The Hunger Games

So I just finished reading the trilogy by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games. I began reading The Hunger Games when I was in New York, and I instantly became obssessed. I couldn't put the book down. It took me a while after the first book to find the second book, Catching Fire, but luckily right before school started my friend Talen offered to let me have it (bless his soul). Immediately following that book I went and purchased the last one, Mockingjay, I would have probably looked around a bit for it, but after reading Catching Fire, there was no way I could wait to read the last book.

If you have never read the Hunger Games, let me fill you...

The story follows sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives in a post-apocolyptic world in the country of Panem where North America once existed. This is where a government working in a central city called the Capitol holds power. In the book, the Hunger Games are an annual televised event where the Capitol chooses one boy and one girl aged 12 to 18 from each of 12 districts for a massive televised battle in which only one person can survive.

These books are very intense, adventurous, sad, happy, romantic, political, etc...all in one. If you are looking for something interesting and different, I would recommend reading these 3 books, and I promise you won't regret it (and they are nothing like the Twilight Books) Plus you could read them all before the movie, The Hunger Games, comes out March 23, 2012, which I am looking forward to.

Katniss Everdeen played by Jennifer Lawrence

(Left) Gale played by Liam Hemsworth (Right) Peeta played by Josh Hutcherson

(Both these characters are love interests to Katniss in the books/films. There are many other great characters in this book as well the actors playing them in the film.)

The Roaring 20's

So it's been a while since I have posted, so I send my apologies. I had just started school, so It was hard keeping up with that, and a blog, but I'm going to try and post as often, not that I'm getting in to the swing of things.

Like I have talked about before, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Fashion. I also mentioned that the 50's and the 80's were two of my favorite era's of fashion but I forgot to mention how much I adore the 1920's.

Just like in the 1950's a lot of things began to change after WWII, and the same happened in the 20's after World War one. Architecture, machinery, everything had a big change, including Fashion. The 1920's was the time of the Charleston which means....flappers. I am obsessed with flapper dresses, and everything about that style. I love the beading the fringe and even all the hairstyles.

Another thing I love about this era is the one and only Coco Chanel. This is the time where she got her start in the fashion world and is still one of the biggest names in fashion today.

Fashion from the 20's is still living on in fashion to this day. As I mentioned I love the Flappers style. One designer today that I know designs lots of dresses after that style, and I am just obsessed!

These dresses aren't exactly "flapper" but they portray this style with just a modern twist. Taylor Armstrong from The Real Housewives wore a Sue Wong dress for a 20's party on the show.

I too wore a Sue Wong dress this year for prom. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it, I was also inspired because I love that classic look of the 1920's.

The 1920's was such a great era. I mainly focused on the Flappers, but there were so many other great styles the started in the 20's and are still living on today.

I am different. But I am me. Welcome to my blog.

School....

It's here. That crazy time of the year, summer is over and school is beginning. This year is especially crazy because I will be attending college. It's been so weird to see so many of my friends leave and go off in a new direction. But I am also so very excited to start this year.

Though my school doesn't start for till next Monday, I will be going up all this week for an early class just for Freshman. For this class I was assigned to read a book called Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. It is the true story of a Syrian-born man who stayed behind after Hurricane Katrina. It comes from the point of view of Abdulrahman Zeitoun (Zay-Toon) and his wife Kathy, before and after the storm. While reading this book, I had no idea really how horrible it was for the people of New Orleans during that time, it is very eye opening and heartbreaking. So if you are looking for a book that's well written and has a great story, I would highly recommend reading Zeitoun.

Emma Stone vs. Emma Stone

My oldest sister was in town from New York for a few weeks, and part of her time being here we went and saw quite a few movies. Now, I am no movie critic or anything, but I just thought I would give you my opinions on two of the movies that I have seen in the theaters recently.

Emma Stone currently has two movies that are out in theaters: Crazy, Stupid, LOVE and The Help. As I titled this post Emma Stone vs. Emma Stone, there is really nothing you can versus about these two films.

Crazy, Stupid, Love is a romantic comedy for pretty much all viewers. It puts you in the perspective of a few different characters and shows the way they view and fall in love. It's full of humor and twists, and it is very down to earth. Like I said this movie is for all viewers, men, women, adults, teenagers, granted, anyone who sees this film will fall in love, with Crazy, Stupid, LOVE.

The Help is based on Kathryn Stockett's novel of the same title, which tells the story of a young white girl named Skeeter (Emma Stone) who was raised in Jackson, Mississippi during the civil rights era. It shows the views from both the white and the black characters in the movie. The Help may not tell us much about the real horrors of the civil rights era, but it does tell us something about the way people lived during this time. This movie is heart-warming, witty, mindful, and sad all in one. It is definitely a must see, and just like Crazy, Stupid, Love it is for all viewers.

With these two movies having the same actress but two completely different stories, I strongly recommend you go out and see both of these films, despite what other critics have said, I guarantee you will love these films just as much as I did.

I am different. But I am me. Welcome to my blog.

Fashion Flashbacks.

I have always been so passionate about fashion. There is nothing more that allows me to by my own unique individual than the way fashion does. I love to put clothing together as if it were art.

