Living it UP in Oxford. Having a blast, it's crazy that we already leave in a week for London.

Oxford!

As I have probably mentioned before, I am studying abroad this semester and currently in Oxford! Just arrived yesterday. :) Anyway, I have created another blog specifically for the semester, so check it out!

myfrivolouslife.tumblr.com

:)

So I bought a Ukulele this summer and, like any new toy, I am obsessed. So I've been trying to learn tons of fun new songs to play and came across this girl. I've watched a few of her vids and...kind of have a girl crush...isn't she great?!

the alps and I.

Probably one of the cooler things I've ever done in my lifetime:

Interlaken, Switzerland

May 2010

Thanks, Shannon, for taking an awesome photo!

I told you I would stay.

Would you always

Maybe sometimes

Make it easy

Take your time

Sometimes I am scared about how fast this summer is going.

too perfect for words.

Bogie and Bacall.

trouble.

It was funny how she hardly tried to skirt trouble anymore. An outsider might assume she went looking for it. But they would never see how it simply came for her, as simply and assuredly as thunder after lightning or credits at the end of a film. Unavoidable. Yet oddly welcome.

would like to:

consolidate my thoughts and desires so that I can actually do something. Maybe I'll just leave the country again.

homecoming.

Back from Euro-trip 2010 Part 1. It feels weird to be home, very bittersweet. But more pictures and stories to come soon!

9 hours

until I board bus to LAX for Italia! I can't believe it is finally here! Now I just gotta finish packing and maybe take a nap...

incendiary longings.

She sat, sallow faced, wishing to be anyone, anyone else. She fumbled with her lighter, shakily struggled, and gave up.

This she thought, This is going to save me.

At this point she was feeling far too cliche for her own liking.

She hated who she was and was not.

a million excuses.

For as chaotic as my life is right now, and as chaotic as it is going to continue to be for the next 3 months straight, in this very moment I feel more comfortable than I have in quite some time.

great day.

I received a care package from the parents for finals, oh-so-typical and appropriate to my parents' personalities. From dad (I presume): a witty card with some pun or another, a CD from some band I have never heard of which he probably just liked the cover art, a giant book of American humor/short stories which actually looks really awesome, an avacado (yup), and brownies that are so good they are probably illegal. From mom (I also presume): a really encouraging card/note with a bible verse on it and decorated with flowers and butterflies, an envelope of some family pics from when I was home for Easter, tons of candy, a magnet with a quote on it, and a stuffed smiling banana with sunglasses toy (I don't even know...). Best care package ever.

Also, got my ISIC card today..checkitout!

stop all the clocks.

She was still unsure. Eternally to be so, she presumed. Was this one step closer to getting out? Or just forcing the whole 'grown up' thing?

Decisions have to be made, or nothing will happen. She couldn't be static and wait, she had to do something for herself, make something happen.

No going back. A jump into the sea of todays, tomorrows, and futures. Every choice is the right choice when it is what you want. Or what you think you want.

once in a while, when it's good.

"So scared of getting older, I'm only good at being young...won't someone stop this train?"

Am I even any good at being young?

If only everything were this ephemeral, there would be no surprises...

Lacking conviction, self-loathing and judging, epitome of hypocrisy.

don't you, steve?

here I am, rock you like a hurricane.

She took a drag on her cigarette, lamenting the fact that SNL was a rerun.

(hypothetical your team.)

"I must have you, my Egyptian goddess"

Vice. Vices. Saturday night. She likened it to that feeling you always get upon hearing the word 'maybe.'

capital. Her personality was effervescent.

The lack of a wikipedia page for Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg made her like him even more. One way ticket to the palace of Circe.

Tiny purple mountains lined his shirt, right at the pocket line. #nowplaying

What a hot mess.

19, going on 21.

I've decided to skip being 20. I don't really like 20, the way it sounds, the way it means nothing new or exciting, the way it is an even number. So I'm staying 19 for another year. Until I turn 21. 19 is nice.

virgin atlantic 24

Soooo, I bought my plane ticket for my OXFORD semester in the fall today!!!

Not sure that that news warranted an entire blog post, but I'm quite excited about it. It feels a little more real now.

take it easy.

live high.

live mighty.

live righteously.

i forgot my yogurt.

