My Favorite Show- Parenthood

If you listen to any recommendations that I give you (outside of my beauty recommendations, obviously) let it be this one.

Watch Parenthood. 

Pick up the DVDs and watch the first two seasons if you're super eager, but really just get started watching season 3 because it needs viewers and it's an amazing show.
I've never cried so often, laughed so hard or related so much to a show--- and I'm not a parent. If you're a part of a family---big, small, crazy, normal, whatever--- you will get it.
This show is my family, it's your family, it's every family.

The show centers around the boisterous Braverman family, headed by Grandparents Zeke and Camille. Their four children and their children all live in the surrounding area and their lives and personalities mesh in hilarious and heartbreaking ways. For a better synopsis click here.

The writing is beautiful, real and hilarious. The cast is amazing--- if you watched Gilmore Girls you'll recognize Lauren Graham or Lorelei (the reason I got hooked on Parenthood!) Not to mention the rest of the brilliant cast including Mae Whitman, Craig T. Nelson, Erika Cristensen, Dax Shepard, Joy Bryant, Peter Krause, Sarah Ramos, Bonnie Bedelia, and many more!

I find that everyone I know who watches the show will have a character or at least a storyline that they really relate to personally. I find that I'm a mini Julia Braverman-Graham--- type-A personality, rule following and workaholic. My friends and family laugh at how much  I remind them of her!

Erika Christensen explains the Braverman family dynamic with some great Julia Braverman clips from Season 1.

The season premiere was tonight and I'm so excited that it's back! Start watching with me, it's on NBC every Tuesday at 10 pm!

Let me know if you watch, I love talking about it.

Little Favorites

These first few weeks of college have been madness. My old routines have been tossed out and replaced by ones that I could never have expected. I thought I'd share a few of the things that are helping me destress.

Sidenote: Sorry I've been kind of absentee. I'm quite busy, in the best possible way! I start Rush this week and classes have been keeping me busy as well!

Nail Painting always helps me take time out for myself. This is my newest shade- Shopy Til I Drop. It's much more Salmon Pink in person!

The favorite sweatshirt. I love this sweatshirt too much. It's become a staple, and I refuse to stop wearing it. It's just ridiculously  comfy and so cute on. Here's a link if you want to check it out!

TEA. This is my go-to when I'm cramming for Latin (my hardest class) and I don't know if I'd be making it through without it!

Legal pads- Yeah, I'm not big on notebooks and last year I discovered legal pads and I have not looked back. These have totally saved my life at college.

My Vera Bradley Lanyard- I would not be able to keep track of my house, dorm and car keys without it.

Anyhow, those are my silly little things that I'm loving. What are you enjoying these days?

Getting Ready For RUSH.

Rush is less than 2 weeks away!
I'm SO EXCITED. Tons of my friends (in real life and via tumblr) have gone Greek and I've loved hearing about your experiences.
If you don't mind helping me out, I'd love it if you could comment and tell me what your RUSH WEEK experience was like, and if you have one or two key tips for rush. Keep in mind I go to a small school, so some things won't apply!

My college has the following sororities in no order:

So please include if you're a member of any of those lovely organizations!

Our Rush Shirts! So cute. I'm a little anxious about the color (mint is not great on my skin, so I'm hoping it's darker in person) but I'm going to rock it no matter what!

Before I go, here are a few things to help anyone else prepare, since I know a lot of my readers are probably getting ready to rush too! 

Elle Fowler's School Glitz: Sorority Rush and Advice!

This is great if you're someone even thinking about rushing in a year or two, or if you're in my boat, about to rush in a week or two. I walked away from this video more confident and ready for Rush week.

Also, we did a little post on Beauty Forum about Sweat Proof Rush Week Makeup! 

Make sure to check it out!!!

Please comment with any and all advice, everyone! 

Dorm Reveal!

I've been moved in for a whole week and I've finally got the room set up! I decided to make use of the extra bed (yes, I have two beds in my single dorm room. I know... I'm spoiled rotten) and turn it into a couch/sitting area with some fun pillows. My college kind of gave me two of everything, so you'll notice that I have a makeup desk, a studying desk, and two wardrobes and dressers. In my defense, one dresser is empty.
I love my dorm room, and I hope you do too!

My two beds. The pink one is where I sleep, the plaid/patchwork one is my couch.

My two desks. The left one is makeup (also food storage) and the right one is for studying. The file cabinet is where I store my makeup!

Close up on my makeup area. It's not the most glamorous, but I love it. It's hard to tell, but it's super functional. I'll film a video sometime showing it in action.

My reading area. I like to curl up with my American Lit textbook here.

Terrible picture. This is the hallway to my door, where my two wardrobes are located. All my hanging clothes are in one, and my shoes and sweaters are in the other. 

Another wonky photo, sorry. I turned my AC unit into my personal photo board.

A shot of the room from my bed. I'm just trying to give you an idea of the size. It's pretty huge. 

 

 

 

This is the only shot I'll give you of my bathroom because it's really not very exciting. I didn't end up needing a shower curtain (glass door on my shower) and it's just a bathroom. Sorry my dish station is on the floor. I meant to take that out of the photo!

