Camp Recap

Hi everyone, long time no chat; it's been a couple of months so let's catch up! This may be a bit one sided but I'm willing to give it a try. 

How has your summer been? What have you been up to? Did you do anything interesting or meet any nice people since we last spoke? What was your favorite meal that you ate in the month of June? Have you developed a new favorite color since we had our last chat? Did you learn anything new or exciting since I left you?

Wow, that's awesome, thank you for sharing! Me? What have I been up to? Oh stop, you're too sweet. 

Well this summer, I spent seven weeks at my favorite place on earth, camp! I've been going to camp for the past eight years and this summer marked my ninth and final summer as a camper. Have no fear, I will be returning next summer as a staff member but having to say goodbye to my days as a camper at the place where I practically grew up was extremely difficult. Let's just say that I cried for hours and do not foresee any camp-related emotional stability in my near future. I had the summer of my life and as a counselor in training, or CIT, I met some amazing new people and learned so much about not only how to care for kids, but about myself as well. I also did some training as a lifeguard which was awesome and everything that I had ever dreamed it would be. I've wanted to be a camp lifeguard for as long as I can remember and actually getting the chance to shadow the lifeguards was an amazing opportunity for me.  

I loved spending the whole seven weeks rather than the short three week session that I usually attend, and it was so nice to have an extended break from not just school, but from the entire world. Camp is my safe place and second home, (click here to read my post from last summer about why I go to camp) but it is also a bubble and very isolating. I love it there and wouldn't trade these past seven weeks for anything, but I am happy and ready to be back. I need to get in the groove of things for senior year! I also have some exciting things planned for the blog so I'm stoked to get things rolling over here as well! 

I'll leave off with a few photos from this summer, until Wednesday! 

xoxo, LC

SADIE HAWKINS

For starters, I would like to begin with a formal explanation for where I've been for the past few weeks. It begins with an S and ends with a T. If you guessed SAT, then you'd be correct! I took the SAT (hopefully for the last time) on the 20th of February and needed some time beforehand to devote all of my attention to it, and then even more time afterwards to catch up on all the schoolwork that I had been avoiding whilst studying for a certain "stupid a** test." So, sorry for being MIA. 

Alright, now that I've gotten that off my chest, it't time to get down and dirty. Well not so much dirty, but definitely down. (Do you get it? "down," because it was a dance. Get down? Lmao I just crack myself up.)
  Last night our school had its first Sadie Hawkins dance in a few years. Unfortunately, my high school is known for our lack of school spirit and the year prior to my freshman year they held a spring dance on the same day as some big concert and almost no one showed up. So up until this year, homecoming in the fall and senior prom in the spring were the only dances all year. Fortunately for me, this year's seniors were determined to have one last dance before prom and convinced our principle to give it another shot. And from what I saw I think it went pretty well, considering the tickets were completely sold out. Anyway, I had an amazing time, and feel even more lucky than usual to have such supportive parents and really close friends. Despite how cheesy that may be.
In terms of what I wore, while I was excited about the dance, I wasn't about to go out and drop a lot of money on a brand new dress, so I did what any other rational person would do, I stole this one from an absolute stranger! (dress from free people.)

Nah, I'm just kidding, while I didn't actually buy a new dress, I did borrow this one from my best friend (with full permission,) which she had worn to homecoming in the fall. It was super comfy and if I'm being honest, with all the sparkles I did feel pretty spectacular walking around in it #princessstatus. I was not in the mood to repeat the homecoming debacle, during which I wore shoes to make me a normal height but was then forced to walk around my high school barefoot because of the lack of feeling coming from my feet after a few hours. So I ended up wearing a pair of super comfy wedges (from target of all places) and even though I wasn't super tall and they didn't exactly go perfectly with my dress, my feet thanked me and I was still shorter than my date. Overall, a pretty good decision in my opinion!
The whole night was really fun, because I'm on SGA and am responsible for a lot during homecoming, it always stresses me out. Not to mention that everyone goes all out at my school, fancy dress, party bus, fancy restaurant for dinner, etc. Overall a very stressful weekend. So sadie's was a more low-key and stress free homecoming, something I really appreciated. Enough from me, here are some pictures from the night!


owner of the dress, EHS


my date and me :)


#selfie


another date pic, how cute


night would not have been complete without a quick stop for late-night french toast and milkshakes, duh

xoxo, LC

Let's Chat About: Missing Out

According to urban dictionay, FOMO, is the "fear of missing out," a phobia that I know the better part of the teenage population suffers from. Missing out on events, especially those you didn't even know about until afterward for lack of a better word, sucks. Especially with the rising involvement of social media currently present in every moment of our waking lives, not only do you know that you missed out on something great, but you get to see it replayed over and over again from different perspectives of your friends who were there. 

