Lessons of Living

I recently discovered this tumblr: icanread.tumblr.com, and being the procrastination queen that I am, I decided to go back through and read every single page of it (yes, all one hundred and sixty six pages). And I did not regret wasting about six hours on this website. Because it wasn't wasted, I learnt so much and I reached so many epiphanies that I simply had to share it with you. You could say that I most definitely reached a change in perspective.

Those who have been around me for the past few days would know these already, but let me share with you three messages I found particularly inspiring:

"do one thing a day that scares you"

"most of the things you worry about never actually happen"

and

"anything worth having is worth fighting for"

They're all pretty simple, and I'm not sure if they'll have the same affect on you as they did on me, but I'll try to explain what I realised.

Think about all those opportunities you lost because you were scared to try: those childhood dreams you gave up on because you were distracted by the fears of not earning enough money, not being what your parents expected, or not being ambitious enough. Those lost lovers who could have turned into something wonderful, but you let them go because you were too scared to do anything.

My point is: if you want something, go for it. Do not give up on something just because it's the easy way out, or you can't be bothered doing something about it. As the above messages state: do things that scare you and cast aside worries! Most of us fear or worry about too many things, and sure, when we figure out that it's never going to happen, the feeling of relief kinda feels nice. But just think of all that time and effort you wasted on fearing and worrying over things that never actually happen.

It's your life: go for what you want, even if a bigger part of you doesn't want to.

If you have a big dream you don't think you can achieve: you can if you want to. You don't think you'll get high enough marks for whatever career path you want? You don't think your parents will approve? There are always other ways. There is not one single way to get what you want, if you don't get enough marks, travel abroad, look at other study option. And do not let the opinions of your parents or friends determine who you become.

If you like someone, whether it's a fleeting interest, a small crush or a blown out madly-in-love thing, do not lose them for lack of trying. Sure, you're scared they'll lose interest if you pay too much attention, or you might overdo it, or perhaps you fear heartbreak. But at least you can know that you tried. Things happen for a reason, and if you don't end up with them, there are many more lovers out there. But don't sit around waiting for something to happen, or for opportunities to arise. You make things happen, and you go hunting for opportunities. Do not wait for things to come to you- fate is for losers.

A silly metaphor that just popped into my head, for those of you who still don't get it: Life is like a giant apple tree. If you want the apples, you find a ladder, climb up and pick the apples even if you fall off your ladder and hurt yourself. Don't sit under the apple tree waiting for the apples to drop down to you: the yummy apples are somewhere high up and will probably be snatched up by someone else before they fall down to you. So get up there and pick all the good apples before they all rot!

*

Those three messages above have been the motto of my life for the past few days. Whenever I feel a worry or fear bubbling up, I simply pop them away, to later realise that I had nothing to fear in the first place. And merde, it feels good.

How To Be Last Minute

So what happens when it’s your friend’s birthday, and you come to school to find out that the cat you were planning to get for her is “the ugliest cat ever seen” and not possible to be adopted until three weeks later?

1. Eat cake: No kidding- some other people brought a cake to school to celebrate Sophie’s birthday, so we sat down and ate the white mud cake like it was our day job, INCLUDING the two pieces we were supposed to save for other people.

The birthday girl cutting the cake


The White Mud Cake- it was heaven

2. Go to sport (chess, that is) and attempt to inconspicuously ask Sophie for her bra size in between moves: See, the plan was to give Sophie a “hamper” of random cute things- lingerie included; because of course everyone needs a nice pair of lingerie.

3. Ditch above idea and opt to revise previous pet idea whilst making up ridiculous code words for certain things as so not to expose our failure to Sophie. During this time, we managed to confuse Sophie into thinking we were going to buy a pair of limited-edition-available-one-day-only $100 pair of boots later after school, whilst confusing ourselves even more.

4. Leave school suspiciously and continue to be even more suspicious by hunting Van down to empty her wallet content.

5. Miss two consecutive trains amidst panicking, searching for certain people on platforms, and expressing frustration at a ticket machine.

6. Trek to the shopping centre and make a beeline for Pets’ Paradise and manage to almost allow a cat to escape from the shop TWICE.

7. Buy and carry said cat in a cardboard box to Sophie’s house to be greeted with a locked door.

8. Sophie’s mum opens door before we are able to dig up her secret key. I am still surprised at how well this part turned out- although I was kind of looking forward to looking for Sophie's secret key.

9. Sophie appears whilst we hide under/behind tables, fashioning her “study attire” and jumps in shock at the sight of Shroom (the cat, that is. We called it Shroom).

Ngaaaaw <3

10. Spend rest of time trying to coax cat out from under couch.

I love Shroom. I've never really paid any attention to Sophie's pets, but I LOVEEEE this one. Apparently, it's very hyperactive, now that its become accustomed to its new home, and has an obsession with people's heads...

Happy Birthday, Sophie. Love you (and your cat) heaps.

Lazy Inspiration

I am in no mood to do anything other than sleep- after a whole afternoon of catching late trains, trekking through the heat, sweating like a crazy cow, drinking bottle after bottle of water to replenish, and chasing cats. Yes cats. But more about that on Saturday.

So because I'm exhausted at the moment, I'll give you a little insight into my computer's life. I have three huge folders on my desktop: one for random pictures that make me laugh/feel warm and tingly inside/think. Another for beautiful editorials I need to save for later viewing, and a last folder for all the outfits or items of clothing I hope to someday buy and/or make.

