Recently I've started teaching myself calligraphy. I've always had nice handwriting, so I thought it might be a fun hobby. I'm mostly interested in writing quotes, and this one by Rachel Zoe stood out to me in particular. This is exactly how I see style. Clothes allow you to change who you are each day based on what you're wearing. And to me, that is a beautiful thing.
I'm sure all of you have heard of the paleo diet, which basically just means that you only eat meat, fruit and vegetables. I first tried the paleo diet when I returned from France last year and it actually worked out pretty well. I ended up losing 3 pounds in a week and all I did for exercise was watch Netflix (my father would be so proud). It was relatively easy to cut out carbs the first time around because I was completely sick of bread after spending four months in France. Bread was the enemy.
Every other time since then, I've failed miserably. But now I've decided to try eating paleo again, because my eating habits have been pretty unhealthy as of late. Last weekend I only ate fast food. How is that even possible. The worst part was that it didn't even phase me. Which is a sure sign that I need to cool it and start eating better. So I'm going paleo. And I'm going to write about my struggles here. Day 1: 6:58 AM- "Oh crap I forgot to eat breakfast, but I can't eat honey nut Cheerios at work like I normally do. I'll just grab this frozen broccoli souffle. The zucchini one is delicious. I can do this! I can eat paleo. Woo! Great pep talk." 8:06 AM- "This souffle is a little too salty and it smells weird. Why is this so salty? Oh my god. Ok, I think I'll be fine if I only eat half of this 140 calories souffle. I should be able to make it until lunch. Also, I'm never eating broccoli again." 9:30 AM- "Well apparently a 70 calorie breakfast is not good for keeping hunger in check. Good to know. I'll just eat some mixed nuts. God, why are almonds so gross. I thought I liked almonds but these taste exceptionally terrible." 10:32 AM- "I just turned down a cookie, oh my god, I'm so good at this paleo thing. I'm basically a caveman. I'm so proud of myself. This is great." 12:17 PM- "Wow, paleo options are severely limited at restaurants. Ugh, I really don't want a salad. Especially one with sunflower sprouts. What even are sunflower sprouts? I bet those are paleo. Maybe I should just get this salad. Oh god, nope, can't do it. Pot roast it is, but I won't eat the potatoes. That's close enough, right? Wait- is everyone else ordering beer? NO BEER FOR MELANIE." 2:27 PM- "Ok, time for dessert. I will eat this Ghiradelli dark chocolate square and it will satiate all of my sugar cravings." 5:14 PM- "I can literally smell chips and salsa down the hall. Tortilla chips aren't the worst kind of carbs, right? Chips and salsa is a relatively healthy snack. Nope, I can't. I have more will power than this. Come on Melanie, you can do this. PALEO." 7:08 PM- "I am so hungry I think I might throw up. I need something before my Jimmy John's lettuce wrap appears. These black olives will do. Go paleo." *eats lettuce wrap in record time* 7:36 PM- "It's fine if I have a few peanut butter m&m's, right? I know they're not technically paleo, but they aren't technically carbs either, so as long as I eliminate carbs I'll consider this a successful day. But I'm only going to have five m&m's." 7:41 PM- "Ok, what's five more m&m's?" 7:44 PM- "Screw it, I'm eating a handful of m&m's. I've had so few calories today, my body needs these." 7:46 PM- "God damn it." We'll see how it goes tomorrow. I graduated college about a month ago, and a little over two weeks ago, I started working full time. As a child, you fantasize about adulthood. “How amazing will it be not to have to do homework!?” It turns out not doing homework is pretty damn amazing. Not having homework to do, on the other hand, is not great. Because now you have literally nothing to do.
Once you finish work for the day, you basically have to figure out how to kill time until you can go to work again the next day, repeating that process as a way to kill time until the weekend, where it is deemed socially acceptable to drink alcohol in mass quantities. I am proud to report that today (approximately day 28 of adulthood) my roommate and I stared at each other for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do before deciding that 1) 9:30 was totally an acceptable time to go to sleep and 2) that this revelation might make a funny, or at the very least, a relatable blog post. Conclusion: Maturity is a myth. 50 days until I take my last final at the University of Minnesota. 50 days until I am done with school forever. 50 days until I am officially an unemployed* college graduate. The next 50 days are going to be the longest 50 days of my life. Then it will be summer, the most glorious season of them all, filled with rooftop bars, sunshine and any activity that keeps me outside. I cannot wait for summer. In an attempt to get through the next 50 days of school, work and terrible Minnesota weather, I have decided to create a summer bucket list. I read that you tend to be happier if you have things to look forward to, so that's what I'm going with. Feel free to tweet me suggestions: @mkrichtman Melanie's Summer Bucket List
* as of March 26, I will have employment upon graduation. Hallelujah. Communicating during fashion week just got a whole lot easier. Harper’s Bazaar just introduced an app that has fashion related emojis, including Karl Lagerfeld, the Olsen twins, a chanel bag, an ear cuff and macarons (the only food fashion editors eat, apparently). There are currently 39 emojis, with more to come in September, just in time for Spring/Summer 2015 fashion week.
