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".

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...)

 

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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. 

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.

 

I wish I could sew something remotely similar to this skater skirt, though... (I got it from Tumblr)

 

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.

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:

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. .

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.

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.

 

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. 

 

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.)

My 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!