What's the plan, Phil??

Today's post has a very simple motivation behind it. I was watching a movie today which I was not expecting to be quite so depressing as it was, and it put me in a bit of a slump. There's really no practical explanation behind this; it centred around life events which I feel myself to already be past. . . mainly having to worry about school. I've never been a slouch academically and so these worries have been absent from my life. I tried to explain a weird feeling I have about school to a close friend recently though. I almost want it to be harder. It's not that school was just easy for me in that five-year-old-math-prodigy kind of way - trust me, I worked for every good grade I ever received - it's that I feel as though I'll never really be satisfied until I've had to go full on, flat out to get what I want. Moving on.

The answer to de-slumping wasn't going to be reading today. After finishing Dunant's Blood and Beauty, I started in on The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. If you haven't heard of the novel yet, it's been getting major press this past year as an 800-and-some-word literary undertaking, and winner of the 2013 Man Booker Prize. At the same time, I began Alice Munro's collection of short stories, Dear Life. Please tell me you've heard of this one. Canadian. Nobel Prize for Lit. All I can say so far is pick it up. It's not a heck of a big time commitment (the stories are only around 30-40 pages), but it's so satisfying to read the work of something who knows what they're doing and can do whatever it is in a limited number of pages without you feeling that it was meant to be either longer or shorter. The ability to compose short fiction is a very impressive talent indeed.

So why with both of these fantastic works to choose from did I deem it a literature-less afternoon? Because I decided instead to look at clothes on the internet. These items are adorable and remind me that it's not always going to -39 (celsius) with windchill.

"Presentation and Accounted For" - Modcloth

"In Due Corsage" - Modcloth

"Promoting Elegance" - Modcloth

"Madeline" - Out of Print

 -Colleen
P.S. http://outofprintclothing.com/ is a website you should definitely check out if you haven't already.

Bloodline Beauty

Well ladies, it's been the better part of a year since my last post. Isn't there a movie where one woman is speaking to another and wondering what happened to make things turn out the way they did? The answer given is simply: "Life." So that's my excuse for now. Life happened, and blogging did not. For some reason though, the combination of several inches of snow overnight, a pink cashmere sweater, and the consumption of the last sweet from Christmas has made me reach once more for the pen (keyboard). It feels like time to pick up, though not exactly where we left off, and carry on. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.

So, so much has happened in the past year. I've graduated with distinction, gotten a new job, applied for grad school, been accepted to grad school, and read an absolute tonne. Today's post title comes from my current read, Sarah Dunant's latest: Blood and Beauty: The Borgias. If you care anything for historical fiction, Dunant will have you hooked from the beginning. If you already consider yourself a mild to extreme fanatic for the genre, Blood and Beauty will practically propel you out of your seat and on a plane to Rome.

Speaking of Rome. One exciting event I'm looking forward to is my return to Italy. I was there five years ago, before studying and minoring in the language. This time I'm looking forward to more interaction in the national tongue, more cities (I'm venturing further north), and certainly more to blog about. Ai miei amici italiani: dove devo viaggiare stavolta?

The other big life event quickly coming up on me is my move into the big city for grad school. Almost immediately after returning home from il bel paese, I'll be relocating to one of my country's big centers, possibly for good if things work out in my career.

Stick around and let's see where this year goes.

-Colleen  

Leibster Blog Award

No quotation today, just right down to business! Carrieanne from I'mjustalittlepixie nominated me for the Leibster Blog Award which recognizes blogs with 200 followers or less. So here we go.

Requirements:
1. Share eleven things about myself.
2. Answer eleven questions provided by the nominator.
3. Nominate eleven blogs (under 200 followers) that deserve the title and let them know.
4. Think of eleven questions to ask these nominees.
5. Thank the person that nominated you and link back to their blog.

11 Things About Myself:
1. I'm an only child.
2. I'm studying Italian because I fell in love with the language after visiting Italy on a high school trip.
3. I will not eat hot dogs or sausages. For the sake of those of you who enjoy them, I'm not going to talk too much about this.
4. I think pearls are the classiest accessory.
5. I love lemon yogurt.
6. "10 Things I Hate About You" is my favourite movie of all time, not because of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Heath Ledger, or Julia Stiles, but because of Larry Miller.
7. The longest essay I've ever written was about 4400 words for a class on the Brontes (Anne, Charlotte, Patrick, Branwell, Emily, Maria, and Elizabeth).
8. My favourite flowers are poppies. Also, it's a great name in the singular.
9. The item of clothing I would most like to own is a Jurassic Park raincoat because that movie is awesome and I have no shame.
10. When I was a little girl, I really wanted red hair.
11. My favourite Shakespearean play is Richard III.

