Christmas Wishes

So now that we've all survived Halloween and Thanksgiving feasts, it's that magical time of year where snow drifts down from the sky, christmas lights sparkle in the evening, and the smell of peppermint or pine is just about everywhere. If only the holidays were really that peaceful. I swear, stores start decorating for the holiday season earlier and earlier every year. I was kind of disgusted at hearing christmas music in the grocery store the day after Thanksgiving. 


Anyway, with the holidays comes the "wish list." This is not a list of things that are necessarily needed per-say, but a list of things that might make existence a little more effervescent for a while. Here's my wish list:


Nikon 1 J1 - The smallest SLR digital camera ever. Oh. My. So sleek.

Stamps - I love writing letters to my friends in far away places but postage is something that I rarely think about buying. If I had a stash of stamps, a lot more letters written during classes would be sent.


Socks - I understand that this is that "really?" gift. But hey, they're something that I really need and want. My feet are always freezing and lately my sock drawer seems to produce fewer and fewer cozies to slip onto my feet.

Steve Madden Ruckus Boots - These I WANT. I seem to wear out cheap pleather boots at a rate of 4-6 months. But I think that were I to posses a quality pair of boots, they'd last a lot longer. And they're so pretty....

iPhone - Yes, yes. The mother of all phones. But I wants it... and in all fairness, my iPod has been slowly dying over the past year, and phones are constantly being replaced or upgraded....I'd take good care of it!

So this year's list isn't the longest but that's ok. I don't want that much. Gift cards are always appreciated since I love clothes so much... and let's face it, relatives whom you haven't seen in a few years don't always pick out the right thing. December starts tomorrow! I have to say that I'm very excited. Finals are next week and then I work the week after and then I head to my snowy homeland for a few days! 

Couscous

I like to cook. Food is one thing that everyone has in common. So cooking (as cliché as it sounds) brings people together. There's a reason that we go out to eat with groups of people or get coffee with friend. Everyone needs food. 


This brings me to my latest food obsession: couscous. This tiny pasta is absolutely incredible. It takes like five minutes to make (once the water boils) and it's delicious. I've been sautéing mushrooms in butter and mixing those in with the couscous and then adding fresh peppers. It's a really easy and sooo tasty!


That's what I was thinking about on my walk home today. Couscous...I'm going to go make some. 

Thanksgiving

One of my oldest friends flew up here to celebrate Thanksgiving and fall break with me. We had a fantastic time browsing holiday sales (I got two pairs of shoes, jeans, and two shirts...shh.), eating out, making an eclectic Thanksgiving meal, and watching movies, Parks & Recreation, and playing Super Mario. Dinner consisted of mashed potatoes, spinach & feta croissants, cous cous with sauteed mushrooms and peppers, and a delicious salad with green leaf lettuce, dried cranberries, gorgonzola, and poppyseed dressing. We mixed our meal in with the How I Met Your Mother Slapsgiving episodes. If you haven't see them or HIMYM, definitely check them out -so funny.

She'd never before visited the PNW so I showed her some of my favorite spots around town -book stores, clothing stores, restaurants, coffee shops, and the beach, marina, and Boulevard Park. Unfortunately the weather remained stereotypically gray the entire visit so we didn't do a lot of outdoor adventuring like I'd hoped. We did however see the new Twilight movie -it was ridiculously difficult not to burst out laughing for the majority of the film, but I have to say, I'm kind of excited to see the final one. Now that Kat's visit is over, I have to start working on final projects, papers, and studying for exams. Only two weeks left of the quarter! I am so ready to be done with it. Then some leisure time, work, and an overdue trip home for Christmas!


I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday and safe travels. 
Until next time.

Florence + The Machine

I ADORE Florence + the Machine. There are many, many reasons why. Florence Welch is such a unique individual, her songs are intense and beautiful with Sylvia Plath-esque lyrics. I love how she combines elements from pop with rock, metal, industrial, and folk music. Her voice is incredibly dynamic and she has an amazingly unique style. 

We'll start with my introduction to her. Dog Days Are Over had been playing everywhere -on the radio, MTV, Fuse, the internet; her lyrics were Facebook status updates, and I got curious. After going on YouTube, I looked at more of her videos and again, I got hooked. Kiss With A Fist is probably one of my favorite songs. It's empowering, danceable, easy to sing along with, and WAY TOO SHORT. The best songs always are...almost. Needless to say, I was very excited for Ceremonials to drop this fall (her follow up album to Lungs). Here are some videos.

