Original entry can be found at http://gratuitousruffles.blogspot.com



Yesterday, I went to see The Young Victoria with a friend. In one respect, I was quite satisfied: the movie was a two-hour lush-fest: sumptuous fabrics, intricate hairstyles, and endless rooms elegantly wallpapered and furnished, filled with beautiful stuff (The Victorians really loved stuff.) Miranda Richardson flouncing and huffing around as the Duchess of Kent with enough hair to keep a dozen Dickensian orphans warm on a cold winter night. Rows of men in plaid pants and impressive muttonchops. Jim Broadbent getting uproariously drunk. A large supporting role for Victoria's Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, one of the cutest fucking dogs in British history (thanks, Charles II!):


omg!

( MOAR! )

Well, looks like it's back to the blogging. I'm home for the holidays-- just narrowly missed being stuck at Vassar while PA was ravaged by a snow storm.

Ravaged is a rather suggestive word to use when speaking about weather, but I can't be bothered to change it. Anyway. I'm happy to be away from work for a while (even though I should be working on my senior psych project, learning a recital's worth of music, and submitting my final grad app).

Don is home from his semester in Germany. I've decided that I've had quite enough of him leaving for semesters at a time to live in cool places like Los Angeles and Freiburg without me. Tonight we went shopping for his Christmas present, but I ended up buying myself a few things (using my Hanukkah money, so I don't feel too bad!) from Ann Taylor Loft.

I got this jacket:



In navy. I didn't realize until I unwrapped it at home that the collar sticks straight up in the back and looks a little insane, but I think I just love it more. I think it makes me look like an eighteenth-century gentleman, but Don disagrees. I also bought these black cords:




I am trying to be more sensible about the clothes I buy, since I don't desperately **need** anything. The jacket and the pants are a little dressier than my usual jeans and button-up combo, which means I might get some use out of 'em when I am kicked out the door of higher education and into the real world. Ugh.

Well, this was probably super boring! Not much else to say. Tomorrow I am going to a Christmas party at tropigalia's house. I am going to try to make Linzer cookies. We'll see how that goes... At least I figured out what the damn things are called. I've been referring to them all day as "those jam window cookies." I think that is pretty accurate!

My house is making strange noises, so I guess I should tiptoe off to bed. Until my next random breaktime entry, good night!

My friends from high school are totally internet-famous, which might soon translate to real famous, as they are currently en route to LA on NBC's dollar.



I wish I still had copies of the fabulous/ridiculous songs I sang for Kurt in high school, in our calculus teacher's mini-studio. One of them was called "White Guys on the Dance Floor," and it involved a dance move called "the dinosaur."

The last few weeks have been great. We built a fort/tent, as promised, and it is huge and pink and wonderful. Alas, no pictures yet. This week I went home to see fun. and Miniature Tigers perform.

( You wanted better love, well it's sleeping in your bedroom )

I am taking three wonderful classes. The first is a seminar on composer Benjamin Britten, a truly fascinating man and artist. We watched a documentary about him last week, and he is so thoroughly British that I couldn't help but giggle. Here he takes on sunrise, the sea, and the deepest loneliness:



My second class is a seminar entitled "States of Consciousness." We will be discussing, among other things: sleep disorders, synesthesia, hypnosis, meditation, and faith healing. Some of my favorite subjects in and out of the brain sciences.

And the kicker is my elective class, which is entitled simply, "The Fairy Tale." This is my professor:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Willard

She is a Newberry-award-winning author of children's books. Words cannot do the woman justice; she is a wonderful old woman who wears flowing dresses and a mermaid necklace and big, round glasses. Our assignments include writing our own fairy tale and re-enacting an already existing tale. She brings picture books to class for us to share. Have I mentioned that she is wonderful?