So this is my room!

I've absolutely settled in and I adore Queens. I could not be happier here, and that's not just because my dorm room is perfect for me. I love this campus and these people. This is the best place for me and I belong here.

Glee Live 3D Movie Premiere

I've never done a midnight premiere in my life, but you all know I'm a huge Glee fan. So when they announced they were releasing a 3D concert movie, my best friend Jenny and I decided we'd go all out. Midnight premiere, costumes, singing, everything. It was a total blast.
First of all, if you like Glee, you need to see this. It's on in theaters for 2 weeks so go NOW. It's awesome. Part concert, part Glee characters, part documentary about the fans. It's heartwarming and wonderful and reminds you why we all love Glee so much.
It also happened to be my first ever 3D movie, so that was a lot of fun! I loved the 3D aspects and was glad they made it in 3D. Stay after for the credits, by the way!
I dressed up as guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury because I already have red hair and a closet full of cardigans! Jenny dressed up as Quinn complete with Born This Way "Lucy Caboosey" Shirt. So cute. It was fun and silly and slightly ridiculous but a lot of the midnight premiere-goers were dressed up so that was great.
Here are our pictures. We took a lot of them in the car because we were rushed. The car was stopped, and I wasn't driving!!

My Emma Pilsbury Costume.

Emma and Quinn. Or Hannah and Jenny.

In the theater!!

(Tired, happy, excited!) Gleeks!

Overall it was a really great night. We enjoyed the movie and I can't wait to go back with my mom to see it again at a much more normal hour. Go see Glee Live in 3D now!

Hair Help!

I have a dilemma. I like change, but I also love my long hair.
My haircut is this Wednesday and here are the cuts I'm considering:

Shortest:

I love Dianna Agron's short hair. It's gorgeous this length but I'm not sure mine does so well short. Last time I had it this length it was a TOTAL pain.  I do LOVE how versatile this cut is though.

via thegroncylcopedia

Medium:

Jayma Mays looks lovely here, but again I'm not sure my hair does as well this length. I would be losing probably 3-4 inches to get to that length!

I could get bangs again, but I JUST grew them out. Most likely I'll just get this all trimmed and my layers cut... boring. I want your input though!!
This is my current length with my natural texture:

Comment and help me decide what to do!!

Fresh Start

It's August! I know, I'm highly original, starting this blog post off that way.
I've been dreaming of this month since December when I decided to take a semester off of school.
For those of you who are new to my blog, and thus my life, here's the backstory. I started college in August of 2010 at The University of North Carolina at Asheville and became very ill. I have Crohn's disease and ultimately had so many complications with my health that in December,   I chose not to go back to school for my second semester. I had a miserable first semester at school and decided that I would use the time to research transferring.
I knew it would be Queens. I loved it from the minute I set foot on campus. I had written it off my senior year of high school because it was too close to home (a mere 15 minutes!) but after my semester away that was no longer a problem in my mind.
I simply fell in love. 
The only heartbreaking thing about it was that I had to wait until now. It's finally August. Only a few more weeks. It's here, it's real and it's actually happening.

A few things to get me in the school spirit: 

My mom has a sweater similar to this from her time at Michigan State that I LOVE. I'm not in love with the logo options, so I'm thinking of buying my own navy sweater and getting it embroidered the way I want it done!

Zoya Goldie Polish- Perfect for Basketball games!

One Perfect Album- Gavin DeGraw's Chariot

I stumbled upon a great cover of one of my favorite songs from this album earlier this week and went back to this album and thought it needed sharing. I first listened to this when I was 11 or 12, and I haven't stopped yet. It's absolutely flawless, from start to finish. There are two versions, a studio version and a stripped version, both are incredible.
Lyrically it's simple and gorgeous and I loved as much at 11 as I do at 19. Musically it's just about the best pop album I own. I seriously never get tired of it. I met Gavin DeGraw when I was 13 and he was one of the nicest guys in the world, too!
I was going to list a few favorite tracks, but I seriously couldn't pick. I love them ALL. I'm so nostalgic listening to this, but at the same time I feel completely comfortable happy listening to it now.

Hunter Parrish covering Gavin DeGraw's "Belief." His dog even harmonizes towards the end. SO CUTE!

What's your one perfect album? I probably have a few more, but this one came to mind this week. Have you listened to Chariot? Let me know if you pick it up!

Makeup Wishlist

There's always a wishlist.
I love makeup, and I think the more I buy the more I want to buy. It's kind of a sick addiction in that respect. Here are the products I'm lusting after lately. I promise to do a mini-haul video soon, by the way!

Urban Decay 15th Anniversary Eyeshadow Collection

I can't get over these colors. I love the range, from peach and that lavender-pink to vibrant teal and bright fuschia! I feel like this would be a wonderful palette to have, and I just signed up to be notified when it's available again. I think this one will be worth the splurge.

