My Poppy Bedroom

So when we moved I knew I wanted to decorate my new bedroom, even though, at most, I only spend 4 months out of the year there. We were able to use all my old bedroom stuff in the guest room, so since that didn't go to waste, I was allowed to get new stuff!

I of course wanted to paint the room orange because a) very few people have orange bedrooms b) it would look AWESOME and I knew it c) I had a handful of beautiful poppy pictures I took my junior year I could hang up.

So here is my orange, poppy themed room!

My mom has had the bed, the armoire, and the dresser (not pictured) since she was a teenager. I used them for years before my dad and I built my murphy bed in the old house.

Thank you Target for having the PERFECT poppy comforter! That was sheer luck.

The Ikea bookshelf I put together (mostly) all by myself!

The orange wall and my favorite poppy shot.

More pictures of the hallway (yes, hallway) and bathroom to come!

Ali Babba

A couple of nights before I left, when my Granny was visiting, we went to a restaurant in the area called Ali Babba. With rave reviews online and from people we had met in San Diego we had high expectations.

Needless to say, they were met with flying colors.

That was the feast for four, after the five of us had already had one whole plate full each!

Zoo Wahoo!!!!

We went to the ZOO yesterday!!!!!!!

These monkeys were playing, they were so cute!

Eventually the other monkey stole this monkey's reed.

I spared you from the more disgusting pictures of this lion eating.

The keeper said that this elephant has a high metabolism and isn't a very good eater, so in order to get her to eat they reward her by blowing in her trunk.

My favorite!

A Modern Mime

We went to Old Town for dinner tonight, which is a very touristy area of San Diego full of Mexican restaurants and little shops.

After dinner we were sitting on a bench outside of the restaurant while my mom's friend was speaking on the phone. It was then I noticed I young blond boy no older than 10 standing on the sidewalk with a blue fedora on the ground in front of him. He was wearing normal clothes, but was miming a multitude of scenarios. At first I thought he was attempting some odd dance, but I soon realized he was really just pantomiming juggling, balancing a torch on his lip, being stuck in a box, hitting himself in the face with a baseball bat, and other things.

His family was sitting right across from him, we soon realized, so while he was acting like a guard at Buckingham Palace (standing stoically) we dropped a crisp one dollar bill into his hat... which he didn't even notice until a minute later when his mom pointed it out to him.

Target vs. The Love Alliance

Because if you're going to be a billboard, you might as well stand for something worthwhile.

The Cause:

The Love Alliance works to educate people on the many social injustices around the globe. They do this by traveling to schools, conferences, festivals, and many other venues to spread their message. They ask us to remember the thirsty, the poor, the hungry, the sick, the enslaved, the environment, the homeless, the oppressed, and the mentally ill.

But they don't just educate! They take their knowledge and use it to make a difference through different service projects, action groups, and partnerships. They have an action project each month with this August's being gathering school supplies for needy children. This is a great organization for people who simply care-- care about making a difference, about helping others. I find their variety a great way for a large number of people to get involved. Plus, You don't have to do anything special to get involved. Simply use their ideas as inspiration for your own service projects and their resources to make your projects successful. So as always, check out their website for more information and ways to get involved.

The Proceeds:

25% of proceeds go towards addressing specific needs concerning social injustice. Plus if you buy a product, you are helping The Love Alliance stay alive!

The Shirts:

The men's shirt is the 'Educate Yourself, Take Action' v-neck shirt and can be found here. The regular t-shirt (not v-neck) can be found here.

The "women's" shirt (all shirts are unisex and this shirt's image just happened to be of a male model, work with me here) is the 'Purple Logo' shirt and can be found here.

The Extra Perks:

Shirts are NOT made in sweatshops.

The sizes range from XS-XXL.

Glamour: September

I have a confession. I love Glamour Magazine, and only Glamour. I don't read Cosmo or Vogue or anything like that, just Glamour.

I guess I mentioned it to Kellie because while we were in Berkeley she took a quick trip to Walgreens (across the street) and came back with the gigantic September issue.

So I thought I would recap some of the best little tidbits from this months issue (even though they are loving animal print a little too much for my taste).

Aretha Franklin says "Do remember that real friends last forever. It doesn't matter how often you talk, as long as you can pick up where you left off."

Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota (jokingly) asked Supreme Court nominee Elena Kegan what here stance was on the "famous case of Edward vs. Jacob." To which she responded "I wish you wouldn't ask."

Jeez, Twilight is coming up in our government, I feel society declining.

Caitlin Boyle is transforming the way we see ourselves, one post-it note at a time, with her project Operation Beautiful.

Have fun with your nails! Wearing bright colors (anywhere but a job interview) is IN!