Crazy things going on over in Iceland, eh? Volcanic ash, cancelled flights, threat to global economy, yada yada. Here’s my question, where are all those 3 people in the world who thought it would be ‘super awesome’ to get a Phd in Volcanic Studies? This is their time to shine! Lava nerds, get out here, help us figure this shit ouuuut. Because if my European adventures over the next 6 months fall through, I’m gonna be pissed. Also, Eyjafjallajokul? Isn't that a pokemon? It's ok, CBS News taught me how to say it right, 'I forgot my yogurt.' Thank goodness.

i love LA.

Morning Malibu hike, afternoon hanging with Scandis, evening at the Getty. Still on an art high. Thank you Los Angeles.

dig a pony.

From the Beatles' Rooftop Concert-January 30, 1969.

A thing of divinity, clearly.

do work.

This must be what it feels like. Interesting. I kind of like it.

emotional masochist.

I need to do something that scares me. Really scares me. Soon.

suicide blonde.

Lose your identity, wander in any direction. Yeah, that's the road to heaven's door. Dye your hair suicide blonde.

a march to the mailbox.

I filled out my 2010 Census tonight. I was more excited than the occasion warranted perhaps. However, I was disappointed by the lack of streamers and kitsch.

I anticipated it to be a little bit more like this:

perfect day.

30. Polaroid Pictures

31. Best Friends

What a perfect way to end the month of March :)

great white appetite.

29. Shark Week

If you don't agree that this is one of the best/scariest weeks of the entire year, then you've probably never watched any of it. My favorite? The historical re-enactments with mediocre acting and stereotypical bad-horror-movie music.

pch.

28. Pacific Coast Highway

Dream: To drive PCH from So Cal all the way up to Washington. I will do it someday, I will. I thought about doing it now over spring break, but it didn't really work out...someday. So today was a mini PCH trip. Drove with my sun-roof open, smelling the sweet California ocean breeze, through Topanga Canyon

which is just the greatest, and then on to Santa Monica, in my top 5 favorite cities in the world. I would move back there in a heartbeat, I miss it.

crave you.

27. Sprrrrrring Break

Well, I suppose really any break. But as it is currently spring break, I'm gonna go with this one. S daq, P.N., i chat, guacamole, satire, French movies, sunshine, and its only 2 days in!

ideal for drafty dorm rooms.

26. Snuggies

Ok, for a while, when they were first introduced to the world, I def just made fun of snuggies all the time because I thought they were ridic. And they really are. I would watch the snuggie commercials and commercial parodies on youtube and just laugh. I saw dog snuggies in a store for the first time and legit fell on the floor out of hilarity. So naturally, last Christmas came around and I wanted one. (Thank you, Laura, for making this happen) I use my snuggie all the time. I love it. Because of how wonderfully ridiculous it is. End of story.

P.S. Complimentary Booklight? Legit.

rebel rebel.

25. Breaking Rules

nothing out of the ordinary.

22. Abnormally large produce

23. Mustaches

24. Photobooth

paperback writer.

21. Breakfast with the Beatles

Every Sunday morning one of the So Cal Classic Rock radio stations plays a few sets of only Beatles songs, 'Breakfast with the Beatles.' Granted, its not all that often that I am actually out and about, driving in my car on Sunday mornings with the radio on, but when I am, I always go for B with the B.

direct orders.

20. This video:

Poetry Slams are pretty awesome, and when someone first showed me this video I was blown away. I think at least 100 of the youtube views are from me. I love love love it. Have it printed and up on my wall in my room. I always turn back to it when I just want to get pumped up, or revel in a beautiful use of words.

cheap.

19. Discount Movie Theatre

$3 movies that I missed 6 weeks ago when they first came out? Yes please. Laughing as my mom complains that they are $3.75 at night? Even better.

second date.

18. Late night walks.

Not just any walk that occurs late at night. But one full of thought, self discovery, and inspiration. I started falling back in love with life tonight. Not ready to like, get married or anything yet. Let's call tonight a second date with life. We both kind of like each other but we're just not sure what we're doing about it all just yet.

lib.

17. The Library.

Can we just stop and talk for a minute about my uncanny love affair with the lib? I'm not super picky about which one, as a book lover most libs are just fine for me. Though I have my favorite spots to sit in my libraries (school, public lib close to school, public lib at home). Currently at school lib, not sitting in favorite spot as it is taken (dang), but a good spot nonetheless. I feel like the library could be a great beginning to a spectacular love story.

Next semester I'll be studying abroad at Oxford with full access to the Bodleian Library, and every time I look at it or think about it I nearly pee myself. It is going to be too great.

yes we can.

