Happy Belated Christmas, One and All!

I think this was one of the best Christmases I've had in awhile. And I think this is because there seemed to be less focus on the gifts, which I know sounds stupid and cliche, but it's true. This year money has been a bit tight in our family, since my sister went back to school and I...well, I've actually always been dirt poor. Being a shopaholic/online shopping addict/compulsively lazy bum will do that to you. There were fewer gifts under the tree, which left us with more time to spend with one another eating waffles and actually talking to one another.

And I feel like even though we each didn't get that much stuff, each of the items had more thought behind it which infused it with extra special-ness. Kinda like these picture frame ornaments i made for each of my family members way back when I had zero money and an unhealthy affection for crafts and DIY projects (I think I was like 5...and unfortunately, nothing has changed. I still have no cash and a strange fascination with art projects). I made these really wonky little paper frames that looked like trash but took me hours to make. Nobody in their right minds would have been excited to get these frames, but my parents oohed and ahhed over them because they came from me, their daughter.

And as I've gotten older, I've come to value more my family and friends and the experiences we share. Life is short, like scary short, and I really want to live a life of no, or at least very few, regrets. I don't think I will ever regret having spent too much time with my family, or having been too nice to my parents, or having had too much fun with my sister, so it was really great having a chance to spend some quality time with the people I love the most.

Now enough sentimentality and back to the materialistic me. Instead of getting myself the Minnetonka moccasin boots (which I still love, btw) for doing well on the LSAT, I bought some Laura Mercier makeup instead because I needed some new foundation. This is really unfortunate because now I'm hooked. And it's really expensive. I got their powder foundation, which offers really nice light coverage when you apply it dry and crazy full coverage when you apply it wet. Unfortunately, the shade I got is a teensy tiny bit too light for my skin tone (the next shade up was a tad too dark), so if I apply the foundation wet I end up looking like Edward Cullen's not-that-good-looking, considerably-less-invincible cousin. Which is not a bad look, it's just not me. Plus, I'm more of a Team Jacob girl myself, but really can you blame me?

Myspace Graphics

Ahem, anyway, instead of getting myself a full priced item from J. Crew or Anthropologie for getting in all of my applications early, I decided to let myself spend $10 for every application I sent in before Nov 15 and $10 for every acceptance I got. And then I went crazy at J. Crew!! (Extra 30% off sale items? Hells yeah!) I think the purchase I am most over the moon about is the Holland Cardigan




I've been wearing it with pretty much everything and it's super duper warm and the best part? It's on sale for $34.99 (in the gray...I got it in muslin, which is $10 more expensive). I know it seems a bit plain, but it goes with seriously everything and I need more practical and wearable pieces like it. Normally I'm all into glitter and sequins and rainbows and whatever, but I've realized lately that I can't wear half of the things in my closet on a regular basis. Like, I was so excited about getting the J Crew sequined shawl collar cardigan last winter (the beauty pictured below)but I've worn it once since I got it (and that one time was to show it off to my roommates in the comfort of our dinky little apartment)...and then moths ate a hole in it and I was horribly upset/in mourning for two days.



So now I'm in a practical piece buying phase. And since I'm going to be a lawyer someday, I should probably start buying things that will allow me to dress the part. But this newfound practicality/rationality does not stop me from coveting this gorgeous Kate Spade skirt


Seriously, how cute is that? Very Emma Pillsbury...and kinda Elle Woods-ish too (if it were in pink) which totally makes it lawyer-y! Unfortunately, I cannot purchase it unless I get into about 28 more law schools...damn.