11 Questions from the Nominator:
1. What made you choose your blog's name?
Pretty simple answer for this one: coral has been my favourite colour for years and C is my first initial.
2. What's your favourite colour?
See answer #1 haha
3. Who inspires you the most?
Hopefully this doesn't come across as really self-absorbed, but I think I inspire myself the most. I'm a pretty stubborn person, so when people try to push me in a certain direction, I'm often pretty resistant. I've learnt to trust my own judgement above anything else.
4. What's your favourite biscuit?
My favourite cookie (sorry, Canadian here) is one my mom makes with chocolate chips and espresso powder. Delicious AND addictive.
5. Jumper or Cardigan?
Jumper for sure. Why fuss with buttons?
6. Favourite sandwich filling?
First of all, this is probably the greatest question I've seen on one of these, so great work Carrieanne! Why is this so hard to answer? Umm I guess either raspberry jam or Havarti cheese.
7. Tell me your favourite joke.
WARNING: this joke is extremely childish because it was told to me in second grade by my best friend. There are three brothers named Shutup, Manners, and Poo who are also avid motorcyclists. One day while travelling down the road, Poo loses control of his bike and rolls into the ditch. Manners goes to help him, but Shutup continues on, speeding. Soon enough, Shutup is pulled over by a cop and the following conversation ensues. Cop: "Sir, you were speeding. I'm going to need to collect some information, starting with your name." Shutup: "Shutup." Cop: "Excuse me?" Shutup: "Shutup." Cop: "Sir, that is no way to speak to a police officer. If you don't tell me your name right now, I'm going to have to arrest you." Shutup: "Shutup!" Cop: "I can't believe this! Where are your manners?!" Shutup: "In the ditch, picking up Poo."
8. Other than the blog what is your favourite pastime?
Reading! Yay!
9. What came first the chicken or the egg?
Going for scientific accuracy on this one: the egg.
10. Favourite beauty item?
Probably blush because it doesn't take a lot of time, but really brings life into your face. I also really like my freckles, so if I'm planning to apply something to my skin, I'd pick blush over powder or liquid foundation any day because it's flattering without covering up the freckles.
11. Your fashion icon.
Easy. Julia Roberts' character Vivian Ward in "Pretty Woman." To be clear, post-prostitute wardrobe. I did a post on it here which explains the full reasoning behind this decision. In a way more fun way than how I just said it!

My 11 Nominations in no particular order:
1. A NEW Fashion View
2. Betsy Boat
3. Charlotte Jane 
4. Floral Chaos 
5. L. loves to share 
6. Simple Charm Beauty 
7. Stephanie's Look 
8. The Nautical Owl
9. The New Pink 
10. The Perks of Being a Hipster 
11. Young Love

My 11 Questions:
1. When you were a child, what was your dream job?
2. If you could swap yourself into a role in the movie of your choice, which would it be?
3. Which do you prefer getting done: a manicure or a pedicure?
4. If you could only wear only one pair of your shoes for a year, which would they be? (weather permitting, of course)
5. Describe something you did that made you proud of yourself.
6. If you had a theme song, what would it be?
7. Tell me one random fact (about you or not) that never really comes in handy, yet you can't seem to forget it. (E.g. I know all of the main events of the French Revolution. . . not particularly useful in most social situations)
8. Who is your favourite of the seven dwarfs?
9. According to you, what is the best smell in the world? Convince me of why in one sentence. (E.g. Vinegar because it reminds you of french fries and who doesn't like those?)
10. In your favourite multiple-main-character-series (TV or book), which character is most like yourself? (E.g. are you a Tibby, Lena, Carmen, or Bridget? A Blair or a Serena?)
11. What is YOUR colour? (The one you think suits you best)

-C

Writing in the language of hurry

Today's title is 100% accurate for me right now. I've had a busy couple of days which is why there wasn't a post yesterday. The quotation I've used comes from Forster's Howards End; funny when literature is exactly applicable to real life situations, eh? Aaanyway, tomorrow should be much more relaxing, I only wish the weather were supposed to be nicer! We've had such a great run of mid-20s temperatures for the last couple of weeks, but now we're in for several days of rain and only 10 degrees on Sunday. Yuck! I would protest in the name of Mother's Day if that would have any impact whatsoever.

China Glaze "Coconut Kiss"

On a nicer note, here's the next shade I'll be painting my nails! Odd like the weather, this colour is called "Coconut Kiss." Why do I feel like the nail-polish-colour-namer-people were sleeping on the job when they came up with THAT? Oh well, still a gorgeous purple and great colour for summer. Maybe a few coats of this will coax the warm weather back!


Any special plans for Mother's Day? I'd love to hear about them!

-C

P.S. The name of this polish reminds me that my best friend is on vacation in Haiwaii right now. Lucky, lucky girl!

Butter AND Jam

Every once in a while, we seem to get just about everything we want. Today's title comes from the fourth Pants novel, Forever in Blue, and actually wasn't at all planned until I was inspired while having breakfast this morning. Literally, I had butter and jam on my toast. Cutting edge stuff here, people. Anyway, the combination doesn't have be butter and jam, but any two things that make you feel good and happen to occur together. I feel like I'm getting the jackpot this weekend. Family and books (thank you, public library). Shopping and haircut. Technically that's four things, but I feel like the first two are simpler pleasures.

I'm getting into E.M. Forster's Howards End at the moment, and really enjoying it so far (for more Forster, see my mentions of A Passage to India from last summer here, here, and here). After having taken a class in Modernism last term at my university, I feel pretty good about myself when I'm able to identify an allusion without having to turn to the novel's endnotes. I won't be posting tomorrow because I'll be pretty busy with family, but expect a new post (and haircut, SO excited!) on Sunday.

Happy weekend, all!

