Halloween Time

Still needs ideas for halloween costumes and treats? Here's a little Halloween flava for all you procrastinators brought to you by Flavorwire.

 

Halloween Themed Nails

 

Best Costumes Based on Works of Art

 

Horrifying Halloween Food

 

Still need last minute plans as well? LACMA is hosting a Stanley Kubrick themed costume ball tomorrow, Oct. 31, in anticipation of the Kubrick exhibit opening on Nov. 1.

 



 

 

Happy Halloween!

 

xx, LC

 

 

The Ghosts That Haunt Nations

Everyone loves a little history lesson
every now and then. Well here's a mini history lesson that will hopefully spark your interest in World War II. Dutch historian Jo Teeuwisse has created composite images of war stricken Europe - then and now. Her images, which are equally intriguing and haunting, helps bring reality to the act of war. It makes one think of our nation's past relations and what -- if anything -- has changed in foreign policy throughout the years.

 

Auschwitz 1945

France, Unknown date

France 1944

Check out the Flickr set HERE
Check out new or updated photos HERE

xx, LC

A Cause For Debate

The importance of politics had always escaped me as a child . I thought it was all such a joke, men and women calling each other names and fighting dirty just to gain power. They rivaled children in immaturity in that regard. I always thought politicians were evil, short sighted people who were easy to corrupt, and the voices of the select few who had the will to help the public were lost in the crowd. Speaking to older people about politics didn't help either. Grumpy, argumentative people who were too set on their ways or beliefs and who thought the whole country should be run based on their values set no better example for me. That was the main thing for me, I believed that as a country, we were all different and could not be ruled under the same strict blanket. For a country to be successful, we must compromise and think of the greater good, and sometimes agreeing to disagree.

As I grow older, I'm beginning to realize the immense importance of my vote and the effects on my life. I learned that I had to set an example, and be a positive role model for my little brother, who is of voting age. I believe the effects of your actions and beliefs radiate and affect people you may never know existed. I vow to think cognitively and keep an open mind on issues and vote for the greater good.

However, it's hard this day and age to get your peers interested in politics. I wanted to think of a cool and creative way to get my friends involved, and in light of the upcoming debates, I've decided to bring my friends together in the best way I knew how..

Presidential Debate Drinking Party!

The first step in motivating people to get involved in politics was to make them start paying attention to politics. And although some people may wake up the next day not remembering anything from the night prior, at least I can put associate a positive feeling to politics in general.

Every good drinking party involves rules, so I've drafted a few for you to use at your drinking party!

When someone mentions 47%: drink 47% of your drink.
When someone mentions Ambassador Chris Stevens: pour out your drink.
When someone mentions the Middle East: Irish car bombs for everyone (I haven't decided if this is distasteful yet).
When someone mentions redistribution of wealth: swap your drink with someone else's.
When someone mentions oil: cigarette break.
When someone mentions foreign policy: last one with their hands up has to leave the living room and go into the kitchen and get everyone a drink.

Happy debate watching! Don't forget to vote!

xx, laura

Best of the Best

This month marked my tenth anniversary with a very important person in my life. This person has been with me through literal thick and thins in between and we know each other so well that we complete each other's sentences, know every minute detail about each other's likes and dislikes, and despite the fact that I only see/talk to this person every now and then, when we meet we always show up with the same outfit! 

Happy 10 year anniversary to my best friend Joyce!

 

It may seem weird that we know the exact date we met each other but it's not really. We met on the first day of high school as two girls who just moved to the suburbs, new in a school full of cliques. We've been through it all and I can honestly say she's really proven to me that she is the BEST BEST BEST friend I've ever had. She's always had my back, and she's never afraid to give it to me straight when I need advice (and even when I don't need it). If you know me, the things I value the most in a person is passion, loyalty, and nonchalant need to express the truth. Anyway, I've burned through quite a few frenemies, but I know Joyce will always be my best friend. She's proven that many times.

