Fashion Icon: Emma Roberts

Emma Roberts is like the every day American girl, the girl-next-door, your best friend and that is exactly why I like her. Her eclectic fashion sense, which ranges from indie rock to retro glam within a week is refreshing that she like to mix things up a bit and is open to new things. However, perhaps my favorite trait is that she gravitates towards clean cut, sophisticated pieces that make it easy to stand out without trying too hard.

 3.

I've only compiled my favorite outfits on her--the ones I myself can see wearing.

Isn't she so cool?

Trip Down Memory Lane

Days left: 8

I have purchased my textbooks and I am itching to see what my future home will look like--what my room will be, how my life will change. I suppose you can say that I am a tad leery about these imminent changes and how greatly they will affect me.

I have a question: for those who live in Canada, have you realized that all the shows on Family Channel is either a) reruns of Hannah Montana, Suite Life on Deck, Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Sonny with a Chance, Wizards of Waverly Place, or Good Luck Charlie?  Whatever happened to the older, excuse me, but classic and good shows like The Proud Family, That's So Raven, The Weekenders, or Kim Possible? Does Disney (or Family, Canadian version of Disney channel) have to stick it down everyone's throats that the newest show to premiere will be the next _______ (fill in the blank for preferred choice)? Not everyone wants to watch Selena Gomez or watch Miley Cyrus in her hey day. Why can't they air shows from 2001 or 2005? Sometimes, and it's sad to admit this, but there really isn't anything good on TV anymore. Nowadays, it's either perversion, debauchery, lasciviousness, or just really poor acting. Television used to be a good experience; now, it's only popular shows that get reruns...over and over and over again. I miss when I could watch cartoons and actually laugh cause it was genuinely funny, not factored, engineering funny. I used to watch a great deal of television but rarely do I watch more than two hours of TV. Unless it's Gilmore girls on DVD or nostalgia on Youtube, I don't really see the use. Now, if you sign onto Disney, you'll star on a show, sign, and display your meager abilities.

Shows that should come back on Family/Disney:

1. That's So Raven
2. Phil of the Future
3. The Proud Family
4. Kim Possible
5. Goof Troop
6. House of Mouse
7. DuckTales
8. PB&J Otter

I don't know why but watching those shows is like reliving my childhood, that feel-good moment that needs to return to television.

Emotions in Photos

Photographs are designed to capture the emotion in a scene, look at it, and detect whether or not you can feel the emotion displayed in that picture. And just like everyone perceives things different, everyone views emotion differently. I'm curious: what do you see when see these photos?

Sound off below.

Be a Mountain

Days left: 14

There are times when life is hard, when life proves to be tumultuous, to be too hard and too much to handle, when it lashes out cumbersome circumstances, and all you want is for the quandary to mitigate. You want to give up, to surrender, to succumb, and to lose. When life's storms come, be a mountain and don't move! When the wind blows, it will not affect you; when the rain pelters down forcefully, it will not weather you. You may be scratched, but you're not broken. You're down, but you're not out. You may have tripped, but you get back up. You may be tattered from the journey, but you continue moving forward. When something comes to try to get you to surrender, be like a mountain and stand your ground. Don't move just because the trouble tries to convince you that it's easier to back down or the sickness wants your demise. Don't move. Don't fluctuate; don't oscillate; don't vacillate; and don't buckle. Be a mountain. There is nothing that will ever inflict fear or cowardice because you have the Word of God, God Himself working and fighting on your behalf, and the Blood of Jesus Christ. When that problem looks itself in your eyes, you can look at it with a confident grin and let it try to sway you because you will not move. You have greater power than that who in the world because Christ Jesus has overcome the world [the trouble, the distress, and the circumstances in this world]. Don't move and stand your ground, fighting because you are getting stronger and the enemy sees you as a threat, causing him to sweat, wondering what it will take for you to fall. And when you become a mountain--refusing to move--the enemy will have nothing else to do but surrender because there will nothing that can affect you. Make the enemy tremble at the mere mention of your voice and make him wince when you speak. Be a mountain; don't move when the wind blows or the floor becomes quicksand. God is too loving to be unkind and let you fall and He does extend His hand for your sake but it's up to you whether you will reach up, plant your feet on the Solid Rock, and refuse to be moved. Let hell quiver when the evil one has thrown out all his schemes and have failed. BE A MOUNTAIN!

