Goodbye 17, Goodbye 18, Hello Love

Well, I'm in the home stretch. The last year of my teen years has dawned and I'm ready. 19 is kind of an ugly number, I'll be the first to admit it. It lacks all sorts of significance and it's kind of creepy that 18 is over. 19 is total limbo. When I hear older women talk about their youth, they always reference ages 16, 17, and 18. Age 19 is nowhere to be found.

At 16 I thought the girls in my class were idiots for dating anyone because, God knows, they'd find someone new that they "loved" in 2 weeks {Boys were juvenile, and girls were clueless. And now, when I see a young teen couple, first I think, "Gag me." and then after a second, I think, "good for you for at least having a boyfriend in high school, at least you make each other happy....for now"} At 17, I was embarrassed to be reading Seventeen Magazine because I felt like my brain was shrinking from their unbelievably shallow articles. And at 18....well....I certainly don't think that I made a lot of mistakes; I didn't sleep around, I didn't experiment with any type of "club drug" and I definitely didn't fail a class because I was too busy socializing. My point is not to observe that 19 is my one last chance at hitting it home with jack-ass "teen" choices, rather, it is one of the last times to be blissfully immature.

I'm typically pretty worrisome about appearing immature, so I (usually) try to compose myself in a way that would please adults. This year, I look forward to not worrying about the "mature" or "responsible" thing to do and just deciding in that moment: what is best for me? After all, you're only young once. I look forward to NOT acting like a 30 year old women and instead acting like my age: a 19 year old girl. So Catherine? Wear that mini skirt, go to the party on a school night, dance with the guy, and take "Intro to Holistic Health and Healing" Why not? As we say in the theatre world: Fail. Fail big. Make a mistake because then you learn...its better to throw yourself into something and fail miserably for trying rather then going the safe route so you don't look like an ass.

I want to make 19 memorable. When I'm 80, I want to say, "I remember when I was 19...." I want to make (little) mistakes. I want to say "yes" to new opportunities. I want to take what ever is thrown at me. I want to learn from everyone. I want it alll.

wish wish wish. now, blow out the candles.

Youth is like diamonds in the sun
And diamonds are forever
So many adventures couldn't happen today
So many songs we forgot to play
So many dreams are swinging out of the blue
We let them come true

Forever young, i want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever forever
Forever young, i want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever forever forever
Forever young, i want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever, forever forever
Forever young, i want to be forever

Maaaajor Bananas.

I told myself I had to do something productive before I would allow myself to begin the 4th Season of Nip/Tuck....so voila! A post about Clothes.

Alright, so I thought Rachel Zoe was just an irritating, whiny, air-head, skeleton-zombie-monster. But that was after only 1 viewing of her show many moons ago - keeping judgments aside, I decided to give her another chance this evening. The show (The Rachel Zoe Project) is now in it's 3rd season, and I was happy to find that Rachel wasn't really the problem! All along it was actually the horribly bitchy Taylor, who ruined everything!Well guess what? She's gone - Thank Gawwwd. Now, it appears that Rachel's attitude is relatively normal, and apart from speaking like a drunk robot, I really loved her good humor and cutsie character! She is kinda fab. Not having to worry about how/why Taylor was working for a high-profile stylist but still sporting the hairstyle of an emo, angsty teenager, left ample brain space for me to love every second of the episode.

""Where did I leave my silly bandz???""

Here's the problem that I have with shows like The Rachel Zoe Project ....They make me want clothes. Scratch that. They make me NEED clothes. I'm the worst kind of addict. I like to *think* that I have pretty good taste in clothes and a good personal style...but I never really put it into action. On campus I just walk past girls who are really expressing themselves with fashion and yet I judge judge JUDGE. I might be walking around in yoga pants and a tshirt with flipflops but that does not stop me from thinking comments like the following:

"why are you dressed up? is this a fashion show? its 8am. on a MONDAY. this is a lecture of 500 students....good job, i noticed you."

*zing*

That being said, I DO however get huuuge girl crushes on amazingly-styled girls. If I have a class with an fabulously put together and fashionably unique girl....its like....Christmas. I would even go so far as to say its better than having a hot guy to stare at. I would. Usually (when the time is right...aka, at the end of the semester when I can be sure I wont have to see her everyday), I'll let her know how much I adore her look. I run the risk of sounding creepy, but I don't care - you can never go wrong with a compliment; at the very least, you'll make someone's day!


side note:

~~
One time, I was at a funeral with my whole family and I was sitting next to my equally, fashion-conscious-bitch of a sister (all love).... and while we were waiting for the funeral to begin, we watched as grieving women and men started filtering into the church. We were grieving too (it was a terribly sad funeral) but soon we started to whisper back and forth the things we were thinking individually::

"are you kidding me? black with navy blue? nice dude."
"do you see the women in the third pew? who, in their right mind wears pink to a funeral??"
"ok thats just rude...couldn't you find anything black? or gray? for god sakes anything dark?"
"is she trying to get a date out of this? her boobs are literally hanging out."
"trashy"
"i'm embarrassed for them"

We simultaneously realized that we are, in fact, terrible human beings and were now probably going to hell.