-C

And then there was one

The title of today's post hints not only at the the next book I'll be reading (well, rereading, but it has been eight years since the last time) but also another realization that I am feeling back in the swing of things when it comes to this blog. The "one" I've mentioned in the title is simply the post that I did yesterday. . . one after a break of about seven months! Anyway, if you've read past posts of mine, you might know that I am utterly devoted to mystery fiction, particularly Agatha Christie. University lit classes can train me up all they want, but they'll never separate me from my original love of the small-town-murder novel. Oddly, the only thing I actually remember about Christie's And Then There Were None is who the killer is. What I've forgotten is the entire plot. Weird, but workable.

In other news, I'm puzzling more over the fate of my hair. Yes, it is THAT easy for me to swing from literary accomplishments to utter vanity. I digress. I told you yesterday that I'm almost/kind of/definitely sure that I want to cut all (most) of my hair off again, so I'm in the process of browsing through styles. I have fairly small features, a face that's slightly more round than oval, and a forehead in proportion to the rest of my face (i.e. do not necessarily need bangs to compensate for large forehead). Oh, also my hair is quite thick, but not naturally curly, though it does occasionally decide to have a bit of a wave. Keeping these things in mind, feel free to give me suggestions! Otherwise, take a look at the inspiration pictures I'm posting and let me know what stands out! Ok?

This is generally the cut I went for the first time around and it worked out pretty well.

Obviously not a picture of short hair, but I so love these bangs! Something I could still have if I kept my hair at a medium-ish length.

 

More bangs, I know, but I love how sleek this one is.

And one of an old short haircut of mine for good measure. Although I look rather like a solemn Peter Pan.

-C

For some reason our lives were marked by summers

Today's quotation comes from one of my best-loved books: Ann Brashares' The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The other night, during a much needed break from studying, my mom decided that she wanted us to rewatch the second Pants movie (2008). I am personally not a fan of these two films. The acting is great, but the storyline decidedly falls pretty flat when held up in comparison to Brashares' original work. Plus, they called the second film "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2." Really? 2? I guess that was the best possible title for this shambled together film, which is, in fact, comprised of mixed up bits and pieces from each of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Pants novels; this bothers me to no end.

And now for my actual point, although, if you've read this blog before, you may be used to the occasional literature/film-based ramble. The books are still amazing. I thought I'd reread the first one just to prove to myself that there was actually a strong foundation, despite how the movies turned out (in my opinion). So I did. I read the first one in a day and a half in between studying for two exams. Then I read the second. Then the third. This was all in all very irresponsible of me, but luckily I think I still managed to ace those two exams. Today is the day after my final fiiiinal exam (it was three hours, three essays, three texts per essay, MODERNISM dun dun duuun) and I'm well into the 4th and final novel. My pace has slowed, and I'm not entirely sure if it's the knowledge that I actually have more time to enjoy the book now, or I've horribly made myself completely sick of the series. I'm hoping it's not the latter.

Like the characters in the novel, my blog-life seems set to be marked by summers. This was never particularly planned, as I did try to carry on with it for a little while into the beginning of the school term, waaaay back in September. Well, I've got plenty of time now, so hopefully you're ready to read! This reminds me that I also have quite the line-up for reading myself this summer, so I'm sure you'll be encountering more book reviews on here, as well as the oft seen OOTDs and FOTDs. There isn't a picture to go with this post, not because I no longer like clothes/shopping/etc. but simply because I'm getting my hair cut on Sunday and I'd prefer to wait until I look a little more like myself (or what I feel myself looks like) again before posting.

I've honestly been going back and forth about cutting my hair since November. Yikes! It's just around shoulder-length now--long enough that I've started to appreciate its presence--but the thing is, I only really enjoy it because I can put it back in a ponytail. After all, wouldn't having it short effectively do the same thing? I mainly just like having my hair away from my face, so I feel like in the end it will be getting cut quite short once more.

I'm glancing back up at what I've written thus far and am impressed by how much I've put down (negative? positive?). It's surprising, but comfortable to see that I'm still able to do this after so many months. Anyway, as always, let me know if there's anything you'd like to see from me this time around. Any books I should read? Let me know your own opinions on the Pants series! I'm genuinely curious! Films I should see? One last note relating to this: I am so crazy excited for "The Great Gatsby" to come out next month! I'm also wearing my Great Gatsby shirt which feels way too cool to be dorky.

Talk to you again soon!

-C

The Liebster Award & Nominations

"The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. What is a Liebster? The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome."

I've been nominated by Oanh at Indefinite Style for the Liebster Award. 

The rules are:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the questions that the tagger set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you’ve tagged to answer.
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them.
5. No tag backs!

