all dogs go to heaven

In memory of Scooby, 1995-2008.

He lived a life filled with lots of food, lots of snuggling, and lots of tail wags. He became a fixture in our household and even though he was a small wiener dog, the house feels a lot emptier without him in it. I miss his whining to get up on the couch (he was too fat and stubby to make the jump himself), the sound of his paws running across the slate floor (usually in fear of the self-filling water bowl that made loud noises), and his way of sleeping that made him look like a beached whale (we affectionately called him our "pot bellied pig"). Scooby was my best friend all throughout my childhood. I wore a Scooby Doo t-shirt to my first day of sixth grade, I wrote a short story about him and his wife (my grandma's female dachshund Sophie) and recited it wearing a Scooby costume my mom made, my elementary school plaque is a portrait of Scooby, my sixth grade mask was designed to look like him (the long nose was particularly challenging), and during my IB art class he was the subject of many of my paintings, including the one above. He was one of the happiest dogs I have ever met, his tail never stopped wagging. He had an adoring family, two best friends Tater Tot and Lily, and a wonderful wife and the mother of his puppies, Sophie, who he was buried next to after a small ceremony at my grandma's ranch.


Santa Scooby!


One of the few times he actually let me dress him up.


Surveying the area as I prepare for battle with Tina Bonita the Goat.


Attempting to side swipe the goat.


Deciding to stay behind and watch instead.


Valentine's Day 2008.


Taking part in his favorite activity: napping.


Meeting Kern for the first time.


Scooby longingly gazing at Tater Tot and his girlfriend from inside the house.


Guarding his precious bones.


Scooby, loving the camera.


Second favorite thing to do: eat.

if you like pina coladas

...then be jealous of me & K for jet-setting off to the fabulous Cabo San Lucas tomorrow AM. I've never gone on a traditional "spring break" trip during college (Salem, Oregon doesn't quite cut it, now does it?), so this should be a really fun and crazy adventure. I don't know if K & I will be getting that crazy, but I hear the whole Cabo scene is OOC during the Easter season, so we'll be experiencing the craziness second-hand at least.

The career faire was okay. I made my Facebook and Myspace private, which annoys me, but I figured I should take at least a few internet precautions while job hunting. My blogging won't be affected at all, because I make sure to not write about anything super inappropriate because it ALWAYS comes back to bite you in the ass. Trust me. Anyway, my suit was hot and I looked fabulous, too bad "hot" and "fabulous" aren't the #1 qualities employers look for. I did, however, scope out a potentially amazing opportunity. I'm going to keep mum on it until I find out more because a. I don't know if it's going to pan out and I hate being all, "Oh I'm going to do this thing and it's amazing!" and then...nothing and b. BF has a psycho EX (don't they all?) and I wouldn't put it past her to do something completely crazy, like, oh, I don't know, using University letterhead to forge an official document and send it to potential employers saying I cheated or something.

I'll be out of the country until next weekend, have an awesome spring break all you undergrads!! For those of you out in the "real world", I'm sorry.

like they don't have 500 bucks to spare

I was accepted into another conference this year which is super exciting. Although NCUR in Maryland is turning out to be super stressful since this Scorsese paper has been HAUNTING MY DREAMS and progressing very slowly, this conference is going to be a breeze since I had to turn in a completed paper back in January. Phew. I would NOT want to be working on two research papers right now, one is way more than enough. Also, this conference is specifically for literature so I'm sure there are going to be a lot of interesting (to me) presentations. Oh, and it's in Utah. Which is, y'know, Utah.

