Reflections on this past year...

As I sat in my room in the middle of suburbia and tried to think about the most exciting things that happened to me this year, I found that everything I consider to be the best moments of 2010 are the little things that I overlook in every day life. On some level, I wish I could tell you about how I snuck out and went to crazy parties, kissed tons of boys and had a summer fling....but really, I can't.

Some day, I hope I have those moments that I consider wild and outrageous. But for now, I'm content..no...I'm happy knowing that my teenage/high school years were tame and childlike. Next year at this time, I will (hopefully) be on my last few days of break before going back to college and be reflecting on all of the wonderful change and crazy college moments. For now, here have been some of the best moments of my 2010:

1. Going to The Classic Crime (House of Heroes, Abandon Kansas, Eli Porter, Fight the Current) concert with my brother instead of doing homework and apps.

2. Taking "extended lunches" with friends just because we can.

3. Getting my braces off, FINALLY. And not looking 12 anymore.

4. Meeting my cousin for the first time, bonding, and loving my cousins to death.

5. Watching wayyyy too much tv for my own good with my mom (King of Queens, Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, Glee, Say Yes to the Dress, Housewives, etc.)

6. Automatically gaining respect for being a Senior.

7. Riding to school with A- in the morning and being woken up by her bright personality.

8. Seeing cute boys and totally just falling in love with them.

9. Staying out late and coming home to a sleeping house.

10. Laughing until my sides hurt and I'm crying.

Ahh, and my New Year's resolution? It was going to be "cut back on the candy" but I wanted something that was actually realistic so I might go with "sit up straighter". Every year I put "stop procrastinating" but it never happens. But New Year's resolutions are more of our dreams than our actual resolutions, right?

Happy New Year, everyone!

-A

Christmas: Part 1...

This year, we are having family on my dad's side coming to visit. I'm superrrrr excited because I'm getting to meet some little cousins for the first time. But because of this, we ended up splitting our Christmas celebration with each side of the family. So "Christmas: Part 1" was yesterday with my Grandma on my mom's side.

Everyone ignored the fact that yesterday was December 19, not the 25th, and we tried to make it feel like "real" Christmas. Sad and depressing and nice and lovely all at the same time.

We opened presents & I got the Glee Volume 4 CD (check!) and the Love Actually DVD (one of my favvvvv movies, especially during this time of the year!) and some cash (hopefully this goes STRAIGHT to the savings account...must...resist...American Apparel). I have listened to the Glee CD like 8 times through since getting it last night. I'm the kind of person that listens to music as I do homework and write in my journal and clean my room.

So good. And I fell in love with my grandma's cheese cutter:

So cute.

I also fell in love with this game my dad gave my mom (for whatever inexplicable reason, my mom wanted "Just Dance 2" for Wii). It was actually tons of fun, mostly because the dances are HILARIOUS and there is a multi-player mode that just makes it a lot of ridiculous fun.

The weirdest thing about last night was that all of a sudden, out of no where, we burst into dance. With nothing but the Christmas tree and its glass orbs glowing, we got up and all danced and didn't think anything of it. It only lasted the length of Madonna's "Ray of Light", but it was the strangest, impulse-filled moment. Maybe it was Madonna's voice blaring at high volume, maybe it was the cosmos that the adults were drinking, but it happened in an instant, passed just as quickly, and is now one of those privately comforting moments that will probably never be spoken of again.

Anyway, Christmas: Part 1 was a success. Perfect actually.
We ate homemade creme brulee:

(My FAVORITE.)

My freshly cut bangs and cute outfit gave me a total confidence boost.

We danced. We laughed. We ate.

We were in good company with people we love.

What more could a girl ask for?

Love,

-A

P.S. The song playing is "Marry You" by Bruno Mars, as performed by the Glee Cast. It's off the Glee Volume 4 CD. It makes me so happy and sounds like Christmas because of the bells. So that is my Christmas gift to you (: A little slice of happiness.

Also, check out my other blog Synesthete Lemon. For those of us that don't like to read much and just like pretty pictures of pretty people (:

1.

All you see is how you made me from clay.

But remember,

how I caught you in pieces?

Kick the legs out from under her,

and she can't stand on her own.

Love.

Christmas List.

Okay, I'll admit it. I still make Christmas lists. But to be fair, it's only because my mom told me to. When she first asked me to make a list, I honestly could not think of anything to put on it, so I went online and searched. And the only thing I could come up with THEN was the Kindle (which, apparently, is a very controversial item to wish for! I keep getting personally attacked for wanting this thing. Sheesh). But the Kindle is fairly expensive and, because we are having family visit this Christmas, I found some other cool and inexpensive items to put on my list. The following is my wish list:

1. Deborah Lippmann Nail Polish in Happy Birthday ($18) or Boom Boom Pow ($20) 

After painting my nails with Sally Hansen's Rockstar Pink, it occurred to me to ask for Deborah Lippmann Nail Polish! She is amazing and tons of celebrities wear her polish. Each color is named after a song.

Sally Hansen's Rockstar Pink



Selena Gomez wearing Happy Birthday by Deborah Lippmann

Boom Boom Pow

2. Glee: The Music (Volume 4) $14

If you watch Glee, you'd have to agree (Pow!). The Volume 4 soundtrack (which includes "Teenage Dream", "Toxic", "Empire State of Mind", "Forget You", and "Marry You"), it's one of the best. I just got the Christmas C.D. and I love it, and now I totally want this one!

3. Lemon Scented Lotion from The Body Shop ($16)

This stuff smells sooooo good. Usually, I like a fragrance for a week or so but then get sick of it. This scent is not overpowering at all and is uber fresh smelling. Lemon is just automatically associated with cleanliness (probably because cleaning products are usually lemon scented...or maybe cleaning products are lemon scented because people associate lemons with cleanliness.) Either way, this is good stuff.

4. Barnes and Noble Gift Card $20



Instead of getting the Kindle or the Nook, I just want enough to go and buy a book. I'm not really reading anything right now, so I don't really know what I want to buy, so a gift card is a great idea! (Any suggestions btw? I heard The Vampire Academy is pretty good...)

So that's my wish list! I'd be happy with any one of these. I'm just super excited for my family to come in to visit from out of town. Isn't it nice to be excited to see family? How RARE is that!

Lemon.

So. Much. To. Do...

Where do you find time to accomplish everything you need to in such a short amount of time! I feel like I'd have to be awake for the full 24 hours a day in order to finish everything I need to.

College Applications, essays, homework, studying, volunteering, actually being at school, babysitting, band performances and pep band, and HAVING A SOCIAL LIFE.

When I have so much to do, I become paralyzed and do NOTHING and get NOTHING done. It's a weird train of thought:

I have so much to do. I am so stressed. I am already tired before I have begun. I need a break. *watches tv* FREAKS OUT. WHY AM I WATCHING TV? I NEED TO WORK. But....I have so much to do. I am so stressed I am already tired....

Cycle. It is a cycle. Cyclic. cdk (AP Biology anyone?)

-A

P.S. Not that anyone is really interested, but I haven't been posting mainly because of College Applications. Are they as much of a pain in other countries as they are in the US? I've been working like crazy on supplements (essays, creative pieces, video applications). Dang, son.

Lemon.