Now I'm not here to trash social media, or take advice from those overprotective moms who politely require that "none of these pictures go on those internet websites you kids use because not everyone was invited!" I love social media, the internet, and sharing my life on the internet, (hello and welcome to my blog,) but that doesn't mean that it doesn't sting when I head over to check my snapchat stories and see a party that I wasn't invited or an awesome event I had to miss because of a previous commitment that I didn't even want to go to in the first place. It even hurts when I had to choose one event over another, am happy with the one I chose, but still see all the fun my friends are having without me. In that scenario it was my decision and yet somehow I still feel a sense of FOMO. How irritating is that?

This isn't random, this past weekend I was as the Washington Hilton for Georgetown's Model United Nations. It's kind of a big deal and almost everyone there is smarter than me and better than me at one thing or another, whether it be at diplomacy, or thinking on their feet, or even just writing position papers. It also happens to be the same weekend as this huge international convention for high schoolers that was located in Baltimore this year, and this year would have been the cheapest year to go because it was in Maryland. Every year they happen on the same weekend, and every year I want to go to both and know that I would have an unbelievably good time and get to see different groups of friends at both events. However, every year I choose to go to MUN because I know that in the long run it's the better option for me, as someone who wants to major in International Relations and perhaps even go to Georgetown for graduate school. And every year, I have a moment or two where I 1000% regret the decision that I've made. 

Last year it was brought on by the surprise artist at the convention, Hoodie Allen, my favorite rapper of all time. A bunch of my friends got to meet him and even though I had seen him in concert before, I was still so angry at myself for missing it. Then this year, my favorite vlogger/filmaker, who I've been watching since eighth grade, and is someone who I genuinely look up to, Casey Neistat was one of the guest speakers and I had no idea that he was going to be there. I was probably less than two hours away at the time and would have asked my parents to come pick me up and take me to listen to him speak had I known, but I didn't even think about it until I saw him on a bunch of my friends' snapchat stories. Then I watched his vlog and saw people that I've known for years screaming his name and getting a chance to meet him, now featured on his account forever. That's when I almost cried.

And it still hurts, regardless of how I got to miss it, the fact that I wasn't there sucks. Yet, while it's tempting to wallow and hate yourself for missing out, it's important to know that you are not alone. I can assure you right now that it happens to everyone. Almost every single person that I know has also missed out on something that they would have preferred to have been at, and were forced to sit through the play-by-play of everything they missed as they clicked through every social media account they owned. 

It happens to me (every year), and it happens to everyone else. The important part about missing out, is how you pick yourself up and put yourself together after it happens. While it's perfectly normal (and encouraged) to be upset for a little while, you have to take action. Last year after missing Hoodie, I bought tickets to his next concert the day they went on sale. I made damn sure I was free that time and got a chance to see my favorite artist. In terms of Casey Neistat, you can bet your a** that I'll be checking twitter for his next speaking engagement and might even go so far as to email/direct message him to make absolutely sure that I don't miss out again. So the way I see it, while missing out stinks, it's the perfect opportunity to see how much of a self-advocate you really are, and to take a risk that you might not have thought to take before, such as emailing one of your role models. :)

Thanks for reading, this brings the chat to an end, hopefully you made it this far because let's be real, it got way less depressing towards the end!

xoxo, LC

February Jams

Hey ya'll. If you've been keeping track ( I know I have) then you would know that it's been a week since I last posted and for that I am sincerely apologetic. Clearly I am going to have to plan better if I want to continue blogging regularly while I'm in school, which is something I really want to! However whether I've been absentee or not, I'm here now, with a new (kicka**) playlist, which ought to be worth something right? 

Anyway, lately I've been been super focused on kicking butt on not just my New Years Resolutions but on everything I do in life. I think the best word to describe my current perspective and how I've been approaching each day is with intention. Trying my best to make each day count and suck as much life out of them as I can. In a good way :)

 With that in mind, this month's playlist is much more upbeat and significantly better to jam to than last months which I did not blog about, but is on my Spotify account and is much vibe-ier. Actually, last month's is a bit all over the place, but definitely lower-key than February's.

WARNING: Hoodie Allen, my all-time favorite rapper to ever exist on planet earth, and the only artist who I will actually go see in concert more than twice (3rd time this March!) recently released his latest album and there are a few songs (to be read: more than 3) by him on it. So if you're not into him #sorrynotsorry you're gonna have to deal with it. Enjoy! 

