How ANTM inspires us to dream big

Every girl is familiar with the four letter abbreviation, ANTM, the TV show that has hopped from CW to Style and beyond. I'm sure you know the one, Tyra Banks hosts and tries to make "pretty" girls into "top models". They all live in one big house and there's always a mean one who it feels like producers keep on just for ratings... The entire show is like a train wreck, but you just can't help but watch. 

I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but I enjoy America's Next Top Model. I enjoy the silly girls making idiots of themselves on national television. 

And you know what, sometimes I wish I was one of them. I wish I was the girls with the makeup skills and the magical ability to walk in heals (I'm learning, slowly but surely). But I'm not, lets be realistic here, I'm 100% awkward. I'm tall and gangly and just sort of there.

But I have at least one thing going for me, I know who I am. I know what I can do and what I shouldn't even try to do. And I think that every girl should know her limits. And then try with all her might to break through all of them. I dream big, I want to learn to walk in those 7" blue platforms in the back of my closet. And someday I will. 

Dream big, 

E

10 Minute Trend

One of my favorite trends lately is the hair band with a button trend. I really wanted to try it so, google to the rescue! 10 minutes on the internet and I was able to have a fully comprehensible idea of how to cover a button without buying a kid. And I'm here to tell you, it's easy! All you need are buttons, some fabric, a needle and thread, and scissors!

Now let's make some buttons! 

Step 1: Measure a piece of fabric that is double the diameter of the button and cut it from the fabric strip. 

Step 2: Thread the needle (I'm using black so you can see what I'm doing) and put a knot at the end.

Step 3: Stitch a large circle around the fabric. Do not cut the thread yet!

Step 4: Place the button in the center of the stitched circle.

Step 5: Pull the thread tight, encasing the button.

Step 6: Sew the loose ends together.

Step 7: Attach the button to anything you want! Hair bands, bags, anything!

I hope this gets you inspired to make your own trend!

Remember, Keep it Classy,
~E

One Of My Favorite Things!

It sounds really ridiculous, but quite frankly, I have a huge thing for Duck Tape. Oh how I love it! I have only three colors right now, but the three of them are my favorites that Duck Tape makes. Believe it or not, but Duck Tape is really useful! I've used it to cover jars, to label things and even to give myself a reminder every once in a while.

I covered an old paint can with teal and labeled it with my last bit of neon green and used it for my Europe savings. I also covered an old peanut butter jar and use it to hold my Sharpie collection. I love how you can use Duck Tape for so much and it goes so well with your taste. 

I recently gave my room a good "Summer Scrub" and discovered the inadaquacy of my CD storage. Promptly Teacher Mom and I went to The Container Store and Office Max for a storage tower and some extra jewel cases for mix cds. Luckily I was able to use my Duck Tape and Sharpie collections to organize my CD tower. Putting a label on the back of all my new jewel cases makes it so much easier to see all my cd's and I feel so organized!

Keep it classy,
~E

What a party!

Yesterday was one of my best friend's birthdays! Argentina turned 16 and to celebrate she had a few close girlfriends over! To celebrate I made her cookies and gave her two quick and easy joke gifts. 

Argentina and I in the 8th Grade. LONG time ago.

When deciding how to decorate cookies one thing came to mind, Argentina's necklace. Her mom gave it to her when she was like six and she never takes it off. Basically it's become a fixture on Argentina's neck, see Argentina, see necklace. Anyhow, the necklace has a ladybug on it and has lots of special meanings. When we were in A Mid Summer Night's Dream together, Argentina named her fairy Ladybug, she was so cute! But the answer seemed obvious, make ladybug cookies! I had lots of fun rolling them out and decorating them! Argentina loved them! And according to her they tasted pretty good too! Not to mention they were SO EASY! 

Argentina's joke gifts were almost as easy as her cookies, all I had to do was make photo copies for one of them! We were in a 24 hour theater showcase together in freshman year, for those of you who don't know, 24 Hour Theater is when a play is written, rehearsed, and performed in 24 hours, it's HARD! We were cast in a a post-apocalyptic themed duet together, my character was cold, mean, domineering, hers was crazy, and lonely. Mine was also a lesbian with a thing for her. We were both really unconformable, so we just did the best we could, and the show became a point of universal hate for both of us. While cleaning I found my copy of the script and so for Argentina's birthday I made her a photo copy and wrapped it up nice and pretty. When She opened it we both laughed for almost a solid 5 minutes. The other present is a specialty of mine, a homemade personalized mix CD. For Argentina, it was a compilation of some of my favorite show tunes! She really liked it! Mix CDs are easy and so personal, I love giving them for any occasion! 

keep it classy

~E

Bring On The Night

Last night was Broadway's biggest night, one of my favorite award shows, THE TONY AWARDS! As a former theater freak I simply adore the pomp and circumstance of the Tony Awards. Watching the best of the best be awarded for their genius is amazing. At some points it literally brought tears to my eyes. (sorry if it's cheesy but I seriously love it that much.)

