Mipsy.

HELLO FRIENDS!!!
I'm done with finals, which means.... I'm officially back! I have accumulated a list of post ideas and I'm thinking I'll be posting three times a week but you'll never know exactly what days cause sometimes I feel like posting on weekends or whatever, and sometimes I don't want to. You know how it is. I have news to tell you. I got a second job! I'm excited because that means I'm one step closer to New York and I'm also excited because I went earlier and they're such great people. I'm going to be the early morning nanny for another lovely family, by the way. Also, I'm still doing the Tone It Up Bikini Series and it's going fantastic. It just feels good to eat clean, even though I occasionally wish I could eat cake or something. You know how I love sweets. Whatever. It's been great. I like the recipes. I love that I get to to cook all the time, and I love that I've started losing weight again, and quickly. In other news, I'm now one of the co-leaders in another Girl Scouts troop and I know that's a little bit crazy of me, but I feel like if I have the time I should do as much as I can to help. It's something I'm passionate about. And finally, I plan on starting on my fashion school application portfolio next week or the week after so that's also exciting!

Onto Mipsy, or Meredith Grey, or just Mere.

I was so excited to finish this painting. A while ago, I painted the background and then I just sort of left the canvas sitting there for a month until I remembered that I needed to finish it because this is actually an end of semester project I needed to present in front of the class. So, with that in mind, I started painting the cat a couple days ago, and then I finished it yesterday. It must have taken me a total of eight or nine hours. I'm getting faster at painting. It's still just as relaxing though, especially with good music in the background. I'm actually intending this work to be a part of a series of four pieces, two of which are already done, counting this one.

I'm not sure if you guys remember the painting on the left. It's one I made in September of Taylor's other cat, the younger one, Olivia, or Dibbles. I'd like to have another Olivia and another Meredith so that I can put those two under these and then it can cover a whole wall, hypothetically speaking. I don't actually hang my own art up. I would feel a bit weird about that, not that it is, I just don't know why. Anyway, it's been so fun making these. By the way, it's acrylic on a 6"x8" canvas. I used my tiniest brushes mostly an 18/0 spotter and liner, but I also used my 0 and 1.

Thanks for reading! Have a lovely week!

Term Papers + Happenings

I swear I think about updating you guys at least a couple times every day, and I always say tomorrow will be the day I'm back on, but then things happen, as you know. For one, on Sunday I was thinking I had only two papers left to write for the semester, only to later discover that I had five more in total. To make matters, worse I procrastinated with one paper because it's the longest and most daunting one, so instead I wound up spending all day today writing it. I'm not even done yet. I'm down to two more pages, which is a huge accomplishment considering the length requirements. I also discovered I'm more productive when I don't sit down. See, I have a good friend who keeps her laptop not on a desk, but rather on top of a tall dresser, so that then she always has to stand when she uses it, because it's better that way. I didn't want to believe her, but it is. I know now. The downside is now I'm exhausted, because it's literally been all day.

But in all honesty, it has been such a busy week. I only have one true final exam, and then just tedious papers, so if I'm not on it's because of that. And also partially because I have a job again. I'm a sweet little girl's nanny. It's been lovely and crazy, but mostly lovely. I also got a new volunteer position at the hospital again and third of all, I've been insanely busy planning things for the Girl Scouts. I should tell you guys more about that. I mean I care about it enough that it should be a part of this blog, but then I also don't want to bore everyone if you guys don't really care. But why does that even matter. The point is, being a Girl Scouts leader is as time consuming as everyone said it would be last summer, but it's so fantastic and hilarious and worthwhile. I'd do anything for those girls. Anyway, so I just wanted to stop by and say hi and let you know that I'll probably stay on this weird sort of hiatus until halfway through next week. And then I'll be back to at least three posts a week.

Have a lovely rest of the week!

picture credit goes to Roma.

we'll just go til the road ends

 "just hold tight to my hand, there's no need for any big plans, we'll just go til the road ends." - Holley Maher

I'm inconsistent, I knooow. I tend to have legitimate excuses though, or at least I try. You know. If you wanted to know where I've been the last four days, I was holed up in my room blaring indie love songs and making art, obsessively. I mean it all started on Saturday night, when I was sitting downstairs listening to music, loudly, and thinking, mostly about the lyrics in said music. I came across the line, "I don't wanna talk about it, I just wanna hold your hand" by Rhodes, in the song Your Soul. It just sounded so nonchalant and intense at the same time, which is the nice thing about the subtleties of loving someone. I'm not in love with anyone right now. In fact, I don't think I've ever quite been in love with anyone, but I do know that I've loved people before, so intensely. It's something comfortable and beautiful and also terrifying, but at the end of the day that's not love, that's something crazy, but it's not quite it. I don't think it's supposed to be terrifying. Whatever. I'm nineteen. I'm not supposed to be in love. I'm fine. That was all besides the point.