16. These guys:

hocus pocus.

15. Magic

I mean, who doesn't want to be a magician? Honestly? From Harry Potter to David Copperfield to The Illusionist (which I watched tonight). It blows my mind.

peanuts.

14. Charles Schulz

friday night.

12. Netflix

13. Classic Movies

lit.

11. Good Literature.

"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."

For those who know me, I am rather a nerd, especially when it comes to movies and literature. My most recent read was Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. I finally finished it yesterday; for some reason this one took me a while to get through. Nevertheless, I loved it.

"Oh Lolita, you are my girl, as Vee was Poe's and Bea Dante's."

surprise.

9. Getting package slips in the mail.

10. When those packages are from Amazon.

catchup.

5. Road Trips

6. Hiking

7. Lightning Storms

8. Whole Foods

Catching up. All pertinent to my weekend.

team katie.

4. Making fun of Twilight.

Need I say more?

awkward animals.

3. Awkward Animals.

Maybe I have already given myself away on this one with previous pictures of dogs in snuggies or dressed up for Hanukkah, but what better way to wish someone a happy holiday, any holiday, than with a dog or cat dressed up in costume? Answer, nothing.

Nothing is better. Maybe it is because I've never had a pet dog or

cat that I love to make fun of this. I've gotten plenty of abuse f

or this one, and how my life hasn't been as full and joyous blah blah blah. Nevertheless, I hope these make you laugh, feel uncomfortable, and wonder a bit.

away we go.

2. Airplane trips.

Until rather recently I was a fan of travel, and airports, but not flying. That has changed. Flying means going somewhere. Flying means change. Flying means a new setting. Flying is freedom. Jet-setting. I mean, who doesn't see this view and think it means something great? I love love love it. As of now it has been approximately 7 weeks since my last plane trip (LGA-BUR) and my next (planned) plane trip will be in approximately 10.5 weeks. Tickets already bought. LAX-JFK-MXP. The next big adventure.

"Travel is the frivolous part of serious lives, and the serious part of frivolous ones." -- Anne Sophie Swetchine

march musings.

I've decided that for every day of March (I shall try and keep true to this) I will blog about something I really like. That sounds broad. My interests, passions, things I find humourous, snippets of wisdom. Basically, so all 2 of you who read this blog can get to know me better. And I can talk about things exciting to me. Blah blah blah. Excuse to indulge my delectations? Perhaps. So, what to title this: Mirthful March, March of Merriment, hmm. Decided on March Musings which, believe it or not, leads to my first interest:

1. alliteration

It tickles my tongue, delights my delectations, happies my heart, satisfies my soul.

hey tony.

Alright, can we just talk about the fact that the guy who does the voice for Tony the Tiger is a professor at my school? I found this out at the beginning of the school year, but every time I remember it I get re-excited. So yesterday I went to a leadership conference thing for school and he was one of the workshop presenters. So, naturally, I opted to go to his workshop, regardless of the fact that the topic had nothing to do with my life. But let me tell you, his voice is amazing. He talked about overcoming obstacles and using our 'secret voice' blah blah blah. He was talking about some pretty cool stuff: old hollywood, the radio era, etc. And I was listening and interested, honestly I was, but all I could think about the whole time was "Hey tony, I like the things you do. Hey Tony, if I could I would be you..." Remember?

Alright, so tomorrow is March? Crazy crazy. Get ready for something new.

i me mine.

Happy Birthday George!

George is, has always been, and will always be, my favorite Beatle. I have him to thank for a favorite song and a great mustache.

I wrote him a haiku which you should check out.

people never believe you.

It has been 4 weeks now since good old J.D. passed. I didn't blog about it before because I've still been taking it all in. First of all, a few people called me silly for caring this much, and maybe so, but are we going to discount his greatness so much as to not honor his death? NO. Yes, I cut his obituary out of the paper. Yes, I checked out Nine Stories that very day from the library to comfort myself. Yes, I looked up Holden's stroll through New York online. But I honestly believe that his death awakened something inside me. Inspired me. Reminded me that I have to start doing things. Writing. Becoming.

"I feel so funny. I think I'm going crazy. Maybe I'm already crazy."

central park.

photo credit: me

I should probably be on the marketing team for Central Park, if they have one, because this could be on a pamphlet, or a postcard or something.

thank you.

romanticized all out of proportion.

I long for Manhattan.