In 10 years, one can imagine we've pretty much done it all. Now that we're older, we decided to get fancy and celebrate at a nice restaurant. We went to Il Covo in Los Angeles, an inspired little italian restaurant with the cutest patio I've ever seen. 

I had the Grilled banzino, and Joyce had the squid ink pasta. My branzino (which is just a fancy word for European sea bass) was cooked well and came with a corn salsa with tomatoes and red onion. The corn salsa was amazing for having such simple ingredients. The squid ink pasta on the other hand.. well, let's just say I have quite the obsession for squid ink pasta now. It had generous chunks of crab in it, however the crab was kind of dry. It also had peppers which gave the pasta a nice kick. Highly recommended!

Il Covo
8700 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 858-0020  

Reservations recommended

inked.

There's a beauty in the simplicity of penmanship. I think these days we get so lost in the momentum of our fast moving lives and we forget about how little things like a handwritten letter from a good friend can make you feel. To be quite honest, I doubt many of us nowadays have given or received a handwritten letter in years! I can bet on that! With Facebook and email it's so much easier to keep up with your friends lives (whether they are aware of it or not).

I often donate to non-profit wildlife and environmental organizations and ever since I've been receiving solitications from environmental groups I didn't know existed until they started spamming my mailbox with complementary calendars, address labels, and greeting cards, along with photos of sad animals pleading for my donation. Pretty ironic, in my opinion.

Think I'm exaggerating? Take a look:

And this was just the address labels!

What a better way to make use of this 'free' cardstock then to treat my friends to a handwritten greeting. Lately addressing my friends consisted of more of keyboard strokes as opposed to pen strokes. It was therapeutic and quite the challenge for a young writer such as myself to refrain from smiley faces and "LOL"'s during a cordial greeting to get my point across.

Who's next?

Fall Back Into Routine

Alas, another summer has come and gone. Summer came and stirred up my life in familiar fashion, another crazy (almost 51/50), spontaneous (so down), and death defying (quite literally!) sunny season exponentially exceeded expectations in the midst of mini shorts, sunblock and the infamous uneven bikini tan. Yuck. And like clockwork, school is back in session. And like clockwork, here I am to tell you I'm back and I'm writing regularly and I'm never leaving again! We'll see how this pans out this year.. anywho..


In case y'all forgot, fall is quickly approaching. There's something so romantic about this time of year when everyone's had enough of summer and it's antics they start getting back into routine of things. Here's a couple things I look forward to in the next couple of months:

-lighting candles
-jackets, scarfs, BEANIES, dark nail polish, nice slacks and basically fall fashion en genereux
-HOT coffee and HOT tea
-crispy mornings (not so excited for the condensation on the windshield though)
-cooking stews and roasts that will warm the whole house
-baking cookies and pumpkin pies
-cooking again in general
-running outside at noon
-saunas and bikram yoga

Of course, I hope I'm not getting too ahead of myself here. After all I still live in California and even though it's been overcast a couple of days this week, it still somehow managed to pull about 80 degrees (F). Ick.


That's it for now!

xx, laura

paper and ink

So I'm back after another rendezvous. Seems like every couple of months or so I disappear from the blogosphere thanks to any number of reasons. And while I can't make any promises to you this time that I'll stick around for long, I can promise you that I will be posting (kind of) frequently in the next two weeks as I wait for school to pick up. Whoever is still checking up regularly (if any of you are left out there) I'm sorry and bless your loyal soul. Be prepared for multiple posts about my summer.


When summer started, we moved for the third and hopefully last time this year. The apartment in HB had a frequent messy unwelcome guest and the house in LB was not.. hygenically sound. Ugh. It's a cozy little house in a triplex by Long Beach, and while it's not my dream house it's the first time I've felt like I really had a 'home' since I moved out of my mom's house.

I feel secure now in where I live and I can focus on other things. Plus I can DECORATE! Yaay!

I put this up today. It's like we're a family.



xx, LC