just what i need to hear occassionallly

so stay creative elsa. keep working loves.

take my flaws

so i dropped my phone in the toilet.
no, it was  not because i was on the phone.
no, i had not gone yet (maybe that was to much info).
yes, i'm super embarrassed.

so maybe i have road rage.
yes, i yell at every car that gets in my way. its a four hour drive home and i don't want to be slowed.
yes, i passed 15 cops and did not get pulled over once for how fast i was.
no, i'm not bragging.

how to be british

1. eat homemade fish and chips (or for picky elsa and jace, battered chicken) 

and attempt to make crumpets for tea time. or you could just make muffins.  

2. try your best to imitate the fanciful accent and elaborate with slang such as 

"chin wag", "cheerio", and "cheers". 

3. adore all british things. mainly harry potter, adele, the royal wedding, and fine culture. and clothes. 

only spend it with the best of friends and roommates. its much funner that way.

as a way of getting together with new friends and having fun, we've started a bi-monthly tradition of experiencing another country's culture with food, costume, music, movies, and the occasional game.
with our excitement to study abroad, london foreign night was planned and the fun began. and while most of our friends may have not completely understood the point or embraced the feeling of the british lifestyle, it was completely fun nonetheless.

i can't wait to experience the finest of things with my dear best friend in good ole blighty and i couldn't think of a better person to go with. 

p.s. stay tuned for other adventures in foreign night at 106. 

yes, its true

I have an obsessive personality. When I see a movie and I like it a lot, i'll see 4, maybe 5 more times. i find a new cookie, i buy two boxes and eat them until they're gone. i hate myself and i love myself. because of this embarrassing but totally true trait, i have learned to just stay away from certain things. tanning-i would become a doritto. mountain dew-a caffeine addict. and consequently, i choose not to start new tv programs, or else, well....it will consume my time with the rest of my tv shows. and yet, this past weekend, it happened.
The slow but sure strain of realizing that you've become addicted to yet another tv show.

Step 1: the first step undoubtedly, was the fact that i ACTUALLY wanted to watch another episode and then it got real when i learned from jace that it was 3 am.  yikes, there went 7 hours of my night.

Step 2. next, my embarrassment for having anything to even do with the show changed and i admitted that i enjoyed watching the darn thing. ok, maybe i straight up said i loved it.

Step 3. it then got a bit more serious when i had a dream about it and woke up thinking of the next possible time i could begin to watch it that day

Step 4. i accepted the fact that i loved it a bit too much after i started crying when lonely boy left S...and when i started speaking in the shows catchy nicknames and terms. it was just too much

Step 5. and then there's full fledged obsession when i began talking about the characters and their inherent lives and problems, as if they are real people and i can help them out with my advice. that was fun...ny.

other signs of current obsession for yes.........




gossip girl. thank you jacelyn mariah for getting me hooked on yet another tv series. yes, i used to make fun of you, but i guess you were right. it is fabulous. i take back all those countless times i teased you for obsessing over gossip girl.

...

i love my red hair and my new glasses. 

thats all. 

cambodia

today my friends, i wish to write about cambodia. for three years i have wanted to travel to the homeland of the angkor temples. though its not for the temples themselves (though it would be a plus), or even the light of phnom penh.  its for the trash. yes, i said trash.

This is exactly why I want to go. Please watch the video. It's so so good. Well, if you're one of those people that sometimes likes to cry at sad things. And if you don't watch the video, I'll tell you about it anyways. There is a school for children that live in trash districts because they have no money and nowhere else to live. And I want to work in that school and play with the children.

i'm just a sucker for these little adorable children. they are so lovely. 

at last

the times i shoot (pictures that is), are a constant strain of mutterings under my breath of 'thats not what i want' and 'grrr'-ing because i cannot seem to get the shot i want. sometimes i feel like my brain is too creative for the outside world, because rarely can i achieve what i envision in my head. i paint and paint and paint and i shoot and shoot and shoot and its good, but never the perfection of my imagination. but today, i finally shot a few pictures that i am ecstatic about. i love them.

also i have red hair. sometimes it still shocks me. we call it ginger love. 

taken by my lovely jace

 i love this song. i don't love the partial awkwardness in this video, so please excuse it. but the song is FABULOUS.

single with cats. and paint.

i painted again. shocker? not really. but i'm really excited about my painting this week because it is the inspiration for the logo on a NEW BLOG that i'm a part of and i am SO dang excited!! its going to be wonderful! check it out!!