Genghis Khan// Mike Snow
Victorious// Panic! At The Disco
Adventure Of A Lifetime// Coldplay
Gold// Kiiara
Hold Me Down// Halsey
Intro to Anxiety// Hoodie Allen
Are U Having Any Fun?// Hoodie Allen (feat. Meghan Tonjes)
So Close to Happiness// Hoodie Allen
The Moment// Hoodie Allen (feat. Travis Garland)
Let Me Down Easy// Sheppard
Silver City - Original Mix// Myrne (feat. Linying)
Wrapped Up// Olly Murs
Bang my Head// David Guetta (feat. Sia & Fetty Wap)
Give Me Something// Jarryd James
Cold Cold Man// Saint Motel
Shake It Out// Florence + The Machine
UGH!// The 1975
Kill Your Heroes//AWOLNATION
Cake By The Ocean// DNCE
Lush Life// Zara Larsson
We Don't Believe What's On TV// Twenty One Pilots
I Took A Pill In Ibiza - Seeb Remix// Mike Posner
Remind Me Of// Hoodie Allen

xoxo, LC

Brunch Attire

Hi everyone! Not too much has happened since I was out of school for the entire week (!!) other than my official self-diagnosis of extreme cabin fever. Even with the streets plowed it's been a bit of a struggle to get out of the house so when the snow finally began to melt I practically jumped at the opportunity to take a few pictures outside before heading out to brunch with some friends. Here they are! 

sweater (sold out but similar)//madewell - jacket (old but similar)//burberry - jeans//jcrew  - boots(sold out but similar)//target

xoxo, LC

Let's chat about: The Martian by Andy Weir

I am hesitant to call this a review, because to be perfectly honest, what qualifies me to review anything? I guess no one really needs any sort of qualification to post a product or restaurant review on the internet but still, to label this post as a "review" seems so official, and significantly more boring. 

So I've decided to call this a chat. Granted, it's more of a one-sided chat, and the topic will be about a book- but nonetheless, this is a chat, not a review. Let's get into it!

If you read my last post (which you totally should btw,) you would know that I watched Interstellar a few days ago. And it totally blew my mind. Now I don't want to spoil anything so I won't go into details but let's just say that I will never look at the space time continuum the same way again. Not that I did too much looking in the first place, but still. Wow. 

Anyway, I guess I was in a 'space-y' mood , and needed a book to read whilst stuck inside so I happened upon the Martian in my kindle library. 

It had been so long since I started and finished an entire book, just for fun, and when I was a kid I used to read all the time. I mean I didn't even know what Disney Channel was until I was probably 7 or 8. TV just never interested me, and I went through tons of books. I used to devour any book I could get my hands on.  

And I didn't realize how much I had missed it until now.

The Martian in a word was: awesome.

It was a little science-y for me as someone who hated Chemistry, but other than that it was an easy read, appeared to me to be quite plausible, (anyone who knows any better feel free to call me out on that) and I loved it. It became a little redundant towards the end, I mean I get it; he has a life-threatening problem, and miraculously solves it using science and old tools. But still, overall a fantastic read. It only took me a day to finish it, and the science of it didn't steer me away. I was able to understand most of it, and when I didn't it didn't stop me from understanding the situation as a whole, or what was going on. It really pulled me in, and is an easy read for anyone looking for a quick fix because you won't be able to put it down.
And to be honest even though I don't usually like super science-y science fiction novels, I felt like the exact science in the book added rather than took away from its quality. The only thing I thought was missing in the movie was the science; without exact proof the film felt a bit far-fetched. So while it may be a bit daunting, it really made the whole thing believable, and even more compelling to read.

I think the main problem people have with science fiction is that you are forced to suspend all beliefs and just think, "Okay, so he can do ____. Got it." and just assume that in some hypothetical future, it could be possible. But with The Martian, you didn't need to do that, because everything is actually possible.
Another aspect of the book that I felt the author did an amazing job of was developing each character. In many science fiction books, the characters and their personalities remain untouched. Weir did an amazing job of covering all his bases about how a man being stranded on Mars would affect everyone else involved, like the crew and the higher-ups in NASA on earth. The additional conflicts between the people on earth in their attempts to save Mark Watney added to the suspension of the novel and hooked you in even deeper.

Overall: 9/10
Would definitely recommend!

xoxo, LC

Jonas is upon us...and here's what I've done

I HAVE OFFICIALLY MADE IT HALFWAY THROUGH JUNIOR YEAR. 