Here are 11 things about me:
1. Right now I speak only English fluently, but am learning Italian. After that, I'd like to go back and polish up my French and learn Spanish as well.
2. I've only left North America once, on a trip to Italy.
3. Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday because my whole family on my mom's side gets together.
4. I'm pretty sure the first day of autumn used to be on my birthday (September 21st), but has since migrated to the 22nd. This really cheeses me off.
5. I adore mystery novels and am excited to have recently discovered the neo-noir film genre.
6. I love television shows which demand the contestants/actors display some sort of natural skill, e.g. "So You Think You Can Dance" and "The Glee Project."
7. My father is an artist and graphic designer which has given me very specific tastes in aesthetics. For example, I adored the art deco-inspired posters for the film "Black Swan."
8. Although not a natural-born comic book nerd, I do love Captain America. One of my friends often teases me by sending me .gif images of Steve Rogers' (a.k.a. Chris Evans') backside from the opening boxing scene in "The Avengers."
9. Florence + the Machine is my favourite band, and I am longing for the day I get to see them in concert.
10. As a child, I wished for red hair. I'm pretty much the opposite of Anne Shirley.
11. The most enjoyable sports I've ever gotten to try are fencing, boxing, and archery.

Indefinite Style's Questions:
1. What's your most worn item at the moment? This is between a white ballet leotard-style t-shirt (which goes with everything), and my coral striped shirt from Hollister (I love the fit, colour, everything).
2. Name one place you want to visit. It's hard to pick just one, but a place I'm definitely already planning to visit is Venice, or Venezia in Italian. I'll be travelling back to Italy once I've got my degree and would like to spend some time in the more northern cities, as the last time I went I hit mainly central Italy. Other than that, the Harry Potter theme park, hands down.
3. Favourite store/online store? Forever 21 is definitely the store I most consistently buy clothing from. MAC is the store I'm most excited to be in (I could honestly live in there). Anthropologie is the online store I most frequently browse through, but I've never bought anything from them because I have no money :)
4. Best purchase of the month. My burgundy cords from Joe Fresh. They fit amazingly and were only $19 (Canadian). So exciting!
5. What is one blog that you check religiously? Definitely Cee's blog Coco and Vera. She is one of the classiest dressers I've ever seen, while still having a style which is not unrealistic for the average woman.
6. What is your go-to outfit when you don't know what to wear? Either a nice pair of jeans and a t-shirt with some sort of interesting detail and a bright colour, or the same kind of top with any white bottoms. I've always got to be wearing some sort of rich colour. 
7. What is the newest beauty item you've tried? At the moment, my Sonia Kashuk blush in "Flamingo," which I picked up after reading rave reviews. For a beautiful colour at a really good price ($8 American maybe), it definitely doesn't disappoint.
8. What is your dream job? I would love to work either in public relations or at a publishing house. I love to read, write, and speak in front of people. Being surrounded by literature would be a dream.
9. Name an item you can't live without? I might have to be really arrogant here and say there's really no material thing I couldn't do without. I'm not at all addicted to modern technology, so I guess. . . soap? That's pretty essential, right?
10. What is your favourite season? Why? Definitely autumn, because it's when all the best things happen. School starts (yay English!), it's when I persist in thinking my birthday is (see #4 of things about me), there are fall fairs, crunchy leaves, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and lovely sweaters.
11. What is one thing you wish people knew about you? I think there are very few things that can't be achieved with respect and honesty. I will always act and make decisions based on these two qualities. Also, I once had a fish named Zeus.

My Questions:

1. If you had the chance to style any celebrity, who would it be?

2. What are your favourite physical and personality traits in yourself?

3. Name one distinct phase you went through clothing-wise (e.g. constantly wearing the same shirt, being all about tie-dye [please don't answer that one!]).

4. What is one goal you have for your blog?

5. What is the first thing you remember wanting to be when you grew up?

6. Do you have any odd talents?

7. What is one item you wear (makeup, clothing, or accessory) that one of your family members, friends, or significant other can't stand?

8. In a group of individuals representing cliches, which one would most suit you: the sweet one, the smart one, the funny one, the shy one, the center of attention, the tomboy, the clumsy one, the artist, or the [insert other more applicable cliche here]?

9. Is there a fictional world (either film or book) you would like to be a part of? Which one, and why?

10. Which individual or band (alive or dead, or split up) would you kill (not literally) to get tickets to see?

11. Name one thing that you would love to have in your wardrobe/makeup collection that is totally impractical (due to the limited number of times or places you could wear it, due to price, due to it belonging to a celebrity [helloooo "Thriller" jacket!] etc.).

Nominations:

1. Little girl, big thoughts

2. The Tyrannosaur 

3. The Treasure Chest

4. Nestled

5. EleanorGrace 

6. L. loves to share

7. Obsessed About Beauty and Fashion

8. Sophia x

9. Style Rhapsody

10. Confetti Letters 

11. Betsy Boat 

Thanks again to Indefinite Style!

-C

Call me male-ish

Today's title is a mixed up, me-trying-to-be-clever quotation derived from the first (and oh so famous) line of my current read: Herman Melville's Moby Dick. The real line of course runs "Call me Ishmael." This sentence, and novel as a whole, are well suited to today's OOTD post as my outfit is quite nautical themed. If this isn't really your thing, fair enough, but I happened to love this shirt as soon as I laid eyes on it. These coraly-red canvas boat shoes also happen to be my favourite shoes ever. I tend to dress fairly casually, while still trying to look nice, and these shoes have always suited my needs while being extremely comfortable at the same time.

Skirt & Shoes: Tommy Hilfiger

Relating to the shoes, and my being casual in general, you might have noticed that, unlike the majority of fashion bloggers I've seen, I've never had an OOTD with heels. It's just personal preference really; I've always found the shoes I gravitated towards are fairly flat, but interesting. Luckily, this less typically feminine preference also allowed me to play around with my quotation today, so I'm happy all around!