It makes sense to start using anti-aging products before you see any signs of aging (but you probably don't need the serious stuff). Look for ingredients in a facial moisturizer like vitamins C and E, pomegranate, acai, apple stem cells, anti-inflammatory agents (mushrooms and aloe), hyaluronic acid, lipids, and/or amino acids (peptides and ceramides).

While your little black dress won't ever go out of style, a little bright dress is in style these days. Like this one from lulus.com.

This vest is only $15 at Walmart.

I'm LOVING lace shirts! Glamour dressed real women in a $38 lace t-shirt from American Apparel, but I found the ones below at CharlotteRusse.com. The middle two are currently 2 for $20 (or $15 each) and the two on the outside are $20 each! Put a blazer or a vest over them, wear a dark tank or long sleeve shirt underneath, or pair it with a fun skirt and accessories.

Daphne Oz, daughter of the famous Dr. Oz, said she was shocked when she went to college and saw people guzzle soda like it was water. Water should always be your drink of choice, she says. Which is inspiring me to drink less of everything else, and more water. Daphne also talks about how you should never blindly trust your doctor, how getting dirty can be good for you, and how your body craves playtime!

12 Things I'd Wished I'd Known About Love When I was 21

1. Never underestimate the importance of being interesting.

2. There is a find line between teasing a guy and criticizing him.

3. Your wants and needs are just as important as his.

4. Knowing how to cook: helpful.

5. Sometimes guys flirt with you because it makes them feel good about themselves.

6. You will probably never fully understand men. So just try to understand yourself.

7. It's shocking how much men will talk about marriage.

8. Don't be cynical.

9. Things chance once your naked.

10. Being worshiped isn't all that.

11. We see what we want to see (and ignore the bad signs).

12. Don't compare yourself with your friends.

The new Suze Orman, 22 year old cutie Zac Bissonnette, has lots of wonderful advice on finances. My favorite is this: Giving money away feels better than buying things. (Backed up by research done at the University of British Columbia, Hey Catherine!)

Hey, it's ok! ...if you've never felt a "runner's high." Unless you mean that high you feel when you stop running.

Karly Rossiter sued her ex for giving her an STD, and won!

I'm adoring the new Perry Ellis scent for women.

My horoscope says: You're jonesing for a major health overhaul. Whether your goal is training for a marathon or finall getting to your healthy weight, the chances of success skyrocket if you start on September 8th.

September 8th, here I come!

But the most interesting article I found in this issue was the one on anxiety. This article (written by Sean Dreisbach) takes up 6 pages and is full of interesting information on these disorders. 40 million Americans (that is more than 1 in 7) suffer from them, women are twice as likely to suffer than men, and five times as many college students are dealing with high anxiety levels today than they were in the 1930s (yeah, during the Great Depression). There are a handful of factors that lead to anxiety, and a lot of ways to help put a stop to it. Exercising three to four times a week and eating better are both great places to start.

Anyway, I hope that gave you a fun little preview of this month's issue. I hope I left you wanting more, because the mag if totally worth the $4 (and no, I don't work for Glamour).

Hollister vs. Invisible Children

Because if you're going to be a billboard, you might as well advertise something worthwhile.

The Cause:

If you don't know what Invisible Children is you're probably living in a bubble!

But I'll still tell you!

Invisible Children seeks to end the conflict in Uganda and to stop the use of children as child soldiers. They use film, creativity, and social action to make a difference in the world.

In May the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northn Uganda Recovery Act passed in Congress and was signed by President Obama. This means that pursuing Joseph Koney is now a law.

Obama said "We have seen your reporting, your websites, your blogs, and your video postcards -- you have made the plight of the children visible to us all. Your action represents the very best of American leadership around the world, and we are committed to working with you in pursuit of the future of peace and dignity that the people of who have suffered at the hands of the LRA deserve."

So this bill that became a law was not just a victory for Invisible Children or the children of Uganda, but for every young person who has ever worked towards a cause. Because it means we can change things.

The Proceeds:

I'm all about being honest here on this blog, so here is my honestly. I'm not 100% sure how much of the proceeds actually go back to the children of Uganda. On their FAQ page it states that 100% of the purchase goes towards their programs, but I can't find any specifics like I could for Common Threadz. However wearing these shirts is not just about donating to the cause, it is about getting the word out. Trust me, it does. I have a shirt from Invisible Children and in the last two years I cannot even tell you how many times I have gotten a comment on my shirt, and have been able to educate so many people about Invisible Children.

The Shirts:

The men's shirt is the LXD T-shirt, which represents the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers. They were featured on the 2010 Academy Awards, and founded by Invisible Children friend and film director Jon M. Chu. 50% of the proceeds go towards Invisible Children. Go here to purchase.

The women's shirt is the White Peace shirt. Go here to purchase.

The Extra Perks:

All the styles are available either in men's or women's sizes or in unisex.

They tell you what size the models are wearing! WOO!