~~

Admittedly, these are horrible things to say, let alone THINK. It's something I have really tried to work on. Seriously. Its a problem I've had for a while (as you may remember this post). My a fore mentioned sister gave me a tip: You turn the negative thought into a positive - instead of scolding the individual, admire them for making such a bold outfit choice! I once read a quote where a girl said (referring to makeup in this case), "I would rather wear bold blue eyeshadow, letting people know who I am, instead of walking around looking like a big question mark"

real talk right there.

Sooo anyway. BACK to clothes.

As I've said before, all I do at my call-center job is read fashion magazines so let me tell you: I know what trends are hip hop happening and I want to get my creepy child hands on each and every one of them. The trouble? I NEVER ever EVER spend good money on clothes. Even though it is all that I want, I always decided that some other purchase is more important and that those boots, or those shirts are just toooo expensive.
*I.am.so.cheap. I will NOT buy a shirt that costs $30 BUT I'll spend almost $50 on shampoo and conditioner. What is my problem???*

The other night I went to Target with my sister (not the same one, a different one) a half hour before it closed (bad idea) and we went crazy looking at all the new stuff. Fall is THE season for fashion and Target knows what I want and what I need. In our haste we didn't waste time with fitting rooms and just tried on stuff over our clothes while running around trying to see everything. Finally a voice came over the intercom that said they were CLOSING. They actually turned off the lights while I was still looking over some sweaters which led me to legit run to where my sister was waiting to check out. The time crunch clouded my brain, allowing me to have a lapse in my normal consumer behavior, which led me to purchase two items: a skirt and a dress. My total was $59 dollars which almost gave me a heart attack, but I handed over the Visa anyway. At home, I re-tried on both items and decided the dress looked terrible and made a plan to return it.

So then the next day I returned my dress and they told me the money was back on my card. Yay. Later that day, I went to work and parked in my usual lot. After my shift, I headed over to the ATM and tried to take out the cash I needed to get out of my cash-only, $3.75 flat rate lot.

"You have insufficient funds to complete this transaction"

What.

I tried a lower amount.

"You have insufficient funds to complete this transaction"

Oh shit.

Well I guess Target was NOT prompt with my return AND I guess all those Starbucks/Caribou charges finally got deducted. Because all I had was $1.35 in my account. (ok duh. I know it takes at least 24hours for the cash to go back into your account, but I clearly was not thinking at the time)

How does this happen?

Oh yeah because I went out on a limb and purchased clothes that cost more than 15bucks.

Fashion Fail CATHERINE.

So what do I do whenever I'm in a jam? I call my sister who once again had to bail me out of my stupidity-induced situation. I know who I'm calling with my 1 phone call if I ever get thrown in the slammer.

You know what I need? Some more damn money. I think the best idea is for me to work an extra job at some fabulous store (like JCrew AHEM) so that I can get an insane discount and pour every paycheck into my clothing addiction. Don't think I'm kidding.

Goal #42728 for this school year: Invest in versatile, staple pieces for the wardrobe that may be more expensive, but in the long run, will last longer and go with more of the existing collection.

Goal #28290: start looking nicer for classes. stop judging and start being judged *woa*

Goal #1 create a solid budget to avoid more idiot situations.


nip/tuck...im coming for you.

Lovely Things

enjoy some beautiful pictures {ive built up quite a collection this summer}:::
















i die for a gorgeous bathroom...





what is it about macaroons? everyone seems obsessed...












from The Sartorialist:

so ballsy to wear silk pajamas as a glorified outfit in mid-day - beeeyond fabulous

enjoy the last tufts of summer xx

MAKEOVER

"I just love a good makeover scene"- Me.

Welcome to the new and improved page! As I mentioned earlier I was thinking about changing the name of the blog; because despite the cutesyness of The Freshman 15, it no longer applies! In the spirit of the new school year coming up, I went ahead and made some changes - So say hello to The Second Year Sophomore

"hello"


And now, please treat yourself to a dance break:





PS. Does anyone watch Nip/Tuck? I just discovered it a couple of weeks ago and guess what? ITS AMAZING. And guess what? ALL seasons of it are available for INSTANT play on Netflix. Kill me now. I know. Seriously, just when I think that it can't possibly get any better, it goes and BLOWS MY MIND. I'm sure you can guess what occupies my late-night activities...