Top: Joe Fresh; Earrings: Le Chateau

Also, you might be wondering what's going on with my hair in these pictures. It is in fact tied back in a very small pony tail. I'm debating whether or not I want to cut it all off, which is how I used to have it before starting this blog. I've been letting it grow out for many months now (since March or April), but super short hair still holds such an appeal for me. It means using less shampoo, not having to straighten it almost every day, more time for doing makeup in the morning. . . but we'll see how it goes.

I know that while I like wearing oddly patterned cotton shirts, I'm going to be thrilled the day I can wake up and put on a nice big sweater. Are you as excited for autumn as I am?

-C

I have a sock that I refer to as my "good sock"

I don't actually have a sock like that; today's quotation comes from the show "2 Broke Girls." It's funny if you're feeling tolerant of fairly constant sexual humour, but mostly I've quoted it because I've spent the day thinking about money. Not in a greedy Ebenezer Scrooge kind of way. School is coming up on me rapidly now and it's time to start thinking about paying tuition and dealing with student loans. This process elicits from me a "yay" heavily laden with sarcasm.

I've been picking up my required texts for this year AND my copy of Moby Dick came in the mail the other day! I love getting things in the mail, even though I'm still sitting in wait for the piano book I ordered (mentioned here). The push is now on for me to finish what has become my final elective read for the summer before embarking on my school reading list. Right now I'm working my way through Stieg Larsson's The Girl Who Played With Fire. One thing that certainly stands out about this series, whether you've read the novels or watched the films, is the extreme amount of violence; a popular theme running throughout the novels is society's treatment of women. When I mentioned to a friend of mine recently that I was reading this novel, their reaction was surprisingly negative. I thought the reason was perhaps what I have just suggested, the mistreatment of women. I was wrong. My friend's issue with the trilogy was rather the way in which it deals with men's issues; read: sexism against men. This is an area unfortunately often overlooked by scholars and laymen alike, but bringing this point of view into consideration has really helped me have a new perspective as I continue on with the novel.

Besides my literary endeavours, I've also been picking up the odd clothing item here and there. My intention was, of course, to get some new things for fall, but I ended up buying a couple of summer pieces anyway. Hopefully you'll see some of these in OOTDs sooner rather than later. I was planning on taking pictures today as the weather looked promising, but things have clouded over here so I'll save that for another day. If you're living in Canada and looking to do some back-to-school shopping, I'd recommend checking out corduroy pants at Joe Fresh. I pretty much never buy anything from them, but was pleasantly surprised to come across these pants for $19 in a plethora of amazing autumn colours. I bought mind in a dark burgundy, but there's also mustard, dark green, cobalt blue, burnt orange, brown, and black from what I can remember.

Happy back-to-school shopping!

-C

Please don't be the spit in my face

Today's quotation is actually a real line, not just an absurdly disgusting request. Yesterday I began attempting to get addicted to something. The something was "Modern Family." A good friend of mine absolutely loves this show and raved to me about it throughout the past school year. We live several hours apart, but I will hopefully be seeing her soon, and at that point I'd like to wow her with my knowledge and up-to-speed-ness of the show she is so crazy about. Aside from introducing me to this wonderful person of bizarre televisional tastes (and a few other things like life skills and an appreciation for higher education), my university has often become "the spit in my face" alluded to by Gloria in "Modern Family." Something always goes horribly wrong with my schedule, special requests, etc. each year like clockwork. At the moment, although I didn't get into a couple of courses I wish I could have, everything's going alright. This makes me very suspicious. It's the calm before the takeawayyourscholarshipmakeyoupaydoublefortextbooksandallyourclassesareacrosscampus storm. Kudos to you if you read that.

Nevertheless, today it has become August. It really does feel like August, too. I was in Walmart the other day and had an urge to buy strangely coloured pens and overpriced notebooks. However, I resisted the impulse since notebooks I don't need yet at all, and I'm pretty sure I always end up with way too many pens and likely still have plenty fresh ones kicking around from last year. The thing that excites me most (not surprisingly) is buying my books. For many people, a Health Sci bound friend of mine in particular, purchasing textbooks is less than thrilling, but for me, it's pretty much Christmas. This is mainly because I don't have to buy books for labs, math, engineering in any shape or form, but actual literature; most of which I will actually enjoy. Buying something new and lovely and interesting because it's MANDATORY! I love being an arts student.

Just anticipating the books in my not too distant future has got me wanting to rearrange my bookshelf. This is perhaps the nerdiest of all nerd pursuits, but I don't care at all. My books have been arranged so many ways by now: by school/non-school, by author, by spine colour, and even once by height. I'm glad that this is a marginally useful insanity as I channel by OCD tendencies into superior organizational methods. At least that's what I've been telling myself.

Tomorrow's post will contain an OOTD and two movie reviews. How is everyone's summer going? Anyone else thinking about school yet (if you're still attending)?

-C

No, that's why it's WORTH so much

Today's quotation comes from the beloved 1998 film, "You've Got Mail." I was inspired to write the following after rewatching this movie last night, so continue reading, if you please.

Tonight I watched "You've Got Mail." Kathleen Kelly and her Shop Around the Corner made me realize something. I want to write. Not in the journalistic style of a blog, but in the way I longed for smooth pencils and clean lined notebooks back in third grade. Last summer I was visiting Toronto, Ontario when I happened to pass by the Scholastic publishing house. Even such a short time ago, I had been unsure of my path, only knowing that I did not want to teach. The life-size Clifford charging up the wall behind the staircase, visible through the glass-fronted establishment, seemed to point me right to it: you will be an editor. You will not write a book of your own (I acknowledged this as meant to be and not in a self-deprecating way), but you will help others. You will give them the chance that no other has given and you will make them happy.

I do not necessarily feel that when it comes to jobs one may be worth less and another more, but now I feel I could do more. And I think children's literature could do that for me as well. These are the stories that teach us who, where, and why we are. They demonstrate the value of hope, the depth of love, and the possibility of magic. They make us smile and they make us cry. They make me wish I had enrolled in the Children's Literature course. Do you want to know something shocking? I didn't take it because it is one of the few English courses that DON'T ACTUALLY COUNT towards my degree. As an English major. I've never really been bothered by this before, instead just mindlessly avoided the class, selecting instead Renaissance Lit or the History of Theory and Criticism (that was mandatory, by the way), but now it strikes me (no pun intended) as a slap in the face to authors who write to a young audience. If schools of academics and the intellectuals of our future, and in the same discipline as many of these writers no less, don't take them seriously, who will?

The answer that comes to me is of course, the children. There will always be the children learning to love, read, and be inspired by the people who have said "You know what, Department of English? Children's literature is worth something to ME."

-C

A paperclip and pin and a tiny violin

This post's title is something a little different for me; instead of my usual novel quotation, I've used song lyrics. These lyrics come from "Clean" by the band Olenka and the Autumn Lovers, who I mentioned finding out about in my last post. Between reading, writing, and watching films, I've been quickly getting addicted to their brilliantly unique sound.

I've watched two amazing, and vastly different films over the past couple of days. The first of these is "Brick," a modern take on the '40s film noir, also categorized as "neo-noir." This movie is so far from anything I've ever seen before (anything current, because it is undeniably Hammett-esque) and it surprised me throughout at how well it worked. Going into it, I expected the hard-boiled detective speak to come off as forced and somewhat ridiculous. However, the language as well as the physical performance of Joseph Gordon-Levitt were entirely and spellbindingly convincing. If you're a fan of classic films like "The Maltese Falcon" and/or JGL, I would heartily recommend this as a must-see movie.

The other film is one I mentioned taking out from the library over a week ago now (mentioned here): Roberto Rossellini's "Il Generale della Rovere." This is a serious Italian-language WWII film, but actually less violent than "Brick." The film stars Vittorio de Sica as a crafty Italian con man who finds himself in a tough spot when caught in his fraudulant act by the Gestapo. He is compelled to impersonate and enter prison as a valuable Italian general whom the Nazis have mistakenly killed. The film is all about "Il Generale"'s moral evolution from con man to a man of strength and conscience.

On the lighter side of things, I have a new NOTD to show you. As some of you may already know, I've been looking for a nice pale pink polish (read here) and finally managed to settle on Essie's "Fiji." However, the store where I planned to buy it were all out of this shade (and just this shade. . . of all the rotten luck!). Rather than traipsing all over town for one measly nail polish, I've used a darker, sparklier pink that I already owned.

"Rose Petals"

Are there any detective story lovers in the audience? Ever since I took an English course in Mystery and Detective Fiction, I've been looking for new recommendations as far as literature in the same genre.


-C

I wanted to be supportive but throw up at the same time

I find myself needing to quote "Gilmore Girls" yet again to come up with a fitting title for this post. A similar feeling to today's quotation is what I anticipated being overcome with yesterday. I spent the day with family, which unexpectedly included one relative's boyfriend (whom I had never previously met). Before you all get the idea that I harbour any negative ideas towards any family member or their plus-ones, let me remind you that I only thought I might have the feeling expressed in this post's title. Luckily, everyone behaved themselves and there was no awkward couple-ness going on.

Potential family drama averted, the group of us had a great time at a local festival, followed by dinner and games. We're definitely a big family for games. I also heard some great music performed while we were out, including one band called "Olenka and the Autumn Lovers," who I'm definitely going to look into further.

Here are some quick pictures of what I generally looked like. It was pretty hot out and we were pressed for time with family visiting and getting to and from the festival, so I don't have nice shots like I usually do. My top was worn in a slightly different way here. You can't see it in these pictures, but I've tied the belt in a bow at the back because I find it cuts me strangely to wear it wrapped around the top in the way it was intended to be. I paired it with some simple white shorts and no jewellery other than the earrings you see pictured.

On the film and literature front, I'm still working my way through Byatt and am halfway through two different movies: "Brick" and "Il Generale della Rovere." All three will be reviewed here upon their completion.

What did you get up to this weekend? Have you come across any great music lately? Let me know!