I will post pictures of my house as soon as I have them. We are still getting settled. We are going to build a fort in one of the rooms, a la the one built by Jude Law's children in The Holiday:


We are all being wonderfully domestic. Tonight, Mally made broccoli casserole and baked salmon. I am going to bake banana bread and chocolate chip cookies when the oven is free. We have a lovely back porch, and our neighbors occasionally use it to hold band practice for their surf rock band. On Friday, Mary and I sat outside under the tree, reading and listening to them play. Soon I will have lots of work and commitments, but now everything is breezy and fine.

Hello all,

I am back at Vassar and almost settled in after three crazy days of unpacking, shopping, and beginning my soon-to-be-crazy schedule. Tonight I sat in the drama building for five and a half (!) hours to wait for a 4 minute audition, leaving only to do another audition in another building, so i am slightly pooped. Ok, scratch that. I am majorly pooped.

Since quite a few of you are starting another hectic school year, here is a little present. Listen when you are feeling overwhlemed:



(of course, you can always buy the song on iTunes to support the band)
(i promise i listen to other bands besides fun. just not really right now.)

so loud, so bright, the theremin
will lead us to a chorus
where we'll all rejoice and sing a song that goes:

Oh be calm.
Be calm.
I know you feel like you are breaking down.
I know that it gets so hard sometimes,
Be calm.
Take it from me, I've been there a thousand times.
You hate your pulse because it thinks you're still alive
and everything's wrong
It just gets so hard sometimes
Be calm.


Any man who mentions theremin in a pop song is a man after my own heart.

Anyway, that's all I have for now. Nothing too exciting. My boy is traveling many hundreds of miles to Germany as I write this, and I already miss him too much to contemplate. Here we are, united and terrible at posing for pictures:



Good night, sweethearts, good night.

I bought some headbands from Forever 21 with little bows on them and have been wearing them pretty consistently. My old, plain headbands were thus rendered obsolete. Since I am a Crafty McCrafterson (on rare occasions), I decided to update them. What do you think?


( One more under the cut )

Oh look, it's my birthday haircut! How many stupid webcam poses can I do?



Since it is my birthday, and I am very self-centered, here is a short list of things that I think are wonderful!
( listy listy )

I wanted to put a sweet wizard's hat on before I took the picture, but I am trying not to leave the couch too much. Yes, the rather bizarre albeit whimsical head-dressing is actually a huge bag of ice, wrapped by my mother in towels, cheesecloth, and Ace bandages. I had my top two wisdom teeth out this morning, and what you see above is my desperate struggle against a huge, swollen head.

As it is only the top two (the others were extricated in a mass tooth removal in seventh grade, involving eight baby teeth and some jaw. yum.), I am not feeling too terrible. Not a fan of spitting up blood, but it could be worse. I am keeping busy with old reruns of Sex and the City (it's been a LONG time), onDemand movies, as many magazines as I can find, and of course, A Very Potter Musical:



Well, I was going to do a life update of the last few months, but I feel my other activities calling to me. I'll just keep the secondary theme of this post alive by asking what you all thought of the Harry Potter movie? I was less disappointed than many book fans, but I though that there were many flaws (Ginny's acting, that useless scene at the Burrow, the tininess of Snape's role). The costumes were definitely the best yet, and Draco was looking FINE INDEED (as well as the delectable Cormac McLaggen. Clearly i can never resist an asshole, as long as he is also a wizard).

Okay, time to go spit up more blood! But my mom just brought home peach sauce, avacados, and ginger ale. Things could definitely be worse.

So I think I need a new entry up here, since it's definitely been a while. Unfortunately, I don't really have anything to say yet. I'm home for a week before I leave for Denver and Malibu (!!!). The sudden burst of free time will probably lead to an actual entry at some point this week... though maybe not, since I don't foresee myself doing anything remotely interesting.

And now... off to bed!

Please enjoy my favorite spring music:


It has been quite a while since I made a real update and, since I am procrastinating like nobody's business, here it is!