The latest video to be released "No Light, No Light" 

"Kiss With A Fist"

Now Flo's style is another reason that I love her so darn much. She has a fantastic figure and she isn't afraid to take risks with fashion. Thankfully, she hasn't been quite as avant garde as Lady Gaga, if she were though, I think she'd pull off a few of the ensembles better than Mother Monster. I think my favorite thing about Flo's style is how eclectic it is. She's bohemian, preppy, grungy, pantsless...you name it. And she pairs almost everything with an incredible pair of shoes. (Who doesn't love a great pair of shoes, really.)

Fantastic vintage shirt paired with chambray high rise shorts and adorable leather flats. 

Love the hat too!

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of this outfit. The leopard print is a little gaudy, and a trend that shouldn't have made a comeback. I do however, love the blouse.

Amazing mini-dress for the red carpet. 

I love how flowy and bohemian this dress is. It has such a Victorian feel.

Dress + Boots = Win

Dear Flo, please keep doing what you do.

On the Radio

So I have a radio show. I'm on air, playing music, hanging out, and rocking out once a week. KUGS FM is the WWU radio station and it's all student volunteer operated. So mistakes are made on air -I just played a cd, then popped the cd player open mid song, whoops. Right now, I'm doing a program called Music for the Masses. All of the albums are put on this rack (a.k.a. THE WALL) in the studio, then playlists are created based on ten categories: new music, top 40, heavy, medium, and light play, specialty, upcoming shows, local, backtrack, and open. There's an awesome selection of music too. 

So because of the diversity of "the wall," every show is different. It's constantly being updated and shuffled around, which is really fun when you're a fan of discovering new music. A few of my favorite finds consist of: Kristin Allen-Zito, Twenty-One Pilots, Deer Tick, The Dum Dum Girls, The Rooftops, and Rachel Goodrich. 


I suppose this leads into my musical taste. It's kind of eclectic (though some may argue otherwise). I love alternative female singer/song writers/muscians/vocalists like Regina Spektor, Feist, Florence & the Machine (I LOVE Flo), Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside, Carla Bruni, and so on. I love Britpop. My first (official) concert was The Kooks, and upon being introduced to them I immediately tried to discover similar artists. This led me to bands like The Pigeon Detectives, The Fratellis, and The Wombats. Then there is my love for Muse.

The Kooks - "She Moves In Her Own Way"

 I discovered Muse the summer before my sophomore year of high school -I'd been watching Fuse all day and then the video for Knights of Cydonia aired, I was intrigued. A while later, I saw the video for Starlight and was hooked. I bought the Black Holes & Revelations album, listened to it relentlessly and then moved on in my interests until a friend showed me how much more music they had produced. I think that the last half of my senior year of high school and the first of my freshman year of college consisted of Muse being played at least once a day. As of late, they haven't really been at the top of my playlist because....

Muse - "Starlight"

These days I listen to a lot more Indie music. Indie pop, indie folk, indie rock, indie folk rock, etcetera, etcetera. Bands in this niche include Blitzen Trapper, Band of Horses, Deer Tick, Broken Social Scene, Camera Obscura, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Cults, The Drums (who I saw in concert last fall...it was awesome), Givers, The Joy Formidable, M83, Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, Matt & Kim, Metric, Mother Mother, (of course) Neutral Milk Hotel, and so it goes.. I think that I like the diversity within the Indie genre and how (especially when making a playlist for my show) everything flows together in a weird/awesome way.

Blitzen Trapper - "Black River Killer"

Broken Social Scene - "Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl" feat. Feist & Emily Haines (of Metric)

Finally there are a few alternative bands that I love along with the rest of the world. For example: Beirut, Bon Iver, Hockey, Kings of Convenience, The Postal Service, you get the idea. 


Check out the videos if you get a chance, maybe you'll discover something new!

Sleep Is a Symptom of Caffeine Deprivation

I love coffee. It tastes good, it warms you up on cold days, gives you an extra boost of energy, and you can enjoy it a number of different ways. I love how versatile this beverage is. It can be flavored with syrups, chocolates, through the process of roasting the beans. It can be potent or neutralized by some milk. Even a bad cup of coffee can be made pretty delicious with the use of vanilla, cinnamon, milk, and some sugar. I thought a lot about coffee today. I had time to get a cup before my first class (third day in a row!), and it was probably one of the better cups of coffee I've had on campus. A few weeks ago, they forgot to put the espresso in my drink at the on campus Starbucks, so I've started avoiding a few of the cafes. 