Here's a little blurb from my paper, titled Fictional Femininity: The Construction of Gender through Creativity in Faulkner's Sanctuary and The Wild Palms:

Focusing on two of the strongest female presences in his body of work, Temple Drake and Charlotte Rittenmeyer, William Faulkner’s Sanctuary and The Wild Palms act collectively to call into question the binary division of gender present in the Old South. In Sanctuary, Temple Drake—portrayed as the Southern Belle who falls from grace by the end of the text—performs her femininity in the way she dresses, acts, and eventually talks as she retells her horrific tale of the events at Old Frenchmen place. Correspondingly, in The Wild Palms, Charlotte Rittenmeyer—depicted as a self-concerned creative force—shifts from embracing her femininity to rejecting it and refusing to perform as Woman. These female characters, while substantially different in personality and behavior, act as a cohesive unit in which Faulkner is able to explore patriarchal society’s construction of gender roles and functions. Faulkner establishes that not only is femininity socially constructed, but also that the concept of gender as a whole is completely fictional, entirely made up by society. Through his descriptive language of Temple and Charlotte’s appearance, performance in family dynamics, and abilities in the field of creation and art, Faulkner is able to dislodge the normative notion of femininity in the Old South and replace it with his own, albeit blurred, vision of the female body.

Exciting, right? Well, it would be, HOWEVER my lame 40k a year school is saying they can't provide me any funding because they've already funded me to go to one conference! Oh, excuse me, I was unaware that students were limited to the amount of academic achievements the University would support them to complete. MY BAD. I'm trying to get SOME kind of funding from my school, I know they can't just throw money at every student that wants it, but I also know that they funded a student to got o AUSTRIA for a friggin' conference, which cost a lot more for one trip than it will for my combined two trips.

murad gift with purchase

Okay, this was too amazing to not share. I've already called my mom and sister to give them the scoop, so now I'm letting you in on the secret!

Murad (the most amazing skin care line ever) is having a gift with purchase right now to promote their new line of acne treatment concealers. I have not used the product yet, so I can't vouch for its abilities, but I've been using Murad products for 7 years and I've never experienced one I didn't absolutely adore. If you spend over $75 (easy when buying lots of skin care products) you get FREE SHIPPING and a "Perfect Pomegranate Trio" travel set including: Firming Bronzer SPF 15, T-Zone Pore Refining Gel, and Waterproof Sunblock SPF 30. Just enter "conceal08" at checkout and you're good to go! I can't wait to try out the firming bronzer, oh, and the concealer!

storm before the calm

The week before spring break is always insane. Every college student in the country is focused on only one thing: the beach. Every professor in the country thinks we should be focused on only one thing: school. Just a slight conflict of interest.

I've been working on my Scorsese paper for the past few days but I still don't have much more to show for it. I can, however, tell you all kinds of useless Mad Marty facts like that one of his ex-wives (he has 4) is the daughter of Ingmar Bergman (famous director) and that his first acclaimed film Mean Streets was shot in 24 days. Tonight I should be able to finish typing up my notes from the 12 books I'm using to pull this epic of a research project together. Then I'm turning in a second draft to my advisor on Thursday (hopefully).

Okay, just so this post isn't 100% boring, here's a vintage shot of Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, and Harvey Keitel on the set of Mean Streets (Scorsese's mother's kitchen):



And if you ever need to know ANYTHING about Scorsese, I'm your girl. I've read so many articles and chapters about him that I know enough to write a book. Seriously.

giant bag of costco cereal: breakfast of champions

It doesn't matter how many boxes of the crunchy, sweet stuff I have in my cupboard, every time I go grocery shopping I'm tempted to buy more cereal. It is my one absolute food weakness, and while I'm able to admit that I have a problem (that's the first step!), I haven't been able to curb my cereal craving in the slightest. I think part of my obsession is that there are so many cereals out there, so many new tastes, shapes, and textures to try, that I feel like I need to give them all an equal chance to be my breakfast. This would probably be a reasonable approach to the most important meal of the day if 1. I ate cereal for breakfast on a regular basis and 2. I did not shop at Costco.

I have to admit, I sometimes (read: always) get up late, forcing myself to nab a granola bar or piece of fruit as I hurriedly grab my backpack and rush to class. Sadly, a bowl of cereal is not a very portable food, so my collection of boxes sits in the pantry waiting for their time to shine, which is usually only on weekend mornings. Cereal lasts for quite a while if you keep it stored properly, but I'm running out of room. No sooner did I finish a giant bag of Oat Bran purchased last semester than I snagged up a new box of Puffins at Trader Joe's. Every time I take two steps forward in my effort to actually consume what I buy, I take another three back...down the cereal isle to grab some Chex before I checkout.

