New

So, just now I downloaded the newest version of MSN and with it came something that claims to help you blog; Windows Live Writer. I figured I might as well test it out, and if I don’t like it I can always go back to blogging off of my blogspot account online. What I like so far is that the window I’m typing in is the same width and font as the actual post will be, so I can see exactly how things will look. There are also three tabs at the bottom of the screen that say “edit”, “preview”, and “source” which is pretty handy because in the edit tab you see the size of your post, but not the rest of your blog, in the preview tab you view your post as it would look on your blog, and the source tab is to edit HTML. Okey, so I have just fooled around a bit with uploading pictures. Apologies for the webcam picture, but my camera is in use for my English project. Anyways, the scarf is from mango and its off-white, but definitely not cream and it is incredibly soft. I love it, although I’m a little worried that I’ll get it dirty.

So I all you have to do is insert a picture and you can choose how to align it in the text, AND since you can view it as it will look on your blog it’s really easy to format everything so that it looks nice :)

OOh, and normally, I use Poladroid to make polaroid-y pictures (I like it the most), but this program also has something like it and it turned out alright. It’s just a border though and doesn’t actually change the photo, so I’ll stick with Poladroid.

I’m incredibly tired right now. School has been a killer this week, plus I was sick but still had to show up because if I miss math I’m in trouble. We’ve recently started trig and so we're doing the whole sine, tangent, cosine, secant, cosecant blah blah blah and now we’re doing revolutions and radians and how to convert from radians to degrees. Some days (everyday) I wonder if I will ever survive HL math next year… Hopefully.

In addition to tired, I’m also in pain, because I got my lovely braces tightened. Joy. I can’t wait to get them off and feel my smooth teeth :D Although they have kind of just become part of me and how I look, but I can’t say I’ll miss them. Looking forward to winter break because I get to see my best friend Teresa who moved to Portugal last year. I haven't seen her since summer and it’s been much too long. A week with her will be incredibly nice.

Oh, so all and all I would definitely recommend Windows Live Writer and I’m going to start doing all of my posts from here and then I also won’t have to use photobucket so much. Writer is simple and easy, plus.. well its cool. Next time I’ll have to try out this whole “set publish date” business and see if it actually uploads when I set it to. Sorry the post is soo long, I love writing and I haven’t had many opportunities today ;)

Slouch

So today I had planned on putting up a picture of what I was wearing, but once again my camera is out of batteries. (It might have helped to charge it the last time I said it was out of batteries..) Instead I found a picture of one of the things I wore. It's a simple black hoodie from the men's section of h&m, meaning it has a very potato-sack, slouchy fit; I love it. It's super comfortable and since it's black it doesn't seem as casual as a grey one would. I wore it over an Urban Outfitters black and white tribal print tank with black skinny jeans and converse. I should have worn my Nine West leather boots, but I hurt my back last week and so the heels have to wait.

I was browsing for a picture of someone without makeup, but either got scary celebrity candids or the "no makeup using a ton of makeup look", but I stumbled across these pictures. Quite a laugh if you ask me. The reason I was looking for someone with no makeup is because it was one of my resolutions for this year to wear less. It's actually been pretty easy; I havn't worn any the past few weeks, plus it motivates me to maintain my perfect skin. (Thank you mom and dad :D) I think makeup is overrated.. if you're wearing so much that when you take it off people are confused and don't recognize you, it's too much.

Reading

Tonight is the night where I try to cram all the reading I've missed out on over the past weeks into one night. It obviously won't be a complete success, but since I finished all my work at school today, there's plenty of time. The first book on my list is Influence by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Both of them are huge inspirations to me, especially Mary-Kate and I find it particularlly interesting to get a glimpse at what they do for a living. I admire the fact that they are strong women who have made an empire of themselves and can completely support themselves. I got this book for Christmas (the one with Mary-Kate on the cover!!; right) and never really got around to reading. I did however browse through the pictures and skim a couple of the interviews. The second book I'm reading is Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. I'm only on page fifty eight and I love it already. From what I've read and understood from the back cover, it's about Chicago in 1893 during the World's Fair. The story line revolves around "the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World's Fair, striving to secure America's place in the world; and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death." It is a true story, and the book has amazing historical accuracy. Larson has put an incredible about of detail in his research and even states in the beginning of the book that "However strange or macabre some of the following incidents may seem, this is not a work of fiction. Anything between quotation marks comes from a letter, memior, or other written document." I think that's incredible because this story is amazing. Definitely worth buying. The next book on my list is Crude: The Story of Oil by Sonia Shah. I'm really interested in the environment and I think it would be particularly interesting to learn more about the resource that we seem to guzzle, what goes into making oil and how corrupt the industry can be. One of the most interesting books I have read was about climate change was High Tide: The Truth About Our Climate Crisis by Mark Lynas. It focused in on about five different areas around the world and how global warming is affecting their climate and lifestyle. I hope to add a few more books to my list soon considering that it's winter break soon.

It's completely totally official that my best friend T is coming skiing with us in Austria, so I'm really excited about that :)

Paper on a Shelf

So, as I mentioned it a previous post or two, my family and I moved houses this summer. I am getting new furniture from the U.S. (which should be arriving in about a month) and so, I postponed unpacking.

It has gotten ridiculous though because now I have junk strewn about everywhere. It's beginning to impead the ability to walk to the bathroom and closet and it's really getting on my nerves. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not a neat freak, but this has gotten out of hand. I started unpacking boxes of books last weekend and got so far as to stack a shelf with magazines worth keeping; 25 Teen Vogue, 10 Elle, 4 Vogue, 1 Australian Vogue, 2 Harper's Bazaar and 1 InStyle.

Cleaning will continue into this weekend as well.

Layers Layers Layers

In light of the fact that it is holiday break and I have time on my hands; it's time to add more layers to my volume of brunette-ness. I started cutting my own hair a long time ago..

Once upon a time, there was an innocent 7th grade girl hoping to get her hair trimmed with a few layers before the dance. Little did she know she would come out of the salon with an uneven, above the shoulder "semi-bob?". From that point on she vowed to never again have her hair cut in Poland. (too lazy/traumatized to search for another stylist)

And so, ever since, I have cut my own hair. The orange handled "kitchen" scissors are my favorite, they are sharp and easy for me to control, the black handled ones were a gift from a friend and are better for smaller adjustments, and the silver ones are actually called "thinning shears" and have teeth. (Just bought at Sephora U.S.A so I havn't used them yet) So basically, the message is; be inspired to try something out for yourself? You might be surprised (in a good way) with the results.

Photo creds to my new Sony Cybershot DSC-W300

Happy New Year!

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve! I was soaking up the sun in Puerto Rico when the clock struck midnight here in Warsaw and I had an amazing time. As you can see, Puerto Rico is gorgeous and never gets old (this was my fifth time there).

Christmas was also good, Santa was incredibly giving this year.. I must have been nice. I'll post pictures in the next post, but my top three presents:

1.) Ferragamo scarf from Santa :)
2.) Green Nintendo DS from R and J (brother and sister)
3.) Camera from Mom and Dad

Hope you all had wonderful holidays! All the best for '09!

Resolution: Posts about what I wear!

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas :)

Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season, because I sure am. Wishing you all the best.

I'll be in Puerto Rico until the 3rd, so don't expect posts as internet will not be a priority of mine when the sun is so readily available.

Once again, Happy Holidays!! (and safe travels!)

<3
B

Standard Deviation and Amino Acids

So today went alright. Gov. was incredibly easy and I finished with an hour to spare (extra time to study for math). Adv. Pre-Calc..that's another story. I need to get a 77% or higher to maintain a B in the class, so my fingers are crossed. Everyone I talked to agreed that it was ridiculously hard and so hopefully there will be a generous curve. I got out at 1.20pm this afternoon, so that was nice although I didn't start studying for Bio until 3.30... I take the IB Bio SL exam tomorrow at 11.20, which gives me some extra time in the morning to review which will be much appreciated. After Bio, it's just English and then break :) I can't wait to go Christmas shopping for friends and family! Wish me luck on exams, and good luck to everyone else taking finals this week.

Party

Not only do I look to friends for music and advice, but also for fashion. My friend M has the perfect holiday party dress. It's totally appropriate for any event because of the above the knee length. It's not too short, not too long. The grey part of the dress is absolutely gorgeous. You can't see it to well in the photo, but it's pleated and looks seashell-like. I also love the white bubble skirt; it's not too puffy and it doesn't look ridiculous, but it's still fun and fresh. I also love how the whole dress has a bit of a shimmer to it. It makes it a little fancier and requires minimal acessorizing (the grey bracelet is perfect). M's has always been fun, but I think this dress suits her perfectly and looks amazing on her as well :)

Miss you M! <3

Finals

So finals are tomorrow and all day Sunday and today I've been studying for Adv. Pre-calc. And now I'm onto studying for Gov. I'm tired as hell (which also explains the lack of fashion in this post), but mint tea = my studying life saver. It helps me de-stress, which is greatly needed during late night study sessions, especially before exams. Tomorrow I finish at 1.20pm, which gives me plenty of time to study (cough cram cough) for Bio. Another de-stresser; reviewing flashcards in the bathtub. You're going to spend time reviewing them anyways, and you're going to take a bath.. so why not combine the two. Saves some time so you can get a few extra minutes of sleep. The more the merrier. Good luck studying for finals, I'm off to review Huntington's hypothesis and contrast liberal democracies and marginal states.

Gifts

This Christmas, with the financial crisis and economic downturn, finding gifts for friends and family can't break the bank. Making things yourself (scarves, chocolates, jewelry) can help you save a few pennies and can be really personal gifts. Searching through sale racks and discount piles can often produce quite a few really nice gifts.

My one tip: If you know the person, you'll find the present.

Whatever your way to save money this Christmas remember, it's the thought that counts; truly.

Good luck in all your holiday shopping this year <3