Can I tell you something funny? I don't know much about Taylor's life. I know a lot about her career, but even that I don't know completely. I know what her sense of humor is like, I know her cats' nicknames, I know who she has dated, I know she likes wearing outfits that consist only of black clothes sometimes, I know what she would say in most situations, but I don't know much else... and I didn't realize that until last year when this one weirdly plausible article was put out that nobody really talked about. It doesn't even matter though. Okay, so on a more related note, I know she's dating Calvin Harris. That's the sort of thing you can't hide if you're famous. I know he said he wanted to see her in 2012. I know they connected at the Brits Awards two months ago. I know they were first seen together hand-in-hand on a stroll by a lake. But I don't know what exactly is going through her mind, or what she thinks of it all. I mean, I can't just assume she's so in love cause I know it's not like that sometimes. I just don't know. God, I hope so. She's a more rational person now, though. We all are when we grow up and get hurt a little.

Anyway, the whole point is that I drew this very lovey dovey pictures of her and Calvin holding hands and it all sort of just came together, like things tend to do. There's a candid of them holding hands and I drew it and I was going to stop there and quickly write that Rhodes quote on the bottom, but then I was like WHY STOP THERE WHEN THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF SONGS WITH NICE LYRICS and then I stayed up til 2:30am googling and searching and listening to songs until my eyes hurt and my fingers were tired of typing and I felt like an insane person. And then I changed the whole composition of it. The lyrics went on the side instead, and in faux calligraphy but with pencil. And then I was like, why should the hands be freely floating? They need a frame, enter the floral border. It was going to be watercolor, but then I decided to opt for watered down acrylic because it's more pigmented and I love acrylic. My sister walked in halfway through and was all like, "you should make something like this for a real couple you know, so they can hang it up on their wall" and I'm like, "is it that lovey dovey?" I'm not crazy, I swear. I actually love it for it's cutesy nature. And it did take me three days, so it better be worthy of being hung up on a wall, even though it does in fact reside in my sketchbook. Isn't that dumb? I spent three days on a sketchbook piece. What is wrong with me.

But anyway, my friends thought it was cute, and I feel proud of it, so whatever. Let's let it be cutesy. Let's all just gush over the fact that at least someone's in love, somewhere. Which reminds me, one of these days I'm going to post the playlist I listened to when I was working on this. It's my favorite right now.

Have a flawless Wednesday!

Friday Thoughts

HEY!! so I'm actually in a bit of a hurry right now, cause I'm going to Salt Lake City with Sarah and Clarice and I totally lost track of time looking at articles earlier. And I know, I know it was supposed to be Thursday Thoughts and not Friday, and I totally had plans to do this last night. But 1) I forgot Grey's was on last night so I watched that and then 2) I got caught up fangirling last night. So that was intense. This weekend I have a Girl Scouts meeting and it's Easter so that should be lovely! Anyway, here are your links for the week:

   - Magic is all around us, if we just pay attention.
   - On flaky friends. I'm a three strikes kind of person, but maybe I should try some of the more rational options haha
   - I dare you to look at this gorgeous wreath and tell me you wouldn't want it.
   - This is literally me.
   - Tone It Up is starting their annual bikini series and I want to participate this year, so I probably will.
   - Ariveting article about competition between girls, a problem caused by our internalized misogyny.
   - Honestly, I feel like this is so accurate.
   - These two are heart-eyes emoji.

Have a beautiful Easter weekend!

p.s. the picture is by Chelsea Francis.

Lilly x Target

Lilly Pulitzer doesn't exactly fit with my personal style, well regularly. I mean usually, you'll find me in muted pinks and darker greens, and lots of black and ivory, and cream, and white. It's more simplistic and toned down... BUT I make an exception for Lilly, because lets be honest, how could I not? There's something so wonderful and whimsical about intensely bright florals and the classic A-line shift. It's romantic and old-timey. It makes me want to live in a small town on the east coast. It makes me want to spend a day at the beach, or maybe just sip lemonade or sweet tea on a porch with my favorite people. There's just something so classic in the concept. So when Target announced their collaboration with Lilly Pulitzer, my heart skipped a beat and as I tend to do when things get exciting, I told everyone who talked to me that day.

The interesting thing, though, is that I feel like the majority of the people I know who love Lilly Pulitzer and all things preppy were mad over the fact there would be a Lilly collection at Target. Their arguments were kind of silly, but I mean I do understand why someone would be mad that they saved up for a long time just to get a dress, only to have a similar one end up at Target for a fraction of the price they paid. Still, the pros outweigh the cons. And it's not like this is the first time Target is collaborating with a high-end brand. Frankly, I'm thrilled.

The collection will be out on April 19th, a Sunday! I've heard it's supposed to have 250+ pieces, including women's clothing (obviously), children's clothing, accessories, dinnerware, and cosmetics with L'Oreal and Essie. And the prices are supposed to range from $2-$250.

What do you think? Are you excited about Lilly x Target?

All the pictures are from the Target Look Book, by the way.