American Eagle vs. Common Threadz

Because if you're going to be a billboard, you might as well advertise something worthwhile.

So here is the first of several comparisons between the big name label t-shirts everyone wears, and the cause t-shirts I encourage more people to try!

I understand that these shirts are a bit more expensive than the AE ones, but read on to find out where that money is going! 100% of the proceeds are given to the cause.

The Cause:

Common Threadz is a non-profit organization geared towards helping orphans and other vulnerable children in third world nations. For this organization the t-shirts are not just a small contributor to the mission, they are the mission!

The Proceeds:

Common Threadz has three different t-shirt collections.

The Signature Collection: Designed by leading artists around the world, each purchase gives an orphan a new school uniform.

The Orphan Collection: Designed by orphans in South Africa, the proceeds from each purchase feeds a child for 1 month.

The CelebriTee Collection: Designed by celebrities such as Laura Prepon, you are able to give a school uniform to an orphan and have $5 donated to the charity of the celebrities choice by purchasing a shirt.

The Shirts:

The men's shirt 'Birdland' is a part of the Signature Collection. Go here to purchase.

The women's shirt is from the CelebriTee Collection and is entitled 'Cherish'. Go here to purchase.

The Extra Perks:

For a limited time shipping is free if you order 2 or more shirts!

The designs come in a variety of options, from women's, men's, and children's sizes to different types of shirts. You, your hubby, and you baby can all match!

Customer's names are painted on a "Thank You" wall in Africa every quarter, and they send you a picture!

They were featured in Lucky Magazine!

They are high quality shirts!

They are super stylish and will totally spark up a conversation!

If You're Going to be a Billboard...

You might as well advertise something worth while!

So my generation's go-to wardrobe choice seems to be t-shirts and jeans, but not just any t-shirts, they usually have the name of a brand etched across the front.

I've owned I think one of these shirts in my lifetime, for two reasons. One is that I look pretty horrible in t-shirts and jeans, and prefer pretty blouses or dresses.

But the other is the more dominant reason.

I don't need to be a billboard. If American Eagle, Hollister, Express, and Areopostale want to advertise their brand, they can buy commercial slots, I don't need to be a billboard for them.

And yet, so many of my peers are constantly spending so much money on these shirts simply because they are "stylish" or "cool".

So here is my challenge to my peers! Next time you need a new shirts, don't make your way to them mall, but go online and buy a shirt that means something!

Even if you don't wear brand name clothing, but advertise bands, tv shows, movies (Twilight shirts anyone?), video games, or places, switch it up and add a cause shirt to your wardrobe!

Buy a shirt that will get the word out about charities, issues, and diseases!

Some of these cause shirts will be more expensive than name brands, some will be cheaper, some will be about even. Some of your proceeds may go towards the actual cause, sometimes it is just about getting the word out there.

And I'll help! For the next two weeks every couple of days I'll share with you some comparisons on label brands versus charity brands, where you can buy them, and how your purchase of the shirt will do some good!

I'll post my first comparison tonight, so check back soon!

We Be Well Rounded

So you all know Kellie by now! One of my amazing friends from high school who is just about one of the silliest people I know. Okay, recap over. Anyway, she goes to UC Berkeley, and will be living in a studio apartment next year.

She has already taken a couple of trips up there with some stuff, and will do so again when she moves in in a couple of weeks. Still, she had too much stuff for one carload and needed to be there for her mattress delivery last weekend.

So of course we turned it into a mini vacation!

Kellie, Ari, Danielle and I drove down to Berkeley on Friday morning. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself.

First my mom and I drove up to Lancaster on Thursday afternoon. Danielle, Kellie, and I all went and saw Charlie St. Cloud that night. It isn't exactly the best movie in the world, but I wouldn't say it was a waste of my money and time. I enjoyed it for more than just Zac Efron's tight fitting shirts, veiny arms, and bare back. It was surprisingly not predictable and Zac Efron gave a fine performance.

Anyway, we then drove to Berkeley. Let me just say 6 hours in a car with three of your best friends is a pretty good time, even though I can't remember what made it fun. We helped unload stuff into her adorable studio apartment and then Kellie showed us around the beautiful campus and area before we headed back so she could wait for her mattress delivery.

We decided that since we are poor college students, we would make dinner instead of going out. But with a tiny kitchen and only 2 frying pans to cook with, we had few options.

We decided to do breakfast for dinner. I made eggs and Danielle made pancakes. It was pretty yummy if I say so myself!

Look at Kellie's adorable plates!

We showered, cleaned up, played some trivial pursuit, and set up for bed.

Four people sleeping in a studio apartment means that the entire room becomes bed.

Ari had to sleep on the Spongebob bed.