"but it's sew not over"

I totally love puns and play on words, so of course I love the ad campaign for the Project Runway Season Finale, because it is filled with puns, including, but not limited to: "Hair today, gone tomorrow" (referencing Chris's human hair designs, puke), "It's sew not over", and "A last stitch effort". They totally "make it work," as Tim Gunn would say.

I'm super psyched to see everyone's crazy designs and to hear Christian say "fierce" another 52 times during the finale show. I am curious, though, why is Victoria Beckham guest judging? Just because you wear clothes and like shopping does not mean you know anything about style (refer to hideous orange dress). I guess she IS famous. But I mean, really? Get a new hair cut. They should have totally asked B Spears instead, now that would have made for an interesting episode. Does Victoria Beckham even talk? She seems so wax figure-y to me.

okay, maybe i was serious

Counselor: So, have you been researching jobs that might interest you?

Me: Yes, but the main problem is that with my high grade point average, job experience, leadership activities, and extracurriculars, I feel like employers should be BEGGING me to work for them instead of me having to hunt them down.

Counselor: *blank stare*

Me: I mean, I'm not really serious about that.

spring flowers and poetry

Overnight my campus exploded in blossoms! I saw these pink blossoms right outside of one of my classes and they made me think of an Emily Dickinson poem, #1255.

Longing is like the seed
That wrestles in the Ground
Believing if it intercede
It shall at length be found.

The Hour, and the Clime-
Each Circumstance unknown,
What Constancy must be achieved
Before it see the Sun!

a writer's meeting for the new season of lost

Writer 1: So, how are we going to explain the polar bears, mysterious cloud of smoke, the island's strange magnetic field, the Others, and the pregnant women always dying story-lines?

Writer 2: "Explain"? What do you mean?

Writer 1: Y'know, flesh out those ideas a little more, give the viewer some answers.

Writer 3: I'm not following.

Writer 1: Well, don't you think we owe the viewer some kind of explanation for all of the crazy things that have happened in the last three seasons?

Writer 2: ...is that necessary?

Writer 1: Hmm, good point. Let's completely pretend none of that ever happened, and take the show in a whole new direction.

Writer 3: Yeah! There should be lots of flash forwards and flash backs, I love those.

Writer 1: Excellent idea! And that way, the viewer will be so confused and disoriented, they won't even know we aren't giving them any answers! Great work, team. Now let's get out there and make some crappy television.

hair dye results

And the winner is.....Keep it blonde! BOOO! You guys are boring! Oh well, I guess it's for the best considering I'll be applying to jobs in the next few weeks and pink might not be the most professional of hair choices. Here are the official results:

Keep it blonde!	11 (52%)
Um, pink, duh.	8 (38%)
Bright red to match your soon-to-be Spring Break sunburn!	1 (4%)
Blue because you're so emo.	1 (4%)
Purple. Why not?	0 (0%)

Thanks everyone for voting! I look forward to doing more polls in the future.

how to shop for a swimsuit

In a week and a half I'll be lounging on the beach in Cabo, and since I haven't purchased a swimsuit since my junior year of high school, I figured it was time to invest in something new. Clearly, swim suit shopping is not my #1 favorite past time, so I tried to think of ways to make it less painful, and maybe even enjoyable. This is what I came up with:

How To Shop for a Swimsuit

1. Don’t eat. I don’t mean don’t ever eat, but make an attempt to not eat immediately before trying on a swim suit. A tummy full of Quizno’s is not going to look sexy in a teeny, weeny bikini, and all that toasted sub goodness will probably have you ready for a nap rather than the fitting room. You can have a celebratory meal after you find a suit!