( follow the Duchesse de Polignac for more 18th century adventures! )

My recital is tomorrow night. Yesterday, I woke up with a fresh bout of sore throat and swollen glands! This is such crap. I just spent a week and a half being sick, recovered completely, and then fell back into it TWO DAYS LATER.

Going to the doctor in 10 min. Drinking a shit-ton of water, tea with lemon and honey, and cider. Gargling saltwater, skipping class, doing everything I can to make this evil thing go away.

please please please go away. I have nine members of my family driving to Poughkeepsie tomorrow for this recital. it cannot suck or be canceled. not to mention the fact that i have spent the whole semester preparing for it.

ughhrhfgjhdggghhhhhmmjfjjjdddghh.

final LA purchase: two CDs for $8 at Amoeba Records. Niiiice.

Despite my geeking out over the intensely awesome amount of avant-garde classical music they had in stock (Xenakis, Penderecki, SO much Crumb, oh i love Crumb), I actually bought 1)The Gossip Girl soundtrack and 2) The Wombats EP. Ugh, I am such a Vassar indie kid.

But seriously, guys, if you ever go to LA, you NEED to check out Amoeba. It was fantastic.



And now I am home, once again. I miss Don, of course, and LA was a blast, but I'm happy to be back with my family once again. And no longer in an apartment filled with beer bottles and pizza coupons and boys playing video games all the time. Don't get me wrong, Don's roommates are good guys, and Skate 2 is a fun time. But I am not a huge fan of bachelor pads. All my male friends at school have very neat, well-decorated rooms. They are also overwhelmingly gay. Connection? Maybe, but I've been at my tiny, private liberal arts college for too long to give those stereotypes any thought.

Just kidding. There is definitely a correlation.

So anyhow, now I'm back in Philly, sleeping in my big ol' bed and eating everyone out of house and home. What the heck? My midnight snack consisted of a banana, a peach, strawberries, cheese, salami, crackers, and tea. The average girl my size is supposed to eat 1500 calories a day, but I'm STILL hungry after tucking away that feast. It is really just a waste of resources, if you ask me.

Okie dokie, that's enough for now. As you can see, my being home always leads to a huge increase in lj posts. I'm sure they'll slow down again once Sunday rolls around.

L.A. is, in fact, the best place in the world for shopping. And not just for fancy rich people-- even po' girls like me can find plenty of things to buy.

Case in point:

Big, fancy forever 21s are called "XXI" (GET IT?), but they have just as much freakishly cheap stuff. I bought:

-15 dollar skinny jeans
-a 5 dollar bra (not even on sale!) that was worth it even if it falls apart in two weeks
- Ray Ban-style sunglasses, also 5 bucks, that are red and white and really just fabulous

Then we went to The Grove, which is a cute little shopping community for rich people, with piazzas and fountains and cobblestones and the whole deal. Also, there was an AMERICAN GIRL STORE. Ladies, if you were a fan of American Girl dolls when you were little (or maybe, like me, you still are), you HAVE to see one of these stores. They are unreal. Museum-style displays for the historical dolls, doll hair salon, a tea room- it was out of control. I managed to avoid buying anything, but I DID score a $4 teacup and saucer at Anthropologie. It is green and leafy and looks like something a fairy would use. Now I have FOUR teacups in my collection. Excellent.

Today we went to Venice Beach, which is the perfect place to shop if you like a) tattoos and piercings, b) henna, c) drug paraphernalia, or d) questionable jewelry and hippie clothing. I may or may not be a fan of several of the aforementioned items, but I managed to keep my spending to a minimum. It was nice to just sit on the beach and ogle the unbelievably charming houses along the canals. Do you want to paint your house bright yellow? Fine. Eschew walls for huge windows? Excellent. Cover your lawn in bizarre flora, manmade waterfalls, rock gardens, and crazy sculptures? Go right ahead.