On new beginnings...

there's something so amazing about Spring. I mean you could say that about any season, I'm sure. There's always something magical when seasons start, but there's something specifically sweet about Springtime and I don't know about you, but my heart is soaring and I'm so happy. I just feel like everywhere I look, everyone is so radiant and content with their lives. Even my room is brighter and I just want to be outside all the time, you know? And everything good is getting close. I'm thinking of it like a bridge, from the bleakness of winter to the bright, sunny days of summer. I mean think about it, school is almost over, I just have a month left. It's almost white dress season and you know how in love I am with loose, white frocks. I have a stack of books I need to read then, and I have new canvases still in their plastic wrap. And I have all these ideas swimming around in my mind and I feel like I need to start right now, because if I don't I'll never actually get around to making them. So I picked out this lovely quote:

 "And Suddenly you just know... it's time to start something new and trust in the magic of beginnings" - Meister Eckhart

 The picture is apparently from the Free People blog, this post in particular. I guess you could say I'm feeling inspired, maybe it's because I sat in class thinking about a particular Jackson Pollock work I saw at the MoMA, and what it made me feel, which in turn left me feeling inspired again. That place is magic, by the way. I don't remember if I told you. You go in there and it's like you're not in New York, but yet you still feel like you are. It's an alternate universe of inspiration. I don't even know. I'm rambling. Which reminds me, in one of my classes today the discussion was about Carl Jung's theories, something a good friend of mine insists I need to really know. In particular, we were talking about his idea that we have to bring out our subconscious mind, and everything that pertains to the shadow and then my professor started talking about how some people can reveal that through write, paint, and draw. It's like when you start writing and you just write and write and go on and on and then after a while you realize your hand hurts and there's a whole page of prose, in tiny handwriting, and some of it makes no sense but it was all in you and now it's out. I have sketchbooks full of pages like that. And as for painting, that's the only way I've ever been able to make actual art that I love, which I guess is why deadlines kill me, but anyway, I found the whole lecture so intriguing. See, I was just going to tell you I spent two hours drawing yesterday really early in the morning, and then I went on a tangent. And I also wanted to tell you I found the most beautiful fabric, some dusty rose lace that I haven't stopped thinking about. And I also found fabric that has little green rabbits on it, and I think I'm going to buy it because you know how I love little animals on clothing.

And finally, as per my usual early Spring tradition, I made you a playlist and you can listen to it here. And this is the tracklist:

Tracks:
   1. Safest Place - Echosmith
   2. Quarters in a Pocket - Iron & Wine
   3. The Garden You Planted - Sea Wolf
   4. What Love Looks Like - Rebecca Roubion
   5. Love is All - The Tallest Man On Earth
   6. Like a Light - Amy Stroup
   7. Rescue Song - Mr. Little Jeans
   8. Colour - Wild Cub
   9. Crawl - Bear Lake
   10. Like a Thousand Stars - The Honey Trees
   11. Percy Anderson - Jasmine Kennedy
   12. Digging Shelters - Neil Halstead
   13. Ireland - Liza Anne
   14. Forgiving Myself - Amy Stroup & Trent Dabbs
   15. Another Story - The Head and The Heart
   16. Down River - The Temper Trap

Have a lovely Monday night!

Thursday Thoughts

This week was the long exhale after breathing in for a long while. Do you know what I mean? I took a three hour nap two days ago, on accident. It was supposed to be 20 minutes. And it didn't bother me either, not because I didn't have anything better to do, but because I knew I needed it. And yesterday, I wrote an 8-page essay in two hours, which blew me away because usually those long essays take me 3-4 days. I also got to paint this week, so maybe that's why I'm so mellow. It's been lovely though, it really does feel like Spring. I don't know, I just have this strong desire to really live right now, not just stay in my room. I feel like I need to do something insane. I've been planning. I'm going to spend the last of my money on concerts. I'm going to go hiking too. And I really want to make things.

It's just so funny how mellow this week is. Two weeks ago, at this very moment, I was heading back from the natural history museum and I was in a rush so I took the wrong train and then I took the wrong transfer and when I got out I was in TriBeCa instead of the East Village and there was a lady walking by, yelling at her miniature poodle who was without a leash and peeing on the sidewalk in front of the freaking Papyrus. What is that. And now I'm curled up on my perfectly white, ruffled bed with an episode of Girls on pause, blogging. How leisurely. What a freaking contrast. What is this. And on Saturday, I'm going to spend an hour and a half teaching nine year old about feminism. And then after that I'm going to spend two hours teaching kindergarteners how to make a healthy snack and then ironically, we're going to eat cookies. I don't even know what I'm going to do the rest of the weekend. I'm excited though. Here are your links for today:

   - A beautiful essay about how Christianity and feminism go together for this author.
   - Cats playing patty cake. You need to have the audio on, by the way!
   - a short history of the soft bra, because as you know, I love bralettes.
   - Scientists are making little black holes to try to communicate with another dimension. We might all die.
   - A heartbreaking essay that had me in tears at the airport, of all places.

p.s. if you haven't already, I suggest you try the Caramel Flan latte at Starbucks. I'm on one of my intense coffee kicks in which 4-5 cups becomes the norm for a couple weeks and that's one of my favorites, so.

p.s.s. the picture is from Vadim L.