The next day we went into San Francisco. Being the nerdy control freaks we are (okay, maybe I'm the only control freak) we planned the whole day out. We wanted to go to Alcatraz but it was completely sold out for some special event. Instead of doing all cheesy tourist things, we decided to mix it up with some museums.

I begged them to go to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and they were nice enough to oblige. How sad is it that I've been to the SFMOMA before the original NY one?

So we were lucky enough to get to the Berkeley BART station early enough to get a free parking space, the train came within 3 minutes, the connecting train was waiting for us, and the SFMOMA was a short walk away from the station in the city.

Oh! Hello Frida Kahlo. Latter that day at Pier 39 I bought socks with her picture on it.

Matisse is love.

A more interesting Pollock than the ones I've seen before.

Eventually we made our way toward the more contemporary stuff. This sculpture of Michael Jackson and his monkey Bubbles sparked a very philosophical conversation on the way home about "what is art" between Kellie and I. The artist didn't actually execute this sculpture, but hired people to do it. These types of snooty conversations don't usually happen with us.

Frank Stella (the second one). In art class Stella kept coming up in videos, but we never saw his art! So I was pleasantly surprised to find a handful of them that I fell in love with!

They love art.

We then took the most crowded bus ever to Ghiradelli Square. It was so crowded that Ari and Danielle were standing next to the driver.

We ate lunch at an adorable 50's diner in the square. The family sitting next to us (there was about 10 inches between our tables) paid with a coupon on a map they had. Danielle noticed it was the same map we had, and voila! 20% off our lunch!

We walked around the square for a bit, got free chocolate at the Ghiradelli Chocolate store and bought nothing.

We then got on another bus on the same line that we had to lightly run to make, and made our way to the Exploratorium. This is the most photographed place in San Francisco, we even saw a couple getting their wedding pictures done.

The Exploratorium was so fun! This was Danielle's suggestion, and we believe it totally proved how well rounded we are, an art museum and a science museum all in one day!

This vibrating sand one (I don't remember what the science was behind this exhibit) made my hands feel tingly, but it got all stuck to my hand and in my nails and made my hands smell funny.

This was the best one. You sat on either side and adjusted the light to see what your faces looked like meshed together.

With this one you "drew" in the room and then it showed up on the screen. When I took a picture with flash it put Ari and Kellie's images on the screen too.

Ari and Kellie trying to read eye expressions.

We then caught another bus, JUST IN TIME back to Fisherman's Wharf.

We went into a bunch of stores, the sock store (woo Frida socks), the hat store, the puppet store, the left handed store, this crab store, and made fun of the name of the knife store "We Be Knives", creative.

Kellie REALLY wanted to buy that hat, but wouldn't spend $8 on it, obviously.

Danielle and her cute lobster, which of course she wouldn't spend $18 on.

Alcatraz!

Sea Lions!

Then we ate at a little restaurant on the pier. At first we were sitting next to a couple with a baby boy who kept waving at me (okay, maybe I waved first), but then they left and this group of two couples, one that was at least 15 years older than the other, sat down. They were so loud and crude! Plus we watched as they had like 4 credit cards denied for their bill at the bar! We left shortly after that.

Then the only problem we had ALL DAY was getting on the bus back to the BART station. When we first got to the stop we were the only ones there, but by the time the bus came we were basically at the back of the line. We didn't make it on the already crowded bus, and decided to wait for the next one. Then like 50 other people showed up, so there were like 75 people waiting for a bus. We were close to the front and decided that we were gonna be tough for once in our lives and GET ON THE NEXT BUS... and if we didn't we would call a cab.

So we pushed our way onto the bus and were all sandwiched together. When we got off Kellie bumped this 12 year old kid (who had been being annoying the ENTIRE bus ride) in the head with her purse. It totally couldn't have really hurt, and he whines to his mother about how badly it hurt, with Kellie right there! How rude!

Anyway, we made it back with no further issues. We decided to play another game of Trivial Pursuit because we are NERDS! Usually Kellie and Ari are on a team and Danielle and I are on a team. Because Kellie and Danielle rock at TP and Ari and I... not so much. I suggested that we switch it up, Ari got cocky and decided that he and I should be on a team because we could totally beat them... and guess what?!

WE DID! WOOO!!!!!!

Anyway the next morning we packed up, deflated air mattresses, ate at a cute little diner (and spent a whopping $7 on pastries) and were on our way home!

It was a great trip. We had no problems, the sky was blue, the weather mild, and everything went smashing! We blamed it on karma, we gave out good vibes, and got good time in return.

Five years ago I wanted to move to San Francisco so badly, and now, even though I'm living in New York for school, my family moved to San Diego, and that my dream job may very well take me to LA, I still feel like San Francisco would be an amazing place to live. Who knows, I'm trying to let life take me wherever it pleases.

And for now, a weekend trip to San Francisco with three of my best friends is enough for me!