2. Drink lots of water. You should always be drinking lots of water—those 8 glasses a day do amazing things for your hair, complexion, and bod. The day before you try on swim suits, drink as much water as you can to avoid any water retention. Put some slices of lemon in your water to give it a flavor boost which will encourage you to drink more. Lemon is also a natural diuretic (promotes kidney function and produces more urine, helping to expel wastes from the body) which makes it extra helpful! Caffeine and cranberry juice are also weak natural diuretics, and that cup of coffee will help keep you energetic even after the 20^th swim suit you’ve tried.

3. Tan in a can. We were all stupid and sixteen once, so yes, we have all sat under the tortuous rays of a tanning bed to get that “natural” golden glow in preparation for summer. However, times have changed, we’ve grown up, gotten wiser, and never leave the house without a liberal application of SPF 15. There’s no denying the beautifying abilities of a sexy tan, but skin cancer and wrinkles are definitely NOT sexy…luckily we have sunless tanner! I would suggest using the lotion 1 to 2 days before you go shopping because you don’t want to dye any of your potential purchases.

4. Look cute. But you ALWAYS look cute, right? A messy bun and quick application of mascara and gloss are fine for day to day, but if you’re going to be under glaring fluorescent lights and looking in 180 degree mirrors, you should dress to impress! That means do your hair, make-up, etc., to ensure that you’ll be looking as fantastic as possible. Juicy suits are still 100% acceptable, they’re comfy and easy to take on and off as you fitting room hop from store to store.

5. Have a lot of time. Set an entire day aside for finding your bathing suit. Hopefully it won’t take that long, but the only thing worse than not being able to find a swim suit is not being able to find a swim suit and feeling rushed the whole time.

6. Go on a weekday. If at all possible, try to shop during business hours so as to avoid long waits for a fitting room and long lines at customer service. If you have a job that makes that impossible, go on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday evening, they’re usually the slowest times for retail. AVOID SHOPPING ON THE WEEKENDS AT ALL COSTS. Waiting 45 minutes for a fitting room is not enjoyable EVER.

7. Bring Mom. Mom is a great shopping companion for many reasons: 1. She probably won’t be looking for clothes for herself so you won’t have to wait for her to do her own shopping. 2. She’s your worst critic and won’t try to make something work when it simply does not (i.e. “It just doesn’t do anything for you” a Mother’s favorite shopping phrase) 3. She can grab more sizes or suits if the store has an article limit for the fitting room 4. She just might pay!

8. Try on everything. Okay, you KNOW if something’s going to be completely hideous on you, but grab those “Maybe this will look cute”s and try them on. Sometimes the best fashion finds are those items you might normally pass over.

9. Walk around. This is so easy to forget. When you try on a suit you look at yourself, maybe turn around and do a quick butt check, but you rarely ever meander around. Taking your suit for a test drive is an absolute must. A lot of swim suits look great if you stand still like a mannequin, but as soon as you move they start falling down or bunching up and who wants to deal with that? Answer: no one.

10. Buy more than one. Even if you only want one suit, try to buy at least two, put them on a few times at home, and then make your decision. Also, try to buy at least one suit with a splash of color. It is easy to fall back on the ever-slimming appearance of black, but you’re going to be chillin’ poolside drinking a margarita, something with a little bit of color is much more tropical and appropriate. Having two suits is beneficial because it gives you some variety during your vacation (or at home), and that way you can bust out the black if you feel the need for a little black magic slim-down after one too many burritos.

After following these ten bathing suit finding guidelines, I purchased two fabulous suits! I got one black (I love authentic burritos. My hips? Not so much.) and one super cute Lucky brand suit that is colorful, vibrant, and perfect for the beach:

here's an idea

You should argue with the professor every day in class. Everyone is really interested in your completely uninformed opinion.

my bed-time buddies

For three years I lived in my sorority house which had a sleeping porch on the third floor where all the girls slept. I'm not sure why it's called a sleeping porch because it's just the another floor of the house, but that's not really important. What is important is that having a bed out of sight meant I didn't really care about what kind of bed linens or throws or decorative pillows I had. To be honest, I rarely even MADE my bed, I definitely couldn't be bothered to make it look stylish.