We also saw a group of men partying on the roof of their charming, expensive house. All were wearing green suits with tails and green top hats. They were also fully gone at 4pm. And singing loudly. Oh, to be a California Venetian.

Tonight we hung out in Burbank, which is admittedly not as exciting as the Grove or Venice Beach, but still pretty fantastic for crazed shoppers like myself. Really, the ultimate attraction was the DOLLAR BOOK STORE. Of course, I bought eight books:

1) Marie Antoinette, by Antonia Fraser
2) Dubliners, by James Joyce
3) Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf
4) Atonement, by Ian McEwan
5) The Amber Spyglass, by Phillip Pullman (read it a million times but now I finally have a copy)
6) Poetry of Lord Byron
7) Rose in Bloom, by Louisa May Alcott
8) Girls on Film (an A-list novel), by Zoey Dean (do not even judge. I am fully aware that these are published by an ad company that gets paid for every name they drop, and that they glorify sex, alcohol, and drug use among teenagers. I don't give a crap. They are awesome.)

For $8.66. Yeah. I was pretty pleased. Of course, now I have to pack them all into my luggage-- as well as a china teacup. That'll be interesting.

So, LA has been wonderful for materialistic ol' me. And it is also doubly wonderful to see Don, who has just brought me a cup of hot white tea in my new teacup. I think I'll keep him around :-)

Hey, guess what?

I'm going to LA today!

Can you tell I am excited?

I will try to post a bit while I am there. I got into my usual school-craziness lack of posting. But it is spring break now! Weeee!

My laptop battery is at 0%. The fuck? What I really need right now is to buy a new battery, since it isn't like I am spending all my savings on my summer program + this trip.

But my Grandma just gave me a hundred bucks for "a nice dinner with Don in LA." That's gonna be one hell of a dinner. Or just my spending money for the next four days.

Oh! And I got into a summer voice program! In Malibu! I failed at getting into any of the others, but I don't even care anymore, because I will be singing in Malibu. Hellz yes.

My soup is boiling over, so I should probably go.

One last piece of news: I am on twitter now. same name as here (too lazy to link). Let's be twitter friends, or whatever the heck they call it.

Aaahhh soup everywhere.

so excited.

As usual, I cannot watch the Oscars without providing a self-indulgent stream-of-consciousness commentary about how everyone looks on the red carpet. i will keep updating this throughout the night.


okay, i want to start by saying that i will never get the appeal of those fishtail skirts. you know, the ones that hug your legs and then poof out at the bottom? i've seen at least three or four already. beyonce is one of the most gorgeous women on earth, why would she do that to herself?

kate winslet looks like an incredibly sexy grandma.

why does matthew broderick's face still look exactly the same as it did in ferris bueller? his grey hair actually looks fake. he defies understanding. i hope the rumors arent true about him and sjp, because they are both adorable. she looks like a fairy. lolz at "barely mint."

taraji is such a freaking natural. i can't believe this is her first year. she looks amazing. some of the veterans should take note.

r.pattz washed his hair!!!!!!

not really feeling penelope's bangs. or her boobs in that dress.

mickey rourke= lol forever.

hahahahahahah miley cyrus is unreal. i haven't decided how i feel about that dress. i think i might love it.

robert downey jr is looking FINE INDEED.

meryl streep is perfection, as usual.

valentino is literally the most fabulous man i have ever seen. keira's pout ain't got NOTHING on his.

hahahahahahah miley cyrus is unreal. i haven't decided how i feel about that dress. i think i might love it.

robert downey jr is looking FINE INDEED.
meryl streep is perfection, as usual.

valentino is literally the most fabulous man i have ever seen. keira's pout ain't got NOTHING on his.

wow, dev patel is such a cutie. big crush.

oh dear, zac efron's hair is looking.... interesting....

viola davis is hilarious and looks wonderful. i love this woman.

hm. miley has returned. now i'm leaning towards hating it. maybe because she sounds like a fool.