me

jace

once again, pinterest inspired me with its loads of creative quotes and graphic design and given me a first-rate painting project. the only problem is the accumulating number of paintings and the lack of space. i'm no crazy old cat lady-i'm the crazy old paint lady. maybe i'll just sell them on etsy. any takers?

random tangent: why is hanging out with guys either super fun or a complete waste? why you gotta go and ruin the fun by misinterpreting my friendliness with your over-eagerness and blow the whole thing? ugh.

for thought

um hi

my name is elsa and i'm wearing this because i'm distracting. or so says the tape.

thanks jace. 

ciao bella

today i wish to go back to italia.  i wish to gain 11 pounds eating endless plates of pasta, pizza, and gnocchi. i wish to throw a coin in the Trevi fountain and for an italian pop star to sweep me off my feet, while we sing 'this is what dreams are made of' in a colosseum concert. i wish to look at all the art and look at pieces for hours, because i clearly didn't appreciate it enough the first time i went.  but most of all, i wish to eat chocolate and raspberry gelato three times a day and listen to the beautiful italian while i shop like nobody's business.

yes

i love this song. and i love them. its all i've been listening to today. enjoy. 

paint

friday: no class. wake up. feeling artsy. what to do? dress in your favorite artsy cardi, put your hair in a bun complete with bow (courtesy of jace), and paint. paint. paint.

(isn't she so clever to use pages from her favorite kids book?)

i regret to admit that i did not take pictures of the whole process to inform those who would like to know how to make one of these easy paintings on their own. i promise to next crafty friday!

my weird habits defined

whenever i get new roommates, i realize how incredibly odd i am as a person. seriously. its like all of my habits have now been put under my own microscope of social scrutiny.  its almost like i need to just put up a sign that reads:
i'm not anti-social, i'm just an extroverted introvert. here are a few of my odd habits explained:

-i am not a morning person. when i wake up and go straight to the shower and then straight to my room to get ready without looking or talking to you, its not because i don't like you. i'm still half asleep.

-yes, you did just see me eat a piece of bread slathered in peanut butter and topped with chocolate chips and yes, it probably seemed weird to you.

-i tend to be a tad dramatic at times. you will get used to it eventually and realize i'm not really as sick as i'm making it out to be and that i'm probably over-exaggerating a little about how much i have to do.

-if i don't ever leave my room, its just because i love it. i'm not being anti-social, i'm just a room body.

-when i occasionally burst out in song, you're not expected to respond in any way, shape, or form. i know i can't sing, but i like to.

-in the definite case that i outburst with loads of energy, check the color of my tongue. if it is colored with bright blues and reds, its most likely from a two foot long pixie stick. conveniently, my twin indulges in this childish-ness with me, and will probably be acting the same way.

two thing tuesdays

two things:

one:  it is 11:23 pm. i am currently back in small college town and i have class in the morning. dang it. i can't seem to go to sleep, though i am ferociously exhausted.

two: it is travel tuesday. where do i want to go today? i want to take my dear friend to candycane lane. you wouldn't understand unless you were a new girl fanatic. TURN ON YOUR LIGHTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

not my favorite.

new years. not my favorite. in fact, i feel its a pointless holiday used as an excuse to party, spend money, and get wasted. like saint patricks day. so maybe when it hit the new year, i kept painting and watching juno without notice and maybe, i really don't care for new years. but, i will admit that the one thing i do enjoy is remembering the moments in which i was completely thoughtless and oddly impulsive and enjoy that which not many others can say they have done and i probably will never experience again. and i make a list (surprising isn't it?). this past year, i,

1. i kissed a giraffe. and i liked it. rug burn and all.
2. embarked on trek for second time. because apparently the first time wasn't torture enough.
3. i peed in the wild for the first time ever. 19 whole years without doing it, and man i was missing out. maybe thats too much information for you. sorry.
4. safety man would have shuddered at the thought, but i ate bull intestine. from a bull in africa and it was slimy, yet satisfying.
5. bought way too many pairs of toms and then, ironically, spent a day without shoes.
6. rode a camel. bruises inflicted: minimal. continual laughter from pictures: maximum.
7. and as expected, i bought a wand (only at ollivanders), attended the final harry potter midnight premiere, and become owner of all 8 movies of my very own.

(1,7,5,6)

and while i continually laugh and befuddle myself for the ironies of the year, i do occasionally allow myself to remember that i did indeed do many big things like finish my first year of college and start a second one, converted to the world of photography, realize i was separated at birth from my twin, and to top it off, somehow i turned 20. and greatest of all (at least for me) i finally had the courage to be the who i am on the outside. and i have never been happier.