When I was accepted as a resident assistant, suddenly I realized I would have to actually buy cute bedding and make my room look presentable since it would be on display to all my residents. My school's mascot is a tiger so I bought a lot of tiger and animal print items, and over the past two years I've received a few tiger plush toys as gifts. I might be a little too old to have stuffed animals on my bed, but they're adorable and each of them has a cute story. And, of course, they make good cuddle partners.

Sharing a bed with 8 pillows, 5 stuffed animals (one not pictured, he's squished under the other four), and a throw blanket makes for a cozy, if not cramped, sleeping arrangement. Luckily, my bedtime buddies don't mind if I shove them over against the wall, and every morning I get to wake up to them lovingly smiling at me as only stuffed animals can.

cupcake photoshoot

Some candid cupcake shots.






Baby Froufrou, I love you.




Lookin' good, feelin' gorgeous.


They're healthy because they're made with fruit!


A blur of tastiness.

i drink your milkshake

raspberry coconut cupcakes

I made these adorable raspberry coconut cupcakes for an Oscar party I went to on Sunday. These classy little froufrou cupcakes won Best Dessert of the soiree! I adapted this recipe and my banana caramel cupcake recipe from a great little cookbook Cupcakes by Pamela Clark.

Raspberry Coconut Cupcake aka Froufrou Cupcake



Ingredients
For Cupcakes:
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (if you can't find UNsweetened, just rinse some sweetened shredded coconut in warm water and let dry at least 12 hours)
1/3 cup sour cream
5 ounces frozen raspberries

Cream Cheese Frosting:
5 tablespoons butter, softened
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons coconut extract
3 cups powered sugar

Decorations:
1 cup flaked coconut (if you can't find this, do the same as the coconut above), toasted
35-45 fresh raspberries



1. Pre-heat over to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with paper baking cups.

2. Beat butter, sugar, and eggs in a blender until light and fluffy.





3. Stir in sifted flours, coconut, sour cream, and frozen raspberries. The batter should be a light pink from the broken up raspberries (there should be large chunks of the berries, too). Divide mixture among baking cups and smooth the surface. The batter should fill the cup about three-quarters of the way.





4. Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until golden brown. Turn cakes onto wire rake to cool. Only 11 of my cupcakes made it past this stage thanks to the cupcake monster who lives in my house and eats all my cupcakes before they're even done. Thanks, Dad.



5. Make cream cheese frosting: Beat butter, cream cheese, and coconut extract in a blender until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sifted powdered sugar.



6. Remove baking cups from cakes, spread cakes with frosting.

7. Decorate the side of the cupcakes with toasted coconut and top with 3-4 raspberries.



These cupcakes smell so delicious baking! And, of course, they taste delicious, too. The coconut cream cheese frosting is to die for, I seriously want to slather it on everything I eat.

I had some extra batter left over after filling the baking cups, so I just made a few extra mini-cupcakes using a mini cupcake pan. My little sister swore these were better than the larger version, but I think by better she just meant "cuter." Everything is cuter mini, right?

here's an idea

Why don't you give me a parking ticket? Because, y'know, I'm sure you have nothing better to do.

oscar winners!

I love making Oscar predictions. I also love watching the Oscars with my parents and their friends who suddenly become distinguished film critics during the ceremony. My parents actually saw nearly all the nominated films, but if you've only seen ONE of the films nominated for anything (and it was, uh, editing) than you're not really making a "prediction" inasmuch as you're making a "wild guess." Hence why I only predicted the categories I knew about/actually saw the nominated films.

Well, here are my results:

Best Picture
should win: No Country For Old Men
will win: There Will be Blood
WON: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
I'm really pleased about this, I wanted No Country to win but Daniel Day-Lewis is so amazing I was afraid he'd steal the Best Picture away from the Cohens (by the way, how cute are they?! I want to make movies with MY sister!).