-C

The poet in the grip of the divine madness

Today's bizarre quotation is taken from my current read: A. S. Byatt's The Shadow of the Sun. I'm feeling a bit in the grip of "the divine madness" myself as so many crazy and wonderful things have been happening lately! I've been getting through this novel at a slow, but steady rate, so hopefully I can present all of you with a fresh book review sometime next week! Speaking of books, I put in an order on Amazon today. If you've been reading my posts for a while, it should be fairly transparent to you that I am an equal lover of fashion and literature. Although I major in English at university, I don't set books aside come summer holidays. I've been plowing through my reading list this year and have already managed to complete 10 novels (Byatt's will be numero undici [#11]). However, school is not nearly so far away as it was two months ago (funny how that works) and I'm starting to turn my attention back to mandatory readings and textbook lists.

From Amazon I ordered one novel I know I'll be reading in my fall American lit course: Herman Melville's Moby Dick. This thrills me on so many levels. First of all, you know how I love a good classic; Faulkner, Hemingway, and James have all made appearances on my reading list so far this season. Second of all, I love the television show "Gilmore Girls" (more on my obsession here) and ordering Moby Dick takes me back to the very first episode of the series. Rory is in the middle of her first awkward conversation with Dean (how many times does she end up saying "cake"?!) and as the topic swings over to books she tells him "[she knows] it's kind of cliché to pick Moby Dick as your first Melville. . ." Besides the fact that I needed to buy this novel for school, I felt instinctively better knowing that it had the Rory Gilmore stamp of approval; even if it is a cliché.

The other book I bought is actually not for reading. "A book not for reading?!" I hear you exclaim, "How can it be so?" Well, I'm also an avid piano player (saying "an avid pianist" will just never sound quite right to me) and I was in need of some new material. What I'm about to tell you may make some of you cringe, but bear with me and I'll explain. I bought the piano book for the "Breaking Dawn: Part 1" soundtrack. I know this is not exactly a best-loved series of books or films, but to clarify, the soundtracks compiled for these movies are typically AMAZING. I kid you not. As in, the musical selections from these films introduced me to both Florence + the Machine and Muse. According to Amazon, I shouldn't be getting either of my books for a good three weeks, but at the risk of calling them dirty liars, I find my orders typically arrive much sooner than that.

I'm planning on hitting up a great little festival in my city tomorrow, so I should have a fresh post complete with OOTD sometime this weekend. I would put it up straight away, but I have family coming to visit as well, so my blog may have to take the backburner for a day or two.

What are your plans this weekend? Do you get overly excited buying books, or purchasing anything online for that matter?

-C

Standing out as though sugared

Today's title is an adapted quotation from A. S. Byatt's The Shadow of the Sun, which I am currently reading. I found the idea of something "sugared" a pleasant one, evoking sweetness and a sort of frozen brilliance; the arrested beauty of the rose from "Beauty and the Beast" comes to mind. I spent this morning dealing in equal parts with something "frozen" and "brilliant." At my mother's behest, I was out picking raspberries at a local farm. Seeing as this has been the first cooler day for a while, it felt quite comfortable to be out in shorts and a t-shirt. However, this sensation quickly evaporated as the weather turned from just pleasantly cool to pouring down rain. I was totally drenched and chilled to the bone, but at least I have a whole container of fresh raspberries to show for it!

I took this early one just to demonstrate how amazing this mascara is! The flash made the colour a bit stark. Face: MAC select SPF 15 foundation in NW15; Sonia Kashuk beautifying blush in "Flamingo"

Eyes: a purpley-taupe from the E.L.F. everyday basic palette; Lancôme hypôse drama mascara in "Black"; E.L.F. liner in "Brown"

Luckily, I wasn't planning on taking any OOTD pictures outdoors today because the weather would definitely have spoiled that idea before it even got off the ground. Instead, I'll leave you with some quick FOTD shots I took to go with the outfit images I posted yesterday.

Lips: EOS lip balm in "Sweet Mint" (because the lipstick is a bit drying); MAC creamsheen lipstick in "Speak Louder"

Hope you're all staying warm and dry! Do you have any plans for getting outdoors this weekend?

-C

Pain like this seems inseparable from perfection

Allow me first off to clarify that today's titular quotation does not refer to any sort of physical injury I've sustained or personal trauma I've encountered since last I wrote. The line comes from L. M. Montgomery's Anne's House of Dreams and the feeling of pain is meant to be connected to an intense sensation experienced upon seeing something very beautiful; also referred to by Anne as "the queer ache." This juxtaposition in feelings is something extremely enjoyable for me in literature and film. It lends a satisfying tension to the work and often composes that illusive feeling of being moved by what you read or watch.

Something similar to this feeling exists in the film I watched last night: Carlos Saura's "Don Giovanni." You may already be familiar with this title as the famous opera. The film gives a sort of fictionalized background as to said opera's creation by composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and lyricist Lorenzo Da Ponte. If you've read my review of "Il Deserto Rosso" (here), you can easily imagine how a colourful, vibrant, period film like this would stand in stark contrast. For the overarching effect of a large, brilliant spectacle, you could likely find similarities in films such as "The Phantom of the Opera" (I'm thinking of the 2004 Gerard Butler version). However, I was impressed by a few unique production choices made in "Don Giovanni" that did an excellent job of echoing the feeling of watching a live onstage performance.