I love the holiday cups at Starbucks, and how they have fall and holiday flavors. Pumpkin spice lattes tend to hit the spot on chilly fall mornings. I also love the coffee culture of the Pacific Northwest. I have yet to visit the original Starbucks in Seattle but I've heard that there's usually quite a crowd. It's always nice to hear friends catching up over a cup of. 


Cafes are another thing I love about coffee. The smell and the atmosphere are always comforting. There's always newspapers or books being read, some form of studying going on, and quiet conversations that drift through out the air, intertwined with the music that quietly plays in the background. 


My favorite thing about coffee though, is that a good cup usually makes me happy. If all it takes to be in a good mood is a cup of coffee, then I think sacrificing a few dollars a day is a pretty good trade off. 


My least favorite thing about coffee is how I almost always spill it on myself at some point during the day. 

Sunny With a Chance of Freezing

It's supposed to snow Friday. I hope it does. Today was freezing cold! I ran home between classes to grab a bite to eat and a warmer scarf. But it was sunny. Sunny Bellingham is like a completely different city than rainy Bellingham. People sit outside (no matter what the temperature) reading books, talking with friends, talking on their phones, or occasionally gathering around "that one guy" who always seems to have his guitar. 


I don't like the cold here. It's a humid cold that cuts right through you, no matter how many layers you have on. Where I'm from, it's a dry cold; bundle up and you'll be toasty warm. Today may have been a sign that it's time to break out the shearling lined Cabella's boots I picked up for $5 at a garage sale last summer. I'm sure my feet will appreciate it. 

So besides being cold, today was also pretty productive. I (again) had time to get coffee before my 8am design class, I got my hair cut, and I wore a new shirt. We'll see if the productive trend continues into the evening. I have an extra credit paper to write and some posters to continue working on as well as a video response about how Disney movies are racist. 

I am in love with this flowy shirt!

Today Was Good

Hello! Welcome to my blog. That's so weird to type...I never thought of myself as someone who would really write about anything. But, last night I was laying in bed and I thought to myself, "I have interests, albeit varying interests, maybe I should create something where I can share those with other people who might share a few of the same." So here we are. Monday night, sharing our...my...interests. Instead of letting you in just like that, "Hi, I'm Meghan, I love blah..blah..blah...," I'm going to tell you why today was good.

Trying to take a decent picture with photobooth is quite difficult.

I caught the bus this morning. I RARELY catch the bus in the morning. In fact, I never really have to. But today, I walked to the bus stop, arrived there at approximately 7:12 am, unsure of what time I could expect the next bus, I looked at the schedule, and wouldn't you know it, the next bus arrived at precisely 7:13. That was the start to a good day. I think that generally, when days start off well, it's really difficult to make them worse. You're not late, rushing around, bustling to get to class, forgetting your coffee on the kitchen counter, only half of your face made up (that may be an exaggeration); instead you get to take your time getting ready, you get to listen to Margot & the Nuclear So and So's, blow dry your hair, and put on an outfit that doesn't consist of tossing on yesterday's pants, a clean shirt, and a cardigan. Yes, today was good. I had time to get coffee before class, the lectures were interesting, and work passed by pretty quickly. I did a bunch of homework over the weekend, so I get to spend the evening creating this project, listening to good music, and discovering the modern-day Sherlock Holmes tv show on Netflix.

Ok, now that I've bored you with my day, I'll tell you a little bit about me (just this once though, that's what the About Me section is for). I grew up in a ski town, I love winter and snow. I love the calm that gently falling snow instills in people. I love the landscape after a fresh snowfall, it's so clean and untouched. I love making fresh tracks in that pristine powder. I also love summer and spring and fall. The flowers that spring brings, the heat and sun of summer, and the crisp air and crunch leaves of autumn. Of course, in the Northwest, crunchy leaves are in kind of short supply. But, I don't mind the rain. It almost has the same effect of snow -at least the sound of it does. Standing in a rainstorm leaves you a lot soggier than a snowstorm. (Can you tell that I'm excited for it to snow?)

I love photography. I think that people who take pictures capture their unique perspective of the world and that photograph gives us a glimpse into their mind. I also think that being able to capture a moment is beautiful.

I love clothes and how they are an outward expression of individuality.

I'm learning to love graphic design. Actually, no. I LOVE graphic design and I can't imagine studying anything else. I'm learning about why I love graphic design -fonts, layouts, colors, brush strokes, happy accidents- it's a complex field but it's so fascinating.

Ok, I think that this first post is plenty long. I'll try to update this with artwork I like, projects of mine (a.k.a. my portfolio), outfits of mine and clothes I'm lusting after, and my general thought on things. Until next time, happy trails!