Wahhhh

That is me crying because I do not want to do any more law school applications. I have been working on them all week and I just want them to be GONE. I've sent in 11 so far and I still have about 4 or 5 more to do. This may seem a little excessive, but I am really worried that I will not get into any law school. My GPA is pretty good and I got a good enough LSAT score to buy those Minnetonka moccasin boots, but still....blah I don't know. If I get into just 2 of the 16 schools I apply to I will be very happy.
Sometimes I wish I were a wizard (okay, I wish this all the time). Seriously, Harry Potter and his wizard buddies never had to apply to anything. Hogwarts came to them via owl. And wizard jobs seem so much cooler than Muggle jobs. Would you rather be an accountant or fight dark wizards in a battle between good and evil? Hmmmm.....tough choice.
Sometimes (okay all the time) I think there's still a chance that I am a wizard and that my Hogwarts acceptance letter is floating around out there. The owls got lost somewhere in suburbia, confused by all of the identical looking houses and similar sounding street names (now is it 703 James St or 730 James Lane? Do I turn right onto Harley Ave or Marley Ave? Is it this 2 story brick house with the white picket fence, two car garage, and Toyota parked in the driveway or that 2 story brick house with the ecru picket fence, two car garage, and Toyota parked in the driveway? Damnit, I give up! I need a butterbeer!)
Any day now, Hagrid will turn up at my front door and say,"You're a wizard," and I'll be all, "What is all this rubbish you nutter?" And he'll be like, "Did you ever make anything happen? Anything you couldn't explain when you were angry or scared?" And I'll say...well, I'll have to say no, now won't I? Yes things have broken around me when I was angry, but that was because I threw them against the wall, not because I emitted some crazy wizard force field thing that knocked things over. So yeah....I guess I can't give up on law school apps just yet. BUT apparently this is what the interior of the U Michigan Law School library looks like
It's practically Hogwarts! Maybe this is where I belong! Now if only I didn't have to do an application for this school...and if they sent out acceptance letters via owl post...

Ruelala Invite

So I'm kinda addicted to discounts....which is good since I'm dirt poor. I've joined a gazillion designer discount website thingies where they have sales on certain designer brands each day. One of my faves is Ruelala...I feel like their sale brands are always really good (they've had Kate Spade, Judith Leiber, Leifsdottir, Stuart Weitzman, and a bunch more awesome brands) and the discounts are pretty amazing. If you join before October 25 by clicking on the link below, you'll receive a $20 credit for the website. Happy shopping and let me know what you buy!

http://www.ruelala.com/invite/pieinthesky

Baby, I'm a Star!

Well, sort of. Because STEVE SCHWARTZ mentioned me on his blog today. Ahhh! I know most people are going, "Huh, who's Steve Schwartz?" right now, but anyone who's taken the LSAT recently knows what's up. Steve writes an awesome blog about the LSAT (just google "LSAT study schedule" and his blog will be the first thing to pop up...that's how I always find it). He gives such good advice and his posts were super helpful. And slightly brainwash-y. At one point, I was willing to do pretty much whatever Steve told me to do. Like, he could have been like, "Hey, you should rub cow manure all over your face, it won't help one bit with the LSAT, but I still think you should do it," and I totally would have dunked my face in cow poo. My whole body even. So thanks for the shout out, Steve, and for not abusing your power.

On a slightly related note, I am still obsessing over the LSAT. I've been anxious all week and I'm pretty sure I'm going to suffer a minor heart attack if I don't stop thinking about this damn test! So I've decided to start knitting. I started reading The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs and it inspired me to take up the craft. I've knitted like two scarves my entire life, but I dug up this old knitting book and I'm determined to become an expert knitter. When I told my friend this, she suggested that I start wearing only items of clothing I knit...Like, I should start wearing hand-knitted jeans, knitted sweaters, knitted underwear, etc. And I'm totally on board. My first outfit? This awesome vest, to get me in the Christmas mood:

from http://theashcan.com/2009/12/18/white-person-xmas-gift-guide/

These super cool shorts: from http://www.craftster.org/blog/just-because-you-can/

Some elegant heels:

http://easyknittingpatterns.blogspot.com/2007/10/easy-knitting-patterns-for-shoes.html

And of course, the one thing a girl can't leave the house without: her Snuggie. Ha! Creepy man not included.

http://files.rose-kim.com/rose-kimknits/labels/Thursday.html

Really, I just want to knit myself some mittens. But unfortunately, I suck at knitting. I think I'm going to have to start watching some youtube videos on knitting because this Learn to Knit in 30 Minutes book hasn't taught me anything. In fact, thus far, my knitting endeavor has made me feel like even more of a failure than taking the LSAT! But on the bright side, in my quest to discover strange yet awesome knitted wardrobe items, I found this website, where you can fork over $185.50 to become the proud owner of this beauty:

I think I'd rather have the Snuggie.