Any way, I went to one of my best friend Africa Girl's house to watch the show. We ate pizza (extra cheese for the vegetarian) and yelled at the television. Overall it was a great night and we had a blast! I'm not going to see AG for an entire month (while I'm in Europe and she goes to to Kamp) and I'm going to miss her like crazy! I've already started to write her letters to open up while she's away because I wont have the postage to send her letters while I'm in Europe! Her parents are going to Tahiti while she's away so of course I have to make her feel like she's loved!

In other news I have only a week to pack and get ready to go! I leave on Tuesday! EEKK!

Keep it classy
~E

EEEKKK!

Hey guys! Guess what?!?! You're favorite ginger/vegetarian/blogger got tweeted at by THE COLLEGE PREPSTER! You know, the AMAZING blogger/recent college graduate/baker. EEEKKK!!!! (Yes, I realize this whole thing is completely 100% ridiculous/stupid) But I still got tweeted! Huzzah! I think I can die happy! My life is good! (I found out she retweeted me at my friend Africa Girl's house getting ready for the Tony awards, more tomorrow.) I realize that the fact that I blog stalk Carly is totally creepy and weird, sorry about that, but it totally paid off today! Yeah, umm, that's it. I just wanted to share that with all of you. You can go home now. But first, subscribe to the blog. *please*

Just in case

Last year I did one of the stupidest things I've ever done, I played an entire day of rugby without any sunblock at all. Let me tell you, that was one of the worst mistakes of my life. I got a 2nd degree sunburn on my face. My skin blistered everywhere and I couldn't wear makeup for two whole weeks. OW. Just in case you didn't pay attention to my last post on how to AVOID getting to much sun here are some tried and true tips for alleviating pain from overexposure and getting your skin back on color as quickly as possible. So without further ado...

A ginger's tips for maximum relief from a sunburn! 

1. Aloe Vera. The most common cure for a sunburn, and one of the most effective forms of relieving pain from a bad sunburn. Personally, I prefer the type of aloe that has lidocane in it, typically it means that the aloe is blue, instead of the usual green. There is a draw back though, unfortunately the blue kind of aloe can give your skin a blueish tint when used repeatedly over a long period of time. Additionally, an aloe plant is a great thing to grow in a garden if you're pale. Fresh aloe is always a great feeling on burnt skin. The best part to me, the perfect temperature of goo every time.

2. Water. It sounds stupid, in fact it's my dad's cure for everything. (Have a headache? Drink some water. Hungry? Drink some water.) He reminds me of the dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, windex any one? Any way, drinking water is a great thing for anyone with a sunburn. The burnt skin must be replaced with new skin later and it takes water to create the new cells. The more water you have, the faster you'll be able to regrow cells and get rid of your nasty sunburn/peeling.

3. Milk. It sounds sort of stupid, but a rag soaked in whole milk (the fattier the better) and placed on your sun burn will alleviate most pain and take down some of the inflammation. Not to mention milk just out of the refrigerator, nice and cold, feels INCREDIBLE on skin that just can't seem to cool down. 

4. A shower. Kids, not going to lie, this hurts like nothing else. I absolutely hate this, but it works wonderfully, takes a sunburn away at least two days sooner. Turn on the shower, HOT. And I mean hot. Get in and put the burnt part of your body under the water and stand there as long as you can, turn the water on hotter if you can. It draws the heat out from your burn and dries it out too. Peeling will begin within a day or two and then VOILA! Your burn is gone. 

5. Anti-Inflammatory. A good anti-inflammatory is the key to a bad sunburn. Taking one (with water) will assist your cells in regenerating and taking the inflammation out of the burnt skin.

I do hope this helps, sunburns stink and no one deserves them. Happy summer! And remember, overexposure can lead to skin cancer. WEAR SUNBLOCK! 

Keep it classy, 

~E