My brain has reached its limit now- all the words are starting to blur together, and I think my sentences are starting to become nonsensical. Picture time:

Swearing With Class

I’m not exactly famous for my English, and you’ve all probably spotted some grammatical error I’ve committed before in my writing. And you’re all probably sitting there going Oh My God, This Girl Sucks Balls. Because frankly, I do that too, and I’m very pedantic when it comes to reading other people’s writing- as hypocritical as it may seem.

But that is all going to change. I will speak and write with perfect grammar- eventually.

Primary school has taught me bad grammar. I had never heard of the ‘Never end a sentence with a preposition’ rule until an English teacher insisted we answer the phone with ‘To whom do you wish to speak?’ two years ago.

But like I said, this is all going to change. Teacup and I have decided to embark on another little scheme of ours (alongside the 'no meat and lots of yoghurt' one, I mean). We are going to speak with class. Yes, we will:

• Refrain from ending sentences with prepositions: As I type this, I am making sure to be as grammatically correct as possible. And you’ll notice how cleverly easy it is to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition if you just attach a ‘please’ to the end of the sentence.
• Learn to swear discreetly: I haven’t quite mastered this one yet, but have you ever heard someone say a swear word so inconspicuously that you think ‘What? Did he or she just swear?’ even though you’re sure you heard correctly, and you’re sure they did? Yeah, I want to be able to do that. I’m not too sure just how yet, but figure it out, I will! (Ahahahhas. Notice how I altered that as so not to defect the above point?)
  
• Swear in French: This is all part of the swearing inconspicuously plan. Swearing in French just sounds so much classier. Although most people will probably look at me as if I’m lunatic. Not that I’ve actually sworn in French yet. I’m still trying to perfect my ‘merde’.

Want Free Yoghurt?

Did anyone notice the excessive amount of thigh-high boots on the runway?

Above: Louis Vuitton, Jean Paul Gaultier & Rodarte

My mind isn't completely made up about thigh-high boots. I've always thought they were for super heroes (cartoon, or otherwise) or for prostitutes. But the models don't look like super heroes, neither do they look like prostitutes. Maybe I should reconsider my previous conception.

Speaking of boots, I recently purchased a new pair of boots. I'm madly in love:



Ignore the dodgy job I did taking those pictures: it's hard trying to take an upside down picture of your feet while wearing 13cm ankle boots. They were $70 from Candy, and they make me feel extremely pleased with myself.

Because I doubt that the length of this post so far is sufficient, I will mention something completely irrelevant: my new health regime.

It is no secret that Juicebox and I have employed various (and often ridiculous) schemes to try and get healthier. But they often result in failure. However, I decided to bring it up again the other day, when I realised how tired I was feeling from all the school work. If you are healthy, you tire less easily, right? And hence, the plan was born.

And this time, I'm more confident that it will finally work. About six months ago, we both decided to get rid of meat from our diet- and that ended up working, even though we doubted ourselves.

So far, my vision of staying healthy is still alive! And MAN, IT FEELS GOOD. I still feel pretty tired, and I don't think anything would cure that. But my insides feel cleaner than Ajaxed glass. I highly recommend you to follow our restraints- try it for a week and tell me how you feel.

Other than NO MEAT (fish is acceptable. Fish is good), we also follow these rules:

1. Caffeine, tobacco, alcohol and other forms of drugs are NOT PERMITTED.
2. To stay awake, drink water instead of coffee. Yes, heaps and heaps of water. 2L at least
3. No junk food. As in, no potato chips or lollies. Unless they are readily available. As in, if you're at a party and someone offers you chips, or chips are the only food item available, then you are permitted to eat it.
   
4. No fast food. At ALL.
5. Eat lots of yoghurt.
   
6. And sultanas too.

By the way, I get yoghurt for free from my cousins, and right now I have 13 tubs of strawberry no fat yoghurt in my fridge (less than 60 calories a tub!), that are all overdue on the 19th. I need to get rid of them now, so if you know me in person, tell me and I'll bring you some tomorrow at school.

Paris Fashion Week

Warning: Paris FW has always been a highlight for me, so this post is going to be ridiculously long. I will try to keep the commentary minimal, except where something amazes me so much that it deserves to be gushed over:

Alexander McQueen

Balmain

Chanel: OMG I loved this collection. All the models walked out looking like a character from Alice in Wonderland with their mini top-hats and giant bows.

The bags were AMAZING. They're so hilariously clever!

Chloe: oh yes, tassels aren't for curtains any more. They're all over the runways now.

Christian Dior

Christian Lacroix

Elie Saab: a change from his usual flowy weaved gowns. But I like it.

Isabel Marant

Jasmine di Milo

John Galliano: I love the dramatics and the whole effect of the makeup and lighting. The whole show seemed surreal and magical.

And the details were WONDERFUL. LOOOK! Look at that handpainting on the coat sleeve. And those shoes! OH MY GOD LOOK AT THE SHOES. They look like some marvellous wooden contraption or maybe a sledge with all those screws and metal and wood.

Karl Lagerfeld: I particularly loved the earmuffs.

Lanvin

Louis Vuitton

Nina Ricci

Rue de Mail

Sophie Kokosalaki

Vivienne Westwood: she's crazy but I LOVE HER. That last dress is... I don't know, I can't imagine where one could possibly wear that, but the explosion of tulle and the poofiness of the dress makes me feel like squealing.