Blah blah blah

So I just took the LSAT yesterday and now I'm going nuts wondering about my score. I honestly feel like I could have gotten anywhere from a 140 to a 170 (hopefully it's the latter). I won't get my score for another three weeks, so I have to wait what feels like FOREVER to see if I can buy my moccasin boots!!! Oh and if I'll get into any good law schools. So now I just need to think up things to distract me for three weeks because now, every time I think about the LSAT (which is all the time), I want to throw up. And I don't really want to do that. Here are some distractions I've come up with so far:

1) Watch Meerkat Manor until I can't see straight. My friend and I accidentally got hooked on this show last month when we semi-jokingly rented it from our school's library. But seriously, this show about adorable little critters? IS MY CRACK. Honestly, I am hooked. It's like a soap opera, but with much better looking characters. And it's quite educational too. I've learned that meerkats have an alpha female that generally doesn't allow any other female to have babies; that meerkats are very territorial; and that meerkat babies are cuter than human babies. Seriously, this I can do without: From http://www.babynewsnow.com/crying.html

But I NEED to get me one of these: From http://www.zooborns.com

Or I guess I could just have the best of both worlds and find one of these:
From http://www.mamanista.com/2008/09/animal-planet-baby-and-toddler-costumes.html

2) Workout (Ha like this will actually happen)
3) Can't think of anything else. Too busy looking at pictures of MEERKATS.

No Money Mo Problems

So I have a slight addiction to shopping...and by slight, I mean shopping is my crack. Seriously. BUT in my defense, being addicted to shopping is much less harmful than being addicted to crack, it's better for the environment, and slightly cheaper. I mean, people spend like thousands of dollars a year on cocaine right? (I know it may come as a shock, but I actually really don't know too much about the world of hard drugs). And there are those people who spend like hundreds of dollars per month on cigarettes or booze. So really, since I don't smoke or drink (too much) or do drugs, I think it's only fair that I buy alot...ALOT...of other, not-quite-as-addictive stuff. Unfortunately, I don't have a real job and my bank account is almost empty, so I have come to the decision that I must cut back on my spending habits. Like, seriously. And it is paining me to write this, but I figure if I write this in a public space, I have to stick to it:
I WILL NOT BUY ANYTHING FOR MYSELF, EXCEPT FOR GAS, FOOD, AND LAW SCHOOL RELATED THINGS
So yeah, that's the plan. The horrible, terrible, physically PAIN INDUCING plan. How long is this shopping ban going to last? Until *sob* May 2011.
But but but there are a few exceptions. A complete shopping ban that lasts for 9 whole months is both cruel and unusual and downright unconstitutional I say! So I am allowing myself a few opportunities to shop.

Opportunity #1: If I get a 170 or above on the LSAT, I can buy myself these Minnetonka moccasin boots that I have been eyeing for quite some time:
Photo from getprice.com.au

I first saw a version of them at J Crew, but the J Crew version, which is pretty much the same as the original, is $88.00, while at DSW, the babies pictured above are $50. So now I have a pretty big incentive to study really hard for my LSAT (because of course, the prospect of getting into a really good law school wasn't enough of an incentive to get my ass into gear)

Opportunity #2: If I get all 14 of my law school applications in before Thanksgiving, I can get one thing from Anthropologie or J Crew. Right now, I'm kinda digging the Plaid Boyfriend Cardigan from J Crew

And the Double-Serge Pencil Skirt in Bronzed Ochre: Annnnnnd I pretty much like everything Anthro has.

So yeah, this is the plan and I am sticking to it!! (hopefully...probably...possibly...) Now I gotta go study for those LSATs!!