The emojis are cool and especially relevant for people who live and breathe fashion, but they aren’t like other emojis that you can easily use in a text. You have to be in the app, select the emoji and then pick who you would like to send it to. Let’s hope they have this worked out by the time the update rolls around in September, because otherwise, it might not be worth the effort. Can we just talk about this for a second? Selena Gomez went to rehab last month. Her publicist confirmed that the starlet checked in to Meadows in Arizona for “emotional issues.” “Exhaustion” was another reason listed. Her reps are denying that it had anything to do with drugs or alcohol, but she was seen partying a lot before the rehab stint (just like anyone else who has turned 21 within the last few months).
To be honest, I believe that she went to rehab for emotional issues. Why wouldn’t a celebrity get to go to rehab for a couple weeks to deal with her breakup? If I asked my parents if I could go to rehab because I was sad, they would literally laugh in my face and tell me to get over it — maybe not the healthiest advice, but it’s realistic. Selena should have just gone to therapy like everyone else. Sorry, not sorry. If she was legitimately dealing with substance abuse problems, then I really hope rehab worked for her. We don’t need another young star going down the wrong path (I’m looking at you, Biebs). It’s never too early to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions. Below are my 2013 problems and my proposed solutions for 2014. Side note: I probably need a therapist or a life coach. The Problem: I don’t want to be in Minneapolis anymore. The Solution: Move to Chicago, New York or Paris by the end of 2014. I don’t like living in the same place for too long. I get really antsy and I start resenting everyone and everything around me. I need a bigger city with more people, restaurants and things to do. I'm also starting to realize that I hate below freezing temperatures. Minneapolis is awesome, and I’m so glad I went to college here, but I need to move on. After working in Chicago this summer, I've decided that I need to live there again, and what better time than after graduation? I love the look and feel of the city, and Lake Michigan is an acceptable replacement for the Atlantic Ocean. New York also seems like a logical move. Unlike Chicago, I don’t really know anyone there, but I think it would be a perfect fit. And if I want to work in fashion (which I’m pretty sure I do), there is no better place than New York. I also want to live in Paris again for a year or two, but I’d settle for a vacation in the near future. The Problem: I spend all of my money on food and drinks. The Solution: Find something awesome to save up for. God, stop buying Starbucks every day. Is it really that hard to make coffee at home like a normal person? Stop buying Taco Bell every weekend. Stop buying beer. Just please stop spending all of your money on edible things. I used to be so good at saving money because I was saving for Europe. My entire life was focused on going to Europe, so it was pretty easy to not spend money if I knew I could buy a pair of shoes once I was in France. Now, I’m no longer in Europe, my life is meaningless, and I buy food to ease the pain (and I’m also just super lazy when it comes to cooking). I need something new to save up for. A trip to Paris? A pair of Christian Louboutins? A spa day? I don’t know what it should be, but I need to come up with something fast before I spend all of my money and gain 500 pounds. The Problem: I am about as healthy as Nick Miller from New Girl. The Solution: Do the opposite of everything I currently do. I really need to start kickboxing and eating paleo again. Kickboxing is good for my physical and mental health (I’ve watched Warrior too many times and now I just want to punch things — the air works just fine). Eating paleo makes me feel good. Carbs are the enemy. You know what? Let’s start with baby steps… Maybe try eating something that isn’t microwavable? Also, stop doing everything in your bed. I know it’s comfy, but pull it together, lady. You have a kitchen table and a desk for a reason. Eat and do your homework there. Beds are for sleeping, watching TV and blogging. The Problem: Hobbies include eating, sleeping and watching TV. The Solution: Figure out what real hobbies are and start one. I need to do something that is inexpensive and doesn't take very long. My attention span can be relatively short and I need something that I can do in 20 minute intervals. Maybe I’ll make jewelry? Start a style blog? Trade stocks? “Ugh but I hate doing things, hobbies are the worst.” –me, as I was writing this. Can complaining be my hobby? The Problem: I don’t blog regularly.
The Solution: Blog once a week. Blogging should be my hobby, but instead of trying to write something regularly, I usually just wait until “inspiration strikes” like I am some pretentious artist. I need to make an editorial calendar and try to write something once a week. Writing is fun and employers supposedly look at your blog before they hire you, so I really have no reason not to blog. **Hi future employers, please ignore everything I previously said about being lazy. I’m actually very motivated when it comes to work and building a successful career. Get excited, world! Everyone’s favorite couple, Taylor Swift and Harry Styles – also known as Haylor – is rumored to be getting back together. Naturally when I heard this news, I had to drop everything I was doing in order to investigate. According to the UK’s Mirror, Taylor Swift was spotted looking at houses in Regent's Park, a London neighborhood near Primrose Hill where Harry Styles owns a home. Sources say she wouldn’t be looking for a place in that area unless she was cool with running into her ex-boyfriend – which is obviously code for "they are getting back together." Other celebrity gossip sites are starting to claim that they have resumed communication after running into each other at the VMAs. While I am fully supportive of Haylor mending their beautiful relationship, I think it's a little too soon to jump to conclusions and say they are dating again. Even if the news is false, I am weirdly excited about the idea of a possible reconciliation. And I’m pretty sure I bet my sister that they would get back together, so I might even make some money off of this. And at the very least, it might inspire Taylor to write another song or two, which is good for the economy. Two years ago I remember telling my roommates about how I would be totally fine if I were to end up with professional success instead of personal success. I could tell by their facial expressions that they were shocked. Is it so wrong that I want to succeed on my own? I'm not saying that I don't want to get married, or that I don't want to have children, but I am willing to dedicate more time and effort into finding a fulfilling career rather than searching for a husband. Does this make me weird? Probably. It seems as though society has a problem with women who are ambitious.