Fashion has evolved so much over the years both good and bad. Though I was only born in the 90's, fashion from previous decades inspire me. There are two particular decades that I would like to highlight in this post.

The 1950's and the 1980's.

Two very different generations, but such wonderful era's.

The 1950's

After WWII, there was such a big change in society, one change being the fashion. Some of the most famous new trends in the 50's for women were, full length skirts, button up blouses, knitted sweaters but the most prevalent fashion for women during this time was dresses. I read a quote the other day by Edith Head, "A dress should be tight enough to show you are a woman, but loose enough to prove you are a lady." I feel like that quote perfectly describes the women's fashion in the 1950's. The word that first comes to my mind when thinking about the fashion in the 50's is, Classy. Looking at pictures from the 50's women had such elegance and poise, which is so different from today's modern woman.

Whenever I think of the fashion, and the women of the 50's, there are a few famous fashionista's that stand out to me. Jacqueline Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly,and Marilyn Monroe. Though the 50's weren't exactly the highest point for some of these women, their beauty their and fashion just stand out to me.

The 1980's

Retro, the word that closely describes the fashion for the 80's. At this time people were influenced by many things that set the trend for fashion during this era; Music, Movies, celebrities, etc. Brand names became big during this time, making Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein household names.

Madonna became a fashion icon for many young women during this time. Her style was the most copied and sought after look.

Much of the 80's retro style is coming back today. Some of my favorites being, high waisted denim, patterned pants/leggings, fringe, off shoulder sweatshirts, retro t's and sequence tops. My visit to New York, I went to several consignment stores, where I picked up a bunch of the 80's style.

The clothes worn in the 80's depicted people who were trying to find themselves. They looked for ways to express their creativity and individuality, and that is why

I LOVE the 80's!

Even though the 80's is much more of my style, I just admire both decades, for being so unique in the fashion sense. With the 50's being so glamorous and classy, and the 80's being so vintage and retro, you can see why I love these two fabulous fashion era's.

I am different. But I am me. Welcome to my blog.

The great En-Why-See!

(If I could kiss New York. I would.)

New York City. Those three words mean so much to me. I have always loved New York, ever since I can remember. Whenever I was required to write any type of Long Term Goals in school or for anything, without hesitation, the sentence "Living in New York in City" always made it on my lists.

Two years ago I had the greatest surprise of my life, my family took me to New York for the very first time. Before the trip, they got me to believe I was going to Chicago. Our flight had a layover, which was in Chicago. Once we landed there, I was told my bags had accidentally been left on the plane that was heading to New York. An employee of the airpot told us we could fly to New York, retrieve our bags, and then head back to Chicago. As soon as I heard the words "fly to New York", I didn't care if we would be there for an hour or even 5 minutes. I was just so thrilled that I would have the opportunity to go to New York. I immediately called my sister who was (and is currently..) living New York. Little did I know my whole family was in on this whole prank. When we got to New York my sister was there to greet us, she accidentally slipped, and that is when I found out my family made the surprise vacation for me.

(At the airport with my family after finding out about the surprise.)

After my first vacation to New York, you can believe that I fell even more in love with it. So much that, this summer I decided to spend a whole month out there. I went and stayed with my sister and her husband (such generous hosts). It was without a doubt one of the best vacations of my life. Minus having the whole family there, it was nice spending time with my sister and her hubby..and even having a little alone time in the city was great.

After this last vacation I was guaranteed that New York is the place for me. I have never felt more inspired by culture, by fashion, by people, by architecture then I am when I'm in New York. When I'm there I feel like I can really be myself.

(Four more years and counting, till I will be done with school, and I will be living the great NYC.)

The Phrase, "I <3 NY" doesn't even begin to do it justice, for the way I feel about New York City.

I am different. But I am me. Welcome to my blog.

Hipsters?

hip-ster

noun

hipsters, plural

...the name means different things depending on who you talk to, whether people are stereotyping them, or whether they are praising them.

A Hipster to me is someone who values independent thinking. Someone who isn't afraid to stand out in a crowd. A Hipster is someone who expresses themselves in their own unique way. Hipsters set the trend, they don't follow it.

Hipster in Hiding...

As I've grown up and learned to express myself, I often felt as if I was the black sheep of my peers. Not that it is essentially a bad thing, I've always enjoyed standing out, because it allowed me to by myself. As time went on, I met more and more "black sheeps" who expressed the same style and views as I did.

Living in Utah, if you have a different style, you tend to be a little different....different is good.

The ORIGINAL Hipster in Hiding

Where the f*#% is Waldo?

I've always loved the Where's Waldo books, even to this day I think they are fun to look at. But I have always admired Waldo in a different way then most. When looking at the Where's Waldo books, the general idea is to spot out Waldo in a crowd of people. It always amused me that even if there were different themes to each book, or each page, you ALWAYS found Waldo wearing his Red and White Striped outfit. Though that may not be the most flattering outfit, or the fact that Waldo is just a fictional character, and as stupid as it sounds, I just admired the way Waldo never changed or tried to fit in with the crowd. Yes, I understand that, that is the point of the book, but that is just the I looked at it.

I am different. But I am me. Welcome to my blog.