That statement definitely deserved all capital letters because whether I did as well as I wanted to, or got as much sleep as I should have, I made it; and for that I am proud of myself. Not to mention that it was pretty touch-and-go for a while and I seriously considered dropping out of high school altogether and becoming a nun. Maybe not a nun, but I'm sure you get the point. 

Anyway that is where I've been for the past few weeks, last week was finals week and I was supposed to take the SAT this morning, (thank you @jonas for postponing that) so I've been a little busy, holed up in my room with study guides and textbooks. But I'm back now, just in time for one of the biggest blizzards Maryland has ever seen. 

So far I have been trapped in my house for almost a day. And it's getting pretty cramped in here. Not really of course, but not being able to go out has taken a toll on everyone, especially my dog who has become significantly crabbier than usual. This has effectively ruled out puppy snuggles, which I think is extremely unfair. Just thought I'd mention it. 

Furthermore, my options for things to do in the house, have grown dramatically boring. At this point I have been cordially invited to do a few of the following:

-fold laundry

-take SAT practice tests

-help shovel the driveway

-workout

-clean out my closet/room 

-read a book

So you see, as a way of avoiding the aforementioned tasks, I have comprised a list of things that I have noticed so far, as a result of being stuck inside. 

If you're trapped inside like me, then please feel free to partake in a few of the following as they have proven to be quite effective at combatting boredom. 

1// It has come to my attention that the "news teams and weather people on TV need restricted access to their thesauruses." (direct quote from my mother)

Last evening, when it was hardly misting and there were less than 2 inches of snow on the ground, the snowstorm was described as "crippling." According to the Washington Post a few days ago, the "epic blizzard" is "virtually certain to pummel the Washington area..." Those words seem a bit dramatic to me, and as of right now I have felt no cripple or pummel, but we'll see how it goes. 

2//Interstellar is the most mind-boggling movie I have ever seen.

I was literally speechless after watching a movie that took me on the longest emotional roller coaster of my entire life. I don't want to spoil anything but let's just say that there were multiple points where I actually gasped out loud and put my hand over my mouth and almost cried. I will not be sleeping soundly until I'm 124 years old. wink wink. 

3//Madewell has a great blog.

I am a firm believer in the clothes that both Madewell and J. Crew produce, but I did not know that Madewell had a blog until recently. (I think J. Crew might have one too.) They post really cool links, like this awesome personality test that I took that I feel added some serious depth into what my life is like and has the potential to be. I will be checking it out regularly and will be diligently reading up on their tips for a capsule wardrobe this weekend.

4//There is a difference between a snowstorm and a blizzard.

As I mentioned before, Jonas has practically forced boredom onto me, so I decided to do a little bit of research, (to be read as: a google search) on what actually makes a blizzard different from a snowstorm. Because why not?

According to Wikipedia:

"In the United States, the National Weather Service defines a blizzard as a severe snowstorm characterized by strong winds causing blowing snow that results in low visibilities. The difference between a blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind, not the amount of snow." -Wikipedia

I'll bet your life is significantly more fulfilling now that you know this information, you're welcome. 

5// Casey Neistat has the most interesting content on the internet.

Watch his videos, you'll be inspired to do way more than you thought possible, and learn a thing or two about being a quality human being and remaining humble. If you decide to ignore this then you might actually be a horrible person. So I suggest you check him out. 

6// I have become quite good at the board game Blokus.

For those of you who don't know what Blokus is or how to play it, I leave you with this link to the rules and regulations because I am far too lazy to type them up. 

Growing up I played with my parents all the time, and now a snowstorm blizzard isn't complete without a a few games. I used to stink, but after years of practice I have become a (self-declared) blokus master. Just so you know my stats, out of the last three games we've played, I have won two and in the last round I got rid of all of my pieces. I hate to lose, so I play with no mercy* (just ask my parents) and will continue to win for the rest of the weekend because I am absolutely unstoppable. 

*As of right now it should be noted that this snowstorm as forced me to focus in on highly unimportant things, such as, hypothetically speaking, winning a board game, and if this goes on for much longer I could possibly lose the affection of every living person in my house. Will send for help if it reach a critical point. 

7// I have seen far too many photos of Bean Boots on my instagram feed. 

I love instagram. I also love my Bean Boots. I am very aware of the fact that there is a whole lot of snow outside in a whole lot of places and Bean Boots were created for withstanding snow, but if everyone who I follow on instagram would please take a chill pill and relax with the pictures of feet in the snow, it would be much appreciated. Thank you for your time, sorry for being such a complainer. 

It is here that I leave you with some low-quality pictures of Jonas taken from the warmth of my home, as that is where I have been trapped for the past day, and will most likely remain trapped for a while. Stay warm!
xoxo, LC