1. I Will Not Be Moved--Natalie Grant
2. Watch You Crawl--RED
3. Let It Roll--Group 1 Crew
4. To Hell With the Devil & You Know What to Do--Stryper

Vogue Love

Days left: 19

Today is university shopping day and while it's no different than, say, apartment style shopping, it certainly does add an ounce of excitement to acknowledge that I will be living in Virginia for the next four years and I plan to Raluca the room up.

Teen Vogue is my favorite teen magazine because it conglomerates blog-esque writing--with the aptly named Fashion, Music, Style, and Culture blogger--as well as implementing fashion shoots that would prompt the average reader to wonder whether people truly dress like that in real life. I wish I had read TV earlier and in my latest nostalgic wave, these are my 10 favorite covers in no particular order...

1. September 2007

 2. April 2009

3. August 2009

4. February 2011

5. March 2005

6. March 2010

7. September 2004

 8. September 2008

Quintessential Summer Movies

Days left: 21

With the three-week mark beckoning, there is nothing quite like an itching for the beach to make you remind you of your prospective home--aka, university.

Ah, summer. Is there anything like it? I've compiled a list of the summer movies to watch that make you want to fall in love with the hot dancer from the vacation resort you're staying at, grow infatuated with the deliciously attractive Greek boy from your trip to Greece, or meet a mermaid.

1. Dirty Dancing

It's the summer of 1963, which also happens to be the summer where Baby falls in love with the handsome and lovingly-rebellious dancer Johnny Castle.

2. Grease

Grease is the word. With the '50s, the dancing, the singing, young John Travolta, what's not to love?

3. High School Musical 2

 What time is it? Summer time! It's our vacation! The wildcats are out for the summer but it's not a summer without some Sharpay shenanigans and some ubiquitous songs regarding the trifling conundrums the wildcats face at the lavish vacation resort they're all working at...except for, naturally, Sharpay and Ryan.

4. Raise Your Voice

 This is probably one of the few movies in which I can actually stand to watch Hilary Duff act. While the plot itself is flimsy, it's a movie about standing up and finding your voice. Plus, if that's not enough to watch it, Kiwi is the life of the party. For real. Unmistakeable character.

5. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

A movie about 4 best friends and one hot summer. The things each girl encounters make you wish your summer had more flair and panache than just simply going to the beach everyday and growing more brown. (Like, say, having a romance with a handsome Greek boy?)

6. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

A sequel to the first movie and it continues to follow the summer after college and the lives of Brigit, Tibby, Lena, and Carmen. It's an interesting mix of the last three books of the Traveling Pants saga and makes me wonder how the film would have been if it had been original to the four books. Nonetheless, a good movie.

7. Aquamarine 

I've always wanted to be a mermaid but meeting one and befriending one on-screen is just as great. This film is cute, charming, and tells us the meaning of friendship (and the moniker, "It's good to have friends with fins!"). Plus, this makes me think of The Little Mermaid so that is a major plus. Plus, it's summer, in Florida, with tans, beach, and shopping. Could this be nirvana?

Pixie Dust

Hey y'all! I told you a while ago that I was planning to get a pixie cut and with (some) ambivalence towards actually getting it cut (because I wanted the cut to shape my face while also defining it), I finally did it: I got a pixie. At first, there was a wide range of inspiration. I wanted my pixie to be sophisticated, modern, yet cool. I mostly wanted this...

and this...

and this...

I have the best hair stylist in the world because with all my nerves, she got me exactly what I wanted. Ta da! Voila!