Besos xx

Pretty Pretty Princess

This summer I got a job working at the call center at the U. Its a simple enough job and it really teaches you how to deal with rejection. I work at the University of Minnesota Foundation which means I call hundreds of alumni and ask them to give back to their Alma Mater. In short, I'm a telemarketer. I get told NO over and over again every time I work and every time I get told NO, I keep asking anyway. And either I get told NO again, or I get hung up on OR if I do my job correctly, I get money tossed at me.

It pays well but its really quite terrible. I don't think you would like to have to pretend to be nice to assholes for hours on end either. I hate to sound pessimistic here but it appears that the majority of individuals I encounter each day are seriously rude people. Attitude check, like who raised you?? These "prospects" (as we call them) are told at the BEGINNING of the call that they are talking to a student. I'm 18 years old! And I am more polite, more tactful and more patient than the 47 year old jerks who I call. Yeah I am asking you for money and yeah I'm persistent and evidently NO I don't care that you just told me that your wife lost her job because I'm supposed to assume that "I don't know your situation", even though you just told me your situation (because you never know, maybe their spouse makes enough money for the BOTH of them.....). Basically, I know I'm asking annoying questions and ignoring all of the legitimate reasons on why you CANT give $50 to student scholarships but really, there is no need to be rude. I'm just trying to do my job.

But the GOOD thing about the job is that I spend the whole time looking through magazines. If I've got a good one, it lasts me the full shift. I am very thorough; I read every caption of every picture, the reviews of all the books, the articles about how to incorporate lingerie-inspired pieces into your work wardrobe or which type of shearling coat is best for fall etc etc. But I also try *try* to get into some of the more serious articles....It always seems like an oxymoron when Cosmopolitan tries to include some sort of meaningful article in a page following the Bedside Astrologer....I'm sorry but your target demographic isn't buying your magazine for the current state in the Gulf. All I'm saying:
Needless to say, Cosmo is not my favorite. I just feel trashy reading it. Another publication that really tries to get serious is Glamour. They even have guest columnist Katie Couric, interview an influential women every month. At the call center they have a variety of old magazines and so I've gone through a couple of Glamours - In the first one i read, Katie interviewed Queen Rania of Jordan. For a while she has been one of my favorite "royals" but I recognized her more for her crazy-fabulous wardrobe and less for her work with tons of charitable organizations (particularly involving education). Let me just say: new role-model.
The second Glamour I picked up, I read about a less-known woman named Jacqueline Novogratz. She is the founder of The Acumen Fund, a non-profit which invests in innovative organizations around the world which fight to end povertyfrom the article:

"Here’s an example: 1.5 billion people lack proper access to electricity. Many buy kerosene, which can cost 30 percent of their income. It sends millions of metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. And often the lamp will fall over and catch the house on fire. So mothers hate it, but it’s their only option. A guy named Sam Goldman at Stanford University developed a solar lamp for $10 that looks like a water bottle. You hang it on your roof, and the sun [charges] it all day."

{HERE you can read the full article}

So I'm reading this article and thinking, that is the coolest, and best job in the world! Giving back your whole life, a la Mother Theresa...but it's a hard life....No vacations to Morocco for her...you're never home, you probably feel guilty all the time...god I sound so selfish right now. I mean, I have always wanted to go work with the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta...Maybe there can be a compromise?
Things got serious real fast.
I've always been interested in non-profit organizations but what always gets me is how little money those in the business make (coming from the theatre major? Yeah yeah I know). So I was comparing my options, looking at Jacqueline and Rania and I decided:
I have to become a princess.
Its the only way. Princesses don't have to worry about paying rent, they get to wear beautiful clothes, they get to have ladies in waiting right? or is that only Queens? Well I would make it work so my friends could come with, AND I get to devote my time to those in need!!
Its a brilliant plan if I do say so myself. Princess Catherine...nice ring to it.

So I did my research and here are my choices:

Prince Azim of Brunei

(unfortunate)

Andrea Casiraghi

(oldest son of Princess Caroline of Monaco
AKA grandson of Grace Kelley)

(Not bad at all)

Sheik Hamdan bin Mohammed bin
AKA The Crown Prince of Dubai

(Why don't we know about him??)

(Sexellent)

Harry, Prince of Whales
(I did not include William because
lets face it, he's going to marry
Kate Middleton any second now)

(I'll take it. Ginger and all)

AND drum roll PLEASE:

Carl Philip, Prince of Sweden

(who is this angel man?!)

I read that he's been dating the same girl for 10 years:

....well he hasn't put a ring on it yet, sooooo

Princess Catherine of Sweden it is.