Two Thousand and Eleven

So this is the last post for the year, I suppose! I'm surprised I've even been able to blog somewhat consistently for more than a month. Anyways, I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's Eve and an awesome 2011. My family and I are something of social hermits (we blame 4 years of social solitude in Germany), so no parties for us - just celebrating at home together, :) But regardless of whether you're going to a party or hanging out with family, make sure you have fun!
2010 for me has been relatively quiet and uneventful (not that that's a bad thing, better than having a shit year, right?). Some noteworthy things include:

• Getting my Driver's License (finally),
• Making a few new friends,
• Surviving the enormous snow storm in early 2010,
• Lots of new music/expansion of personal taste regarding music,
• Making it through the most painfully difficult Fall/Winter Semester at Uni,
• Deciding on a Major/Minor for Uni
• Slowly adapting more and more to life in America
• Becoming more and more determined to live in Europe (specifically, Germany)

Obviously, not much happened this year. I do earnestly hope that I do more come 2011. I don't make New Years Resolutions because I am notoriously bad at keeping them - by the first week of January, I'll have forgotten most of them. Plus, none of them are particularly long-term (ie: clean your room, donate clothes you don't want, etc...). But yes, I'm hoping that 2011 will be the year that I actually do a lot of things (STUDY ABROAD, FOR EXAMPLE?! OR ADOPTING A GREYHOUND?).
I hope all your New Year's wishes come true!

The Two Part Catherine-Is-A-Giant-Nerd-Who-Rambles Series

I made two videos for my tumblr, but I decided to stick them on my blog as well! Please enjoy the awkward talking-with-hands and nervous spinning I do.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone's had a lovely Christmas! I had a rather lazy, although very enjoyable one, :) I got a couple of neat things from my family (including the dress I'm wearing above, from my sister), as well as a new point-and-shoot camera! I broke my other point-and-shoot two years ago while I was in Venice (R.I.P. shitty old camera), and have been bumming off my mom's or my sister's since then. I have a Nikon D60 which I love, but sometimes it's too huge/too precious to just take out for hanging out with your friends and such, you know? Anyways, my sister got an iPod Touch (meaning I can finally steal her old iPod Classic!), and is obsessed with it. The photo above is taken from some vintage cameras app she got.

But of course, Christmas is about so much more than just getting and receiving gifts. Personally, I'm Christian, so there's a spiritual/belief meaning to the holiday, as well as being thankful for friends and family and spending lots of wonderful time with them! Speaking of spending quality family time, I had the most wonderful Christmas dinner - my mom made this delicious Arabic dish called Mansaf and it's definitely one of my favorites. I haven't had it in forever, so I definitely ate my fill last night, :)

Once again, Merry Christmas!

First Snow of the Season

I'm nearly done with my schoolwork, hooray! The school semester was technically supposed to have ended on Wednesday, but my Political Science class has some extended due dates which are running into my Christmas break, :| But that's okay, all I have left is a 5-10 page paper due by Monday, so it won't be too bad! My grades for the semester were decent, two A's two B's and we're still waiting on Political Science. I'm going to try to do much better next semester, hopefully straight A's!
Okay, enough school-talk, Christmas is nearly here! I'm not really feeling the Christmas spirit this year, sadly enough. Mostly because I've been buried under monstrous amounts of schoolwork and don't go out too much. Also, I'm a supreme Procrasti-Santa (totally stole that term from a JCPenney commercial I saw yesterday, but whatevs), so I've still got all my Christmas shopping to do. Yikes, I'm going to be fighting some crazy mom's in the department stores. After Christmas, I've got a short online class I'm taking to complete some major requirements.
My plans for break include: CHRISTMAS! :D, being a bum, attempting to make lots of cool foreign foods (my top priorities are bento, kim-bap, and macarons), watching lots of movies (Narnia, Black Swan, Tron, Season of the Witch, etc...), and hanging out/catching up with friends!

the past few days in photos

Countdown: 11 days till Christmas

Wish List by MemoryofAmnesia featuring gold chain jewelry


So rather than work on studying for finals (one more exam, one research paper, and one presentation to go!), I decided to make a Christmas wish list. Most of the items on the list are purely wishful thinking, but still, :)