Things You Can Learn At The Library

I'm hoping to go to law school next year, but before I can apply, I need to take the LSAT, which is an evil, horrible test designed to make you want to rip out your brain and throw it at puppies. Okay, it's not actually that bad, but it is pretty awful. And I pretty much have one shot to do well on this thing. So I've been going to the library every day because if I don't do well on this dumb test, I probably won't get into a good law school. I've studied more for the LSAT than I've studied for anything ever in my ENTIRE LIFE. And let me tell you, study
ing is awful! No good can come of it. Well except you know, being successful academically, but I think that's overrated. Anyway, since I've been stuck at the library every day, there hasn't been much going on in my life, but I was surprised to find that you can still learn alot about yourself and life in general even when you're sitting at a desk for hours on end in a public library. Here are some things I've discovered:

1. The LSAT makes me EVIL. I've always thought of myself as a relatively nice person and now I realize this is because I have never before had to take the LSAT. There is something about this test that brings out the worst in me. Like one day, I was sitting and doing some practice problems when this asshole plopped down next to me and started playing with her high tech, touch screen, iphone looking thing, and every time she touched that screen, her phone would make this annoying "bloop" sound. So I did what any other passive aggressive person would do: I sighed, rolled my eyes, tapped my fingers in annoyance, pretty much everything except turn and politely ask her to turn the volume off on her cellphone. But in my defense, there are signs posted EVERYWHERE that say Please silence cellphones. They even have a PICTURE of a cellphone with a big fat X through it just in case you can't read! I should not have to do anything that a sign is supposed to accomplish. So finally, after 10 long minutes of silent (because it's a library people! Come on!) seething, I finally turned to this cellphone blooping fiend and gave her my evil-est death stare. And it turned out that the "asshole" with the iphone was a 9 year old girl! She looked at me looking all meanly at her and immediately got up and went crying to her mama (okay, so she didn't actually cry. But she did look very scared and contrite). So yeah, I felt like the asshole after that. I blame it on the LSAT. And also, why does a 9 year old need an iphone? Even I don't have one of those! Sheesh!

2. Even the public library has its fair share of WEIRDOS. Okay, so this one is really gross and disturbing, but again, I was sitting, doing LSAT practice problems, and this guy (I shall call him, Weirdy) with a laptop sat two seats down from me. And I was just innocently sitting there, minding my own business, trying to figure out what hair color Amelia has if she is taller than Bob, but skinnier than Carla, when Weirdy started shaking the lower half of his body. And so I figured he was just fidgety. But then I noticed his hand was hidden under the table. And he was breathing really heavily and even grunting sometimes. And maybe it's just my messed up, head-in-the-gutter self jumping to crazy conclusions....BUT I'M PRETTY SURE HE WAS MASTURBATING. IN THE LIBRARY. NEXT TO A TABLE FULL OF CHILDREN. Let me tell you, I stopped giving a rat's ass about Amelia's pants size and all I could do was just sit there, still as a statue, with a look of horror frozen on my face. Luckily, Weirdy soon got up and went somewhere else (hopefully far far far way from me. And the children! Oh, the children!) and I got back to my studying. I'm still not positive if Weirdy was actually doing what I thought he was doing. But if he was, that means this is the second time in a year that I've seen a guy spank his monkey in a public place. The first time was on the metro after my sister's birthday dinner. We were riding back home and this guy sat down near me, my sister, and her friends and proceeded to reach his hand down his pants and well, you know. And then he ate some crackers. Yeah, people are weird. Why can't people just have the decency to masturbate in the privacy of their own homes?!?! WHY?!?!

3. You can write a book on any subject and there will be someone out there who is interested. Any old subject, even one that you would never think anyone else would find interesting. In fact, sometimes, you can publish a book about it and have it stocked at the public library. This book I saw today is a lovely example of this fact:(Photo courtesy of amazon.com)

Seriously. There is a book on rock painting. And not just any kind of rock painting. Animal themed rock painting. And the title is Painting More Animals on Rocks. That means there is at least one other book out there entirely devoted to the mystic art of painting animals on rocks. I think seeing this book was the best thing that's happened to me all week, if not all my life. I laughed for like an hour after seeing this. And then I kept snickering to myself every time I thought about it. Which was like every 2 minutes. I'm sure people were annoyed. Hey, maybe they wrote something about Weird Laughing Library Girl in their blogs.

Anyway, I think the most valuable lesson I learned was this one:

4. I was destined to be a rock painter! I'm going to check out the book mentioned above and give it a whirl. I'll keep you posted on how things go.

A Lesson

I recently went on a family vacation to Europe and now that I've come back, my friends keep asking me "how was it, how was it?!" So I say what I'm supposed to say..."oh, it was great!" and "the food was amaaaazing!" and "it was such a great experience!" And while these statements are all true, there is one thing that I want to say that I really shouldn't because it makes me sound like an ungrateful, complaining asshole (which is exactly what I am, but I don't want my friends to know that!): DO NOT GO TO EUROPE IN THE SUMMER! IT SUCKS! fdsafieowajmksla

Okay, perhaps this is a slight, slight exaggeration. But seriously, here is why you should not go to Europe between June and August:

1. It is freakin' hotttt! And not in the same way that the guy who plays Jacob in the Twilight movies is hot (he's legal now so I can say that without sounding like a total creepo-perv right? Right? Right?!) It is hot as in yes-I-grew-up-in-Texas-and-now-live-in-Virginia-where-the-summers-are-hot-and-humid-and-uncomfortable-but-Europe-summer-feels-like-Virginia-summer-plus-a-furry-parka-plus-I-lit-myself-on-FIRE.

2. When it is so hot, you must eat gelato and other frozen treats like at least 10 times a day to maintain a relatively normal body temperature (this may actually be the only pro for going to Europe at this time of year). But seriously, some days were pretty much a search for ice cream with a little sight seeing on the side. Like in Rome, there's history EVERYWHERE. We'd just be walking down the street and be like oh, what's this? A sacred place? Full of ancient pillars and tablets and whatnot? In the middle of a bustling neighborhood? Perhaps we should - ooh look, a Starbucks! Or Whoa! That's the Colosseum! When's lunch again?

3. Which brings me to point number three. When it is so damn hot, it's hard to concentrate on anything except NOT collapsing from heat stroke and NOT dying of thirst.

4. It is also hard to be a nice person. Like after a couple of hours of walking around in the heat, I'd find myself seriously itching to slap anyone who was smiling or laughing or otherwise showing signs of happiness/having a good time-ness (why are you so damn happy when I'm feeling like my skin is going to melt off?!!)

5. There are sooooo many people EVERYWHERE. Maybe because no one writes honest blog posts about how miserable it can be to go to Europe in the summer. But I wouldn't mind this so much if people understood the basic concepts of personal hygiene. Seriously, people were RIPE. Like, hey-I-haven't-bathed-in-a-month-and-I'm-trying-to-cover-up-this-fact-by-spritzing-on-some-Eau-de-Dirty-Construction-Worker ripe.

And that's all...once I become more computer savvy, I'll upload some pictures from ze trip.

A Rude Awakening

All my life, people have been telling me I was going to be a success. My parents, teachers, friends, standardized test scores, etc. have been working together for 22 years to inflate my ego to epic proportions. College made me suspect that I was actually not that special. Maybe I was smart, but so was everybody else! That's why we were all there! Also, I realized that I actually wasn't even that smart. Because it turned out that even though I could do basic multiplication in my head and read and all that jazz (things that I was extremely proud of), there were basic skills that I did not know even existed let alone possessed. Liiiike how to open a savings account. Or how to figure out the bus system and NOT end up in the boonies of Charlottesville when I just freakin' wanted some gelato goddamnit! Or how to resist having three desserts at every meal (I still haven't really mastered that one yet). Yet even though being a student helped me realize my true mediocrity, I was still relatively optimistic that I would be, if not wildly successful, at least somewhat not a loser. Yet here I am, two months after graduation, already unemployed and living with my parents. It took just two months to go from "young, fresh graduate" to "pathetic leech who may end up whoring herself out on the streets of suburbia to support her coke cupcake habit." So...if you think about it...that makes me a super-mega-prodigy slacker! I bet no one else has sunk so low so quickly! Yay me!