According to Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg, "Professional ambition is expected of men but it's optional- or worse, sometimes even negative- for women. 'She is very ambitious' is not a compliment in our culture. Aggressive and hard-charging women violate unwritten rules about acceptable social conduct. Men are continually applauded for being ambitious and powerful and successful, but women who display these same characteristics often pay a social penalty." Even though it is 2013, society still seems to judge women who want to prioritize their careers. Wanting to be a powerful, successful CEO and a woman is almost taboo since these women aren't seen as nurturing, nice, or as feminine as their counterparts who have chosen to take a more traditional route, such as getting married and staying home with kids (not that there is anything wrong with that). When I was a freshman in college, my friends and I took a Myers-Briggs personality test. My classification was ENTJ (Extrovert, Intuition, Thinking, Judging) which was described as "the executive." As one of the rarest personality types, ENTJ is associated with CEOs such as Bill Gates. Naturally, I was rather excited about this news and proceeded to tell my male friend that I have the same personality classification as some of the greatest male CEOs. His response was "yeah, but you're a girl, so that makes you a bitch." Talk about an unfair stereotype. I'm not sure what the appropriate solution is for this problem- or if there even is a solution- but I think society needs to acknowledge that gender roles should be expanded to allow women to want the same things as men without being automatically written off as a power-hungry bitch. After all, why did we fight so hard to be considered equal to men if we are going to limit ourselves professionally in order to be seen as wife material? I am ambitious. I want to be successful. I want to build a career. I want to be a good role model for my sisters. And I am not going to let public opinion affect my goals. So let's all break the stereotype and make it positive. Let's be successful and sweet. Can I get an amen, ladies? Let’s face it: Miley Cyrus is everywhere. It doesn’t matter where you turn, someone will be talking about her, tweeting about her, or listening to one of her new songs (which are pretty good, by the way). In fact, my cousin, who by no means is someone who follows pop culture, just texted me saying that he doesn’t want to admit it, but he thinks Miley is doing something right. From a PR point of view, Miley is definitely doing something right. Her fame has increased exponentially in the past few months. First she cut her hair. Months passed. Then in March, speculation about the status of her engagement with Liam Hemsworth began. But Miley kept saying that they were together, whether or not she was wearing her ring. And this made me wonder- denial or strategy? This summer she released “We Can’t Stop” and everyone was slightly confused by her outlandish behavior, but still intrigued by her new image. She definitely received press coverage, but there wasn’t public outcry… Until the VMA’s. Obviously her performance was shocking, and the press had a field day. To the untrained eye, Miley was losing her mind. I mean, did you see the buns on top of her head? But then, on the momentum of the VMAs performance, she released “Wrecking Ball.” Within 24 hours it was the number one song on iTunes and the video had over 19.3 million views on Youtube, shattering One Direction’s record by 7 million hits. She kept the energy going by leaking a risqué photo shoot, rapping in Mike Will Made It’s “23,” and continuing to twerk as often as possible.
But if you think about it, her strategy is brilliant. Anyone who is in between 18 and 25 can most likely identify with her antics in the “We Can’t Stop” video, and therefore, we can’t really judge her. And anyone who is younger than 18 will probably be banned by his or her parents from anything Miley, which will only make them want her more. Now, after all of the publicity she received for her scantily clad performances, constantly sticking her tongue out, and her inability to wear clothes (seriously though Miley, you can still look hot in pants), she released the news that her yearlong engagement to Liam Hemsworth had ended. Shocking. Anyone with basic intuition could tell that they had not been together for months, but I know Miley wanted to save the news and release it at a time that would benefit her most. And what do you know; the breakup news came out a week before her album dropped. Coincidence? Definitely not. This was strategy at its finest. Even though she said she didn’t want her breakup to “distract people from her album” (code for “hey everyone go buy my album”). Miley used controversy to her advantage. Whether you love her or hate her, you are still talking about her, buying her album, and reading the gossip. Last week, her album “Bangerz” was number one on billboard’s top 200, she was on the cover of Rolling Stone, and she hosted Saturday Night Live. If one thing is for sure, this “strategic hot mess” definitely knows what she is doing. |
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