1. More stripes! I love stripes, usually the really thin ones that make you think of the stereotypical Frenchman with a beret, funny mustache, and cigarette.
2. MAC Lipstick in Russian Red, I've never splurged on makeup before - probably because I rarely wear any (I'm thoroughly inept). But I'm pretty good with lipstick (mostly because it's pretty hard to fuck lipstick up), and I've been wanting a nice, matte red color for a while.
3. Wedges, like the Jeffrey Campbell ones above. I initially didn't like these sorts of ankle-boot-wedges-things, but the more I see them, the more I like them. I was browsing through Urban Outfitters online store a while ago (and not buying anything because they are crazy expensive), and saw some similar Jeffrey Campbell wedges (with laces instead of zippers). They were to die for. But $150 for a pair of shoes is rough to come by.
4. Fjällräven-Kånken backpack, damn those Swedes are onto something. I mean, they've given us IKEA, H&M, Fjällräven-Kånken backpacks, what's next?! Note to self: Move to Sweden.
5. Clothes with embroidered shoulders, self-explanatory. It's pretty and I like it.
6. A new cross-body bag, because mine hates me and the zipper decided to destroy itself, :(
7. High-Top Converse, I initially hated these as well, but after I've seen some cute ways to wear them (like with dresses/skirts, or tights!), I've decided I like them.
8. Obnoxiously large jewelry, namely rings, I'm not too big on jewelry, but I love large rings! Especially silver ones with large black stones.
   
9. Cute, girly clothes, like the dress above.
   
10. Anything with bows, I fucking love bows.
    
11. More skirts of any kind! because you can never have too many. I especially love high waist, ones, but because I'm ridiculously short (5'3" and not growing!), I can't wear any that go past my knees or I look weirdly proportioned/stubby.
12. Cool graphic tees/tanks, I've been wearing less and less graphic clothing lately. Mostly because all the designs on my old clothes are not representative of what I like anymore. So it's time to revamp the wardrobe!
    
13. A wallet, because mine is too small and I need more slots for cards, :P
14. Esos lip-balm, I am attracted to the weird shape. Plus everyone seems to like it! (But then again, I've got to watch myself about that, I bought Revlon's Photo-Ready foundation because it had great reviews and hated it. Also, I don't even use foundation, so I don't know what the hell I was thinking).
    

chanel, pre-fall 2011

As I was avoiding studying for my Macroeconomics exam, I ran across these photos of some of the most drool-worthy dresses, ever. I've always had a soft spot for clothing that play up ancient Greco-Roman-Mediterranean influences, so I nearly died when I saw these. They are so perfect and wonderful and aldskfnasd;flk. I won't pretend I know very much about fashion - while I think it's a thoroughly interesting industry, and do try to follow it, I'm most definitely not the expert. Regardless, though, these dresses are stunning.

Thank you for these masterpieces, Karl Lagerfeld. Thank you.

Ich freue mich an 15. Dezember

December 15th, December 15th, December 15th has been my latest mantra. Uni is beginning to get unbearable, and finals begin next week. But once December 15th hits, I'll be home free! While I was in Detroit over Thanksgiving, I found some awesome combat boots and my aunts bought them for me as a gift. I've been wearing them ever since!

hurricane

brief respite

Sorry I've been absent lately, dear blog of mine. Not too much has been happening - school work has kept me quite busy (speaking of which, I should actually be working on a research paper that's due tomorrow). Went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One on opening day! I absolutely loved it and cannot wait for July! But, ugh, when Dobby died (spoiler alert?) I got so teary, it was pathetic. And you know the scene where Ron is about to destroy the locket-horcrux and there are the weird Hermione and Harry apparition things? My sister leaned once it ended and whispered, "Catherine... they're naked." I nearly choked on my popcorn! Speaking of popcorn, HOW RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE IS MOVIE THEATRE POPCORN NOWADAYS?! COMPLETELY INSANE. We paid eight dollars for a large bag to share between the two of us. EIGHT FUCKING DOLLARS.

Anyways, my Thanksgiving break begins tomorrow! I'm mildly excited, only because as soon as I get back, it's time to review for finals week (kill me now, please). For Thanksgiving itself, I'll be driving to Detroit to visit my family. The drive, I am not looking forward to. The family, tons of Arabic food, and fun times, I definitely am.

Have a lovely Thanksgiving and don't listen to what everyone says about eating less - gorge yourselves! There's no time to do so like Thanksgiving! :)

Autumn pickings

I went apple and pumpkin picking with my family two weeks ago. There were tons of pumpkins, but unfortunately this summer made the apples ripen too quickly and almost none were left, :(

Dorky "Twilight" book cover parody a la moi.

The Roller Coaster Experience

A little late, I know, but I can now say that I have rode a roller coaster! :D I went to Busch Gardens Williamsburg this past weekend with two really good friends of mine from high school - so much fun! And they helped me overcome my fear of roller coasters. Not only that, they managed to get me on the tallest and fastest dive machine in the world. Ah, so persuasive! I ended up riding every coaster in the park, and I'm totally proud of myself for doing so. This was a huge fear of mine - as a kid, I would cry and cry whenever anyone tried to get me on a roller coaster. But now, I can ride practically anything in the park!

We went to Busch Gardens the day before Halloween, so the whole park was converted to be extra creepy once it got dark at 6. It was so awesome, park employees dressed like monsters and killers were around every corner (there were some pretty convincing blood-covered butchers with chain saws running around), smoke machines, eerie decorations and music and tons of other cool stuff were abundant. Not to mention a bunch of haunted houses! My friend and I ended up going through about three haunted houses and one haunted trail (the lines were ridiculously long). Overall, a very enjoyable Halloween weekend this year, :)

But the fun stopped there, unfortunately. Monday when I went to school, reality hit. One midterm tomorrow, two papers next week, regular homework, registration for next semester and two research papers. On top of that, I've managed to get sick. Is it too early to say "Bah Humbug"?

all grown up,

My little sister, Christine, had her sophomore high school homecoming dance today! She was such a cutie, as were her friends! Ah, she's all grown up and it's so strange to think that a couple years ago, I was going to my sophomore homecoming, as well!

The three of them (Christine, in purple; Abby, in black; Alyssa, in soft pink/beige) all got ready at Abby's house, and they called me up when they were ready so I could go photo/video document! Afterwards, I drove them to the school (where the dance is being held). Ugh, I feel so old.

I love you, Christine. You'll always be my dear little hermanita, ♥

such a pretty house and such a pretty garden

Regina Spektor - No Surprises (Radiohead cover)
Have I mentioned how in love I am with Regina Spektor's voice and musical ability?

midterms

Last night, while studying for Macro: my pathetic "I-hate-studying" face because, well, I do.
Midterms are here and I'm not enjoying it one bit! Took a macroeconomics test today and felt the urge to shoot myself in the face afterwards (I'm only joking, of course). Eh, if I fail out of college I can always become an ice-cream lady! Because, after all, who dislikes ice cream? Also, I ended up getting a B+ on that horrible Cultural Studies paper (which I stayed up till 4 am for). Not too shabby! Gerontology exam this Thursday, presentation/class direction on Monday for Political Science, and Cultural Studies exam on Tuesday. After that I'm home free! :D Until finals, that is. (wow, Catherine, way to be a bummer).

today, thinking about becoming an ice-cream lady

not much time,

Just a quick post before the weekend. It was pouring down rain like it was the monsoon season, today. My little sister's school even got cancelled! Hung out with a fairly new friend, which was really fun. Finally found someone who appreciates anime/manga as much as I do, :D And we're into a lot of the same ones! Off to an engagement party tomorrow. Lots of Arabs in a hall, loud and dancing and eating = chaos/fun/I can't be a social hermit tomorrow. Saturday, Little Sister and I are going to go see "Let Me In" (!!!!) which we're really excited for. Plus, it's her first R-rated movie she'll see in theatres, so it's semi-special. Midterms coming up this week, ugh.

This has been a brief update, filled with improperly formulated sentences, courtesy of yours truly!

autumnal

Finally, the weather has begun to act a little more seasonably! And it's almost October, my (newly decided upon) favorite month! I spent the day on campus with Paulomi and Jen today. I helped Paulomi make a flag for her dorm - we felt like little 7th graders again, doing an arts and crafts project! It was fun, and our flag was totally worth the hard work!

The colors were pre-decided by her RA, as was the quad name (it's supposed to be a "country." The RA is a bit of a Lord of the Rings nerd, so all the quads are named in Elvish. Paulomi's is "Killedre" which apparently means "people of charm" which matches because we're oh-so charming, :P ). The colors also coincide with Maryland's beloved (American) football team, the Ravens, hence the raven wings and football in the lower right hand quadrant. Although, I insisted that the raven wings also be representative of Ravenclaw, the house from Harry Potter!


A lot of people, including Paulomi and Jen, commented that I was dressed very punk-rock today. So I was coerced into taking the worst rocker photo in the world. Also, pardon the bad photo quality, it was taken by Paulomi's blackberry!

Can I say how madly in love I am with these boots I bought? I've been wanting lace-ups for such a long time, and I finally found these lovely ones! I love that they're so versatile, and the heels are surprisingly comfortable. And I got my recently vegetarian sister to approve (she has completely different taste in clothes than I do) because they're adorable and made with man-made leather, so no furry little friends were harmed in the making of this wonderful creation. These are going to get some heavy wear over the next couple years.