OPI Muppets Collection

This has been the best OPI collection in a while, if you ask me! I love some of the glitters, especially the Rainbow Connection one! Warm and Fozzie is definitely coming home with me, and probably Divine Swine and Wocka Wocka too. I think the Gold Shatter will be a HUGE hit, even though I'm not a huge shatter fan.

More nails... shocking!

Essie Fall Collection "Brand New Bag"

Essie's collections are always so sophisticated. There's not a color in this bunch that I don't want. Aren't these stunning? The first three are so unique! I think I will definitely HAVE to get Carry On and Very Structured. I've never even seen a nail color like Very Structured. It kind of matches my hair, actually!

Smashbox Lip Enhancing Glosses

I just bought my first Smashbox Lip Enhanching Gloss in Tease, which is the PERFECT sheer berry meets hot pink gloss. Let me say that I am NOT a gloss girl and this gloss may have converted me. (So thanks to Jayme from Her Late Night Cravings for the recommendation!) The color is incredible, it's not sticky or tacky like most glosses and when it fades it looks like you were wearing a pink stain. I want like 3 or 4 more haha. I haven't decided which colors, but I'm so happy to have finally found a gloss I like.

What's on your wishlist?

Celebspiration- Lin-Manuel Miranda

 Who inspires you? 

It's a tough question, and it takes me back to answering essays for college the past two years (senior year, and transferring.)
I always find it interesting to hear which celebrities inspire people. I know we're all inspired by people in our everyday lives, but which celebrities inspire you? I was going to make this one post but I realized I had so much to say about this next person that I'm going to have to make this a mini blog feature.

Lin-Manuel Miranda might be my greatest inspiration. Although I will be entering the teaching profession after college, I aspire to write at some point. Lin-Manuel Miranda is the genius behind one of my favorite musicals, In the Heights, which combines hip-hop with all sorts of latino styles of music. Spanish and English collide in this incredibly sweet and touching musical that I constantly listen to.  If you follow my tumblr, you've probably noticed my obsession with him. He wrote the incredible music for the show and then went on to STAR in it. He also happens to tweet some of the most hilarious things. He just wrapped up work on Bring It On The Musical (yes, it's based on those cheerleading movies!) and is working on a hip-hop album based on American history figure Alexander Hamilton. What I love about Lin-Manuel Miranda is that he's versatile and not afraid to be passionate and interested in everything from Buffy The Vampire Slayer to American History. As a writer and musician he is brilliant and a huge inspiration to me.  He's also hilarious. His marriage to his wife Vanessa is absolutely precious. You have to watch this video of him surprising his wife on their wedding day with a song from Fiddler on the Roof with her father and the wedding party. SO CUTE!

I mentioned previously that he's working on a hip-hop album about Alexander Hamilton. He got to perform some of that at the White House.

The last video I'll leave you with is the Tony Awards performance by the In The Heights Original Broadway Cast. I love this show so much and really encourage you to listen to it.  It won Best Musical and 3 other Tonys that year. I listen to it constantly and this performance will blow your mind.

If you're a musical nerd like me you definitely should follow Lin-Manuel Miranda on twitter. He loves to talk to fans. Once, he had everyone send in "musical theater moments." Mine got retweeted!!

By the way, the song mentioned is from Spring Awakening. I normally wouldn't swear on my blog, sorry! It's a true story, haha.

I could probably go on and on for another few days about Lin-Manuel Miranda. He's a great guy, with a lot of talent. Check out In the Heights, and look for The Hamilton Tapes and Bring it On in the next year or so.

Juno

I was lacking inspiration this week and felt like I hadn't introduced my followers on this blog to my favorite furry friend.
Juno is a huge part of my life. That's probably an understatement. I got Juno when I was 15, and had just been diagnosed with Crohn's disease. I begged my parents for a puppy and the rule was that she had to be under 10 pounds. Juno was the result. She was under 2 pounds and could fit in my palm when we got her. She's a chihuahua-shih tzu mix. She's also cuter than your average dog, and that's not just me saying that. Juno has more personality than most people I meet and she's absolutely hilarious. My family thinks it's hilarious that the novelty of Juno has yet to wear off after almost four years, but we still find her to be as adorable, funny and absolutely enchanting as the day we got her.
Enough gushing, here are some cute pictures:

BABY Juno. This face kills me.

Too cute, right?

She loves the beach!

My mom calls this the Audrey Hepburn photo. She's just too poised.

Juno loves all of our animals. This was our old cat, Beaumont, who she used to lick all over. It was hilarious. Juno loves giving tons of kisses.

She HATES clothes, but in winter she gets too cold, so we make her wear the piggy costume. I love it. So funny.

The infamous ELMO. Her all-time favorite toy. Red is Juno's favorite color, seriously. Elmo goes everywhere, but gets brought into my bed every morning.

Waking up from a nap haha.

Lots of kisses, always.

Naps, naps, naps.

 I love Juno to pieces and I'm so glad my mom will be able to bike over with her during the school year. Another perk of going to college close to home!

PS- Yes, I did name her after the movie Juno. It was one of my favorite movies when we got her!