Woody Allen+New York+Meryl Streep+Gershwin=a delectation words can hardly describe.

Please enjoy one of my favorite film openings of all time:

whatiatetoday.

gala apple with reduced fat creamy jif peanut butter

egg bagel with reduced fat creamy jif peanut butter and banana slices

black bean tostada personal pizza

2 break-me-off-a-piece-of-that kit-kat bar pieces

tomato and mozzerella caprese sandwich

french fries

cinnamon and sugar rice cake

small square lemon bar

taco bell cheesy bean and rice burrito

super bowl.

Super Bowl Sunday. The one day a year where I not only tolerate the capitalistic consumerism that is television advertisement, but I yearn for it. I eat it up. I sit, eyes glued to the television, while my mind voraciously ingests the subliminal messages that millions of dollars for a 30-second slot has to offer. I quiet down everyone in the room so that I may enjoy a simultaneous delectation of multiple senses. I laugh, cry, cringe, and empathize. Ok, ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. But the truth is, I'm definitely one of those watch-super-bowl-for-the-commercials-and-halftime-show-only people.

I only watched about 45 minutes of the Super Bowl today, actually, but I saw some interesting ones. From sassy children who like Doritos to screaming chickens to baby drama, 2010 had it all.

My personal favorite of the year:

you say how high.

If any of you are like me, jumping on the bed as a child was forbidden, and thus all the more desirable. Whenever we stayed in a hotel my sister and I would jump back and forth from bed to bed enjoying our domesticated trampoline of sorts.

I recently came across this gem which reminded me of those great days. And the fact that I still itch to jump on hotel beds...

these vagabond shoes.

Some folks like to get away, take a holiday...So I just got back from a week in New York City, center of the universe, trip of a lifetime. The streets make you feel brand new, the lights inspire you. The concrete jungle where dreams are made of. It was everything I hoped for and more. I will be moving there. As soon as possible. There may be subsequent posts as I remember more and more about my trip, but I'll give a brief overview of the highlights now, in list form, just for fun.

15 Random NYC thoughts (on the top of my head right now):

1. J-walking? Totes allowed in NYC. Everyone just goes, regardless of if the little white walking man is lit up or not.

2. We did NOT find Cash Cab. Also, interestingly enough, there were hardly any van cabs, but quite a few hybrid cabs, of which I approve.

3. We stayed in a hostel, and were the only Americans in our room. There were 2 French kids, a Spanish kid, a girl from England, and some others I never heard speak. It was pretty solid, minus the fact that our room was at a constant temperature of about 143 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. Went to the Met. For like 4 hours. Recognize this? Yeah, I was 6 inches away from it. No big deal. Saw a lot of Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, Degas, Andy Warhol, etc.

5. Times Square is just obnoxious. I felt like I was in Vegas. However, I would like to give a shoutout to the American Eagle in Times Square for providing warmth and a couch on multiple occasions.

6. Bank vestibules.

7. Central Park. Someone told me before I went you could spend an entire day in the park. And its the truth. It is gigantic and wonderful. I look forward to many walks in the park in my future.

8. So the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center was a super disappointment. They make it look huge on TV and it really wasn't that big or spectacular or anything.

9. The Plaza. Pretty much we just walked right in, acted like we belonged, and explored the place and no one stopped us. We found a crazy back worker staircase where they even had super fancy chandeliers right next to all the water pipes and stuff. And we rode an elevator to the Grand Ballroom where so many amazing people in history have been, home of The Party of the Century. It was just grand.

10. All of the babies were cocooned in baby sleeping bags and riding in plastic-protected strollers. Maybe this is a common thing in cold states, but I found it quite amusing.

11. The Subway is just the best thing ever. When I live in New York I will not have a car. However, getting lost on the subway and ending up in Whitehall on the way to Brooklyn is quite the adventure. The subway art, the people-watching, and the pool of superb 'your team' options just made it sublime.

12. We decided to go explore Brooklyn one evening when we needed to kill time and that was quite an experience. We passed a wig shop on every block. No more explanation necessary.

13. We hit up the Natural History Museum on our last day. Saw that dino skeleton that comes to life at night and plays fetch with Ben Stiller. And Margaret Mead's cape. So basically it was a win.

14. Whole Foods at Colombus Circle. And discovering that New York City is kind of in love with Christopher Colombus.

15. The Strand, a bookstore that boasts to have 18 miles worth of books. So basically my heaven.

If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere.