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 :)

Day Dreaming

Right now I'm in California, which is awesome except I just found out that there is no American Apparel nearby. Which is really disappointing, but I'm turning to technology and ordering things online. If you order by the 23rd, everything will get there by Christmas!

But, to the picture. I cannot wait until the 27th, when we jet off to Puerto Rico! And so above are some of my poolside/beach essentials:

1.) Limited Edition Frédéric Fekkai Summer Hair Collection: I love this collection. I got it this summer before I went to Santorini and it's amazing. It gives you the "just off the beach" look, while protecting your hair from chlorine and sun exposure.

2.) Estee Lauder High Gloss in Clear: this lip gloss is very natural since it's clear, but ultra-glossy and has amazing moisture that keeps lips supple all day. The only downside: no SPF.

3.) Aveeno Continuous Protection Sunblock in SPF 55: This sunblock is amazing. I've never gotten sunburned while wearing it and it goes on like lotion. It's not too greasy (considering that all sunblock is a little greasy) and it smells nice too.

4.) VOGUE: Every girl should sit on the beach with the latest copy of VOGUE in her hands. It's my beach must-have. No matter how many times you flip through it, there's always something new that you missed the last time.

5.) Product Red iPod Nano: I love my iPod. I've had it forever and I've never had any problems with it. Laying in the sun listening to music is the definition of my vacations. Just be careful not to drop it in the pool ;)