much more pleasant, don't you think? Someone told me that "hooligans" was the word they used to describe scamps in the days of bonnets and top hats. If so, then it must have quite an interesting history...
Enough musing about weird things like words. (however, since we're technically still on the subject, don't you just love the sound of the word "vagabond"? It means "wanderer".) Okay, okay, I'll actually stop, just because I still have SO much to tell you and only one post to do it. Let's start with my Thanksgiving weekend in the Hamptons.
I went with my family and my dog, and it's kind of become one of those old traditions. We usually drop everything off in our rooms and house, then we take a nice, long walk on the beach that usually lasts several hours to apparently think about the world. It also mostly involves me using one of those "extended-arm" throwers to toss tennis balls to my dog, Caline, which she hurls herself on. It's really funny to watch. I even made a video highlighting some of my favorite moments from the Hamptons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRBBdMjPMJs if this experiment doesn't work:
I'm sorry if it's a little bit boring at the beginning. Also, ignore the WordPress part. Those days are over!

Besides that, I'm having a little bit of a socks problem. My room is quite a clutter, mostly to the immense frustration of my poor parents (if i feel like being nice, i let them clean it for me. just kidding!). So, it's unfortunately a bit of an issue that my lost socks all look right at home in the mess. It makes it really hard to find socks that you actually want to have in your possession.
For your sake, though, I'll skip charming you with dreams of a lovely new batch of colorful socks.
Socks
Do any of you like Shakespeare? No, I suppose probably not. Big surprise there. However, if you saw "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (managed by the one who did Broadway's "The Lion King"), you'll love the old chap right away. At least the play wasn't a tragedy, but besides that: it was SO funny and charming! There was an article of it featured in The New York Times, which is how my mom came to find it. I hope you all can see it soon!


December 1, 2013

the new girl

Hi. My name is Amelie, and I'm pleased to meet you (that's what everybody's supposed to say). I really love horse-back riding, and compete. I also like fashion and volleyball a lot, because, let's face it, few girls don't (or at least that I know of). I'm going to be posting about things that I like on here. I've tried blogging before, but it somehow never really worked out: I used WordPress, which was kind of hard to customize, and I also always tried to go for a certain kind of theme. This time around, I think I'll just stick to being me.
I'm kind of a bit perky, and I still like to play mermaid games (I wasn't planning on telling you that, because if anyone found out, it would probably be the end for me).
I travel a LOT. The only continents I've never been to are Asia and Antarctica, but I certainly plan to go to Asia in the future- Antarctica not so much.

1. My favorite paranormal activity is zip-lining and white-water rafting. I did both in Costa Rica last summer.
2. My favorite clothing designers are Marni, J.Crew, and so many others that I can’t list them all. I love reading the magazines “Vogue”, “TeenVogue”, and “Nylon” the most.
3. Whenever I see the movie “Gone With the Wind”, I start leaking like a drain pipe. The most dpressing thing of all, in my opinion, is that the poor lover’s horse gets ridden so hard that when the journey is finally over, he collapses and dies, and the woman doesn’t even care! I’m trying not to give anything away by not giving any names…
4. My favorite foods are Gnocchi, Spaetzle, Bacon, Seaweed (I’m entirely serious), and any sort of noodle.
5. I do have a bit of an obsession with making things, so my blog will feature a lot of collages in the future.
6. I am horrible at making jokes, because my sense of humor is so unique that nobody understands my incredibly funny sayings (should I say “pun intended t make anything better?)
7. My favorite person in the world is my dog. She never gets mad at me when I’m being stupid, and when I’m sad, she’s always there to comfort me.
8. To be honest with you, I find TV pretty stupid. I do love to watch movies, but it ticks me off that 99% of the watch-able shows all have ads every ten seconds. In comedies, you also have that fake laughing in the background. Ugh! (Don’t take anything personally. You’re not the only one who has ever stared at me like I’m crazy. In fact, I get that a lot.)
9. When I’m grown up, I plan to write a book and be an architect or a scientist. If you haven’t caught on yet, I like to think of myself as a chic geek. Of course, it’s not like I’m about to tell anybody that.
10. In my opinion, the best thing in the world is being happy. (I sound like a monk when I say that.)

The Girl On That Bike


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