One of the best things about these shoes, as well, is the price (or rather, price reduction)! They were originally $80, but I managed to catch them on sale for $35, and then got another reduction with an in-store coupon. In the end, they were about $30!

In other news, my favorite season has arrived! Autumn is so beautiful and the weather is so perfect. Ah, I am going to enjoy this fall season.

These violent delights have violent ends

My hair today, for some reason, reminded me a bit of Audrey Hepburn. So here's my best Audrey face. I'm aware Audrey is infinite times better at the Audrey face than I am.

For the first day of Autumn, it feels strangely like summer. It hit about 90 degrees today, and tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter. Autumn, my favorite season, appears to be AWOL. I guess my cozy autumn clothes and I will just sit patiently until it begins to cool down. School, particularly the work, is picking up! I've been flooded with all sorts of assignments and deadlines. But I don't have much right to complain considering I'm a massive procrastinator, anyways!

I'm really excited for October 1st - Let Me In (the remake of the Swedish "Let The Right One In"- one of my favorite films ) will premiere! I was a bit nervous when I first heard about the remake, but the reviews and critiques have all been very positive, so far. So, basically, I'm extremely excited!

Tomorrow, I'm going to the Study Abroad office on campus with a fellow future-study-abroader to begin the long process of planning! Then I'll hang out with a few friends and possibly go scope out this cute pair of shoes that I've been eying that went on sale! Tell you about it later!

the chaos that ensues,

My dear, dear blog, I've been away far too long. I actually probably shouldn't be updating right now (I've got a huge paper due for my political science class tomorrow and I'm barely on page 2), but I've got the urge to write (now, of all times). I've begun school once more, year two of Uni is going well so far, albeit busy. I finally got my license last Thursday! Made a couple new, good friends through a mutual friend, and I'll probably be hanging out with them quite a bit. In fact, I went out with them last night! We got some cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory and sat inside the mall and chatted for a while, and then went to a live show of a few local bands. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so not much photo-documentation (other than one photo taken on Paulomi's phone).

I have to say, though, I can't believe summer is over and I'm already practically into my fourth week of school! Time seems to be flying by, and I definitely want it to slow down. I just want to be able to enjoy the here and now, not race through it. Ah, well there's my 11:30 rant for you. Well, it's about time I got back to my essay - here are a few photos of the past couple weeks:


Seriously regret not buying these jeans...

Found this old photo of my sister (a few months old) and I (four years old) that I immediately fell in love with, even thought it's out of focus and we look like dorks.

Mya and I modelling in H&M with some faux-fur coats. I tried to be fierce like Mya, but I so obviously failed. I ended up making some weird laughing face in most of the photos, :P

The gang: Paulomi, Mya, Jen, and I

Paulomi and I! Reunited after years and still best friends, ♥

Our hunt for the ugliest dresses in Forever21 was surprisingly easy...

Paulomi and I last night, pre-concert.

My current infatuation: Vampire Knight manga

before and after

So here it is, my new hair! I'm still getting used to it, and the fact that I feel ten pounds lighter. I'm getting used to it, which is good considering I was pretty iffy about it after I left the salon. I have to keep in mind, though, that I won't be straightening it everyday, so it's not always going to look like this. Normally I just put in a bit of mousse or spray gel and let it air-dry. So, once I shower and wash my hair, then I'll see how it looks normally.

ch-ch-changes

See all this hair? In a matter of a few short hours, it will be gone. I'm cutting it all off, finally! I've found a haircut I really like, and am going to donate the majority of it to the Locks of Love program. Then afterwards, it's shopping for clothes and necessities for Michigan with my mom and sister!

It's just a quick-update, photos will be up in the next few days of the new 'do.

nerd alert,

Let the Right One In, movie poster and book cover, respectively. (I posted the Swedish book cover rather than the English one because I like it more. It's more interesting looking, I think)

Finally read the book and watched the movie! I would definitely suggest both, they are amazingly amazing. If I were talented at writing critiques, I would. But, with my writing/critiquing abilities being how they are, it would just turn out like this: "OMG IT WUZ SO GOOD!!!!1!!!111!!!one!! <3" Clearly eloquent. But seriously, they were both wonderful. My only complaint is that I wish the movie included Eli's background. It was very briefly hinted at, but nothing more. I don't think it detracted from the film, though. But that was something I was hoping to see (I always liked flashbacks/back-stories). Oh, and the whole Hakan plot was sort of chopped out, as well. I didn't mind that so much, though.

Anyways, just a quick blog update, nothing new happening. I did clean the house and cook, though, which I consider to be a feat of no small means.