Blocking (placement of characters within the space) was done to a tee and a couple of times further accentuated through the use of tableau. If you're up on your classic films, I think you could compare this tableau and posed crowd effect to the race scene in "My Fair Lady." The other effect that I found very interesting was the use of screens. Occasionally, a printed screen would be used as the backdrop, both in rooms and outdoor settings. They were clearly artificial, but gave a strong feeling of watching a play within a play (or, to be more accurate, an opera within a film). Once, the audience's attention was even specifically drawn to the artificiality of the backgrounds as a character remarked that he was looking after the books in an illustrious library; all of the walls in the library, including the shelves as well as the books upon them, were nothing but hanging backdrops. Screens were used again to achieve extremely smooth transitions between scenes. The scene you were watching would seem to take place in a solid building, then the lights would dim, while other lights on the opposite side of the wall would raise revealing the wall to have been only a screen the whole time. The camera would film the newly illuminated figures on the other side of the screen through the transparent backdrop until switching camera angles to bring the back room into the forefront.

Now for a little of something else I promised you in my last post. I've really been trying hard to take good care of my skin lately. My blog deals a lot with many different areas, but beauty products are definitely one of my interests. In that vein, we most often come across blogs focusing on skincare for the face alone. I can tell you what sort of products I do use on my face if you're interested, but today's review will actually be dealing with body products instead. The Body Shop has had a summer sale on (it still is on online, I'm not sure about in-store) so I swung by and picked up a couple of items. One of these is their body scrub in "Mango," which did not disappoint in terms of providing a scent true to its name. This scrub smells so fantastic you'll have to stop yourself from grabbing a spoon and just shovelling the contents into your mouth. Honestly, it does smell THAT good. Besides the scent, this product has been working really well for me so far. It's quite a thick texture, but I find that you can work it in decently well, even on dry skin. It claims to be for very dry skin, which is great because it doesn't leave your skin feeling super worn out, but rather soft and moisturized instead.

I wish you guys could smell this stuff! UH-mazing.

To seal in the feeling of goodness the scrub leaves on my skin, I then lather on Lubriderm's Advanced Therapy Lotion. I've only been using these products for a little while, but my skin feels amazing, and it smells pretty good too!!

Oops! I didn't realize how blurry this was!

-C

His life, though vivid, was largely a dream

The quotation for this post comes from E. M. Forster's A Passage to India. Today's composition will be my 27th blog entry; not exactly a typical landmark, but it did strike me as I was beginning to write this that almost every one of these posts has been introduced with a quotation. Repetition is a wonderful thing- the more I say, think, or write something, the more likely I am to remember it for ages and ages. I've always delighted in recording lines from books. Events in real life often recall almost-forgotten song lyrics. The frequency with which I introduce film speeches into everyday conversation is almost obscene. When I see all of my past titles lined up along the side of my blog, it's like a row of little gems I've picked out over the recent days, weeks, months, and years of my cultural experience with film, literature, and television. For me, it's pretty much the best of the best; C's "greatest hits," if you will, in the form of snippets from a million (27) individuals moments of joy at stumbling across a line I just loved.

The act of finding, recording, rediscovering, and transposing each of these separate moments onto my blog is a feeling similar to the Forster quotation I've used today. Each one has the dreamlike quality of a memory, but possesses a sharp vividness in my mind from being especially selected for the purpose of being remembered.

In terms of the real meat of this blog post (yes, I did just go from a sort of poetic attempt at explanation to "meat"), I can connect the most recent novel I've completed to this same half-imagined reality. This book would be L. M. Montgomery's Anne's House of Dreams. I don't feel as though I really need to review this; either you've read the Anne series, or you ought to. These are certainly not works for children alone. Characters (Anne especially) spend as much time in the world of imagination as they do faced with very real, difficult, life-altering challenges.

Giving myself a break from Montgomery for now, next on my reading list is A. S. Byatt's The Shadow of the Sun. So far I've only read the introduction, but honestly, even that was extraordinarily interesting. Though this is near blasphemy for a student of English literature, I must admit that I usually skim or skip entirely over introductions in novels (not to be confused with prologues which are actually a part of the fictional text). I was prepared to do the same for this latest work, but I found myself captivated as Byatt reflected on her novel (N. B. the introduction was added 20 years after the original publication), drawing parallels between her life and her characters, these characters and figures of her other texts, and how she has come to see her novel in a new way, making fresh connections she was previously unaware of in her own book. Imagine coming back to something you'd finished decades before and feeling as though you were seeing aspects of it for the first time! To me, this certainly counts as a mark of a great author.

I'll be watching the Italian film "Don Giovanni" in a little while, so I should have a post about that up tomorrow or the following day. Also on the blog roster are items from a recent shopping excursion, which will be compiled into a little skincare and fashion haul. I didn't think it would be exceptionally interesting to display these items as a pile of stuff (some of it wrinkled, none of it laundered), so I'll be giving reviews of the cosmetic products alongside pictures of them, but just describing briefly the clothing I bought. Out of personal preference, I'm going to save images of fashion pieces for OOTDs to give you a better idea of the actual size and shape of each article as it exists on an average-heighted/weighted person, outdoors, in natural light.

Have you been enjoying your weekends? As always, feel free to leave a comment to let me know what you've been reading/watching/wearing or any recommendations you might have for me!

-C