anne hathaway looks beautiful as always, but i sort of feel like the dress doesn't actually fit her. hmm.

i just want to interject that ryan seacrest could learn a thing or two from tim gunn.

hahahah wtf jack black. way to roll out of bed and get right in the limo. no wonder your wife is looking so uncomfortable.

ok. here is the thing. seth rogen actually looks hot. does not compute. seth rogen looks hot and rpattz has better hair than zac. THE WORLD IS TURNING UPSIDE DOWN.

but natalie looks beauiful, so all is okay in the world.

tilda looks cray, and i don't even care. she is the best.

also, is it just me, or do alicia keys and natalie portman look freakishly similar?

OKAY:
best dressed: marisa tomei
worst dressed: jack black, but i don't even care. so sophia loren.

OMG U GUYZ ITS STARTINGGGGG.

i love this night.


anthony hopkins and liam neeson are lookin' good for their age. shit.

YAYYYY KATE AND SEANNN.

I am not totally freaked out about various issues mentioned in the post below. Sometimes I come off sounding more emotional than I am at the particular moment.

This week is going to be sunny and beautiful. 57 degrees on Wednesday. Therefore, my mood will be great all week-- I should really move to Southern California. Then I would be happy all the time (maybe).

My favorite holiday is on Saturday! Even though I will be alone in my little bed while all of my suitemates are snuggled next to their boys, I'm still looking forward to it. I have already made a dozen Valentine's and am now planning a party. Valentine's Day should be about all the people you love. If everyone else realized this, maybe they would look forward to it as much as I do.

Oh, livejournal friends: does anyone want to trade Valentine's either through the mail or on Polyvore? The school week hasn't beaten my craftiness out of me yet.

<3 Goodbye!

So stress relieving...


California Dreamin' 2 - by bonbonsofsin on Polyvore.com


books books books - by bonbonsofsin on Polyvore.com

I want wall-to-wall bookshelves and a Corgi. I guess I want a lot of things, but I am happy enough as it is. Often it is enough just to look at nice things :)

Okay, I've been decidedly lurk-y lately, since I'm back at school and actually have things to do. But as it is now Saturday and there is no chance I am starting my homework this early in the morning (okay, so it's almost noon), I guess I'll do a bit of an update.

My classes are very good so far-- I'm still a little nervous about Physio psych, but I've understood everything in his lectures so far, so I think I should be okay. It's spring semester, which means opera workshop. This year, we are doing scenes from Rossini operas, and I'm Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.



Beverly Sills doing a much better job than I can hope to do. As you can see, Rossini had a sadistic streak when it came to composing for voice.

I also get to have lunch with Steve Reich on Sunday!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Reich

I love Vassar.

I have my computer back. It has a pretty new keyboard but is rather sad and empty. I've been busily downloading Firefox, OpenOffice (although a boy at school has promised me Microsoft Office 2008, so we'll see how that goes), and all the other accouterments that I use every day. My itunes is still freakishly empty, and I haven't even opened iphoto-- all in time.


Today my Mom bought me a leather jacket for five dollars! Okay, so it was part of a buy-one, get-one-for-$5 sale. But still-- both her jacket and mine were reduced to half off already, so that is TWO Arden B jackets for $105.

Okay. I'm done bragging. I will never be classy enough to get over a super fantastic sale without telling the world about it.

Here it is! Cute, no?


I got so excited about having it and wearing it to LA in the spring that I made yet another polyvore set. What can I say? I didn't have to go to work today, so I had a lot of free time.

California Dreamin' by bonbonsofsin

If only I could get a Marc Jacobs bag and a Vespa for $5 each as well.

I now present Episode 1 of Lauren's Embarrassing Guilty Pleasures

( Right this way... )

I've only made one set so far, but I think I may be addicted.

Does anyone else use polyvore? Show me what you've done!


Pretty Things 1 by bonbonsofsin