Best Actor in a Leading Role
should win: Daniel Day-Lewis
will win: Daniel Day-Lewis
WON: DANIEL DAY-LEWIS
Not surprised by this, Daniel Day-Lewis is so amazing.

Best Actress in a Leading Role
should win: Cate Blanchett
will win: Cate Blanchett
WON: MARION COTILLARD
Definitely deserved, but I was surprised by this choice, as was a clearly shaken up Marion.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
should win: Javier Bardem
will win: Javier Bardem
WON: JAVIER BARDEM
Too bad he cut his hair for the award show! He should have totally rocked the bowl cut.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
should win: Cate Blanchett
will win: Tilda Swinton
WON: TILDA SWINTON
John Stewart's joke about Cate Blanchett being a versatile actress was hilarious, I thought her Bob Dylan performance deserved an Oscar, but was expecting Tilda Swinton to win. Side note, can Swinton PLEASE put on some mascara or something? Looking at her hurts my eyes she's so blank and robot looking.

Animated Film
should win: Ratatouille
will win: Ratatouille
WON: RATATOUILLE
If Surf's Up had 70 percent more scenes of the baby penguins, I bet it would have won.

Art Direction
should win: Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
will will: There Will be Blood
WON: SWEENEY TODD
YAY!!!! Everyone was so naggy and whiny about Sweeney Todd, I mean, it got good enough reviews but critics had a lot of negative things to say about it (the opening sequence, the singing, the "miscasting" of Helena Bonham Carter, etc). I personally LOVED it so I was thrilled it got the much deserved art direction award.

Cinematography
should win: There Will be Blood
will will: There Will be Blood
WON: THERE WILL BE BLOOD
The movie is gorgeous and the technical techniques are very impressive, I thought it was a shoe-in.

Directing
should win: No Country For Old Men
will win: No Country For Old Men
WON: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
The Cohen brothers could have at least PRETENDED to be surprised.

Editing
should win: No Country For Old Men
will win: No Country For Old Men
WON: THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
Well I was WAY off on this one. Action movies are difficult to edit, so I definitely understand why the film received the Oscar.

Music (Score)
should win: 3:10 to Yuma
will win: Atonement
WON: ATONEMENT
Okay, so honestly, I didn't really think 3:10 to Yuma SHOULD win but that movie was SOOO good and it was completely ignored by the Academy so I had to give it a shout out. My prediction was right with Atonement...I have to say I'm surprised Keira Knightley didn't completely ruin that film.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Who should win: No Country For Old Men
Who will win: No Country For Old Men
WON: NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
Well, duh.

Writing (Original Screenplay)
should win: Juno
will win: Juno
WON: JUNO
Diablo Cody gives me hope that success in the writing/film industry IS possible without connections in the industry. Although, she WAS a stripper, so she probably "knew" people. Also, I heard that she was supposed to be the person to wear Stewart Weizman's annual $1 million shoes, but her fugly tent dress made it impossible to verify.

oscar predictions

I bought a cute new Oscar outfit, made my froufrou cupcakes (I'll post the recipe later), stocked up on Lillet blanc wine for James Bond-style cocktails, and now for my Academy Award predictions!

Best Picture
should win: No Country For Old Men
will win: There Will be Blood

Best Actor in a Leading Role
should win: Daniel Day-Lewis
will win: Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Actress in a Leading Role
should win: Cate Blanchett
will win: Cate Blanchett

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
should win: Javier Bardem
will win: Javier Bardem

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
should win: Cate Blanchett
will win: Tilda Swinton

Animated Film
should win: Ratatouille
will win: Ratatouille

Art Direction
should win: Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
will will: There Will be Blood

Cinematography
should win: There Will be Blood
will will: There Will be Blood

Directing
should win: No Country For Old Men
will win: No Country For Old Men

Editing
should win: No Country For Old Men
will win: No Country For Old Men

Music (Score)
should win: 3:10 to Yuma
will win: Atonement

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Who should win: No Country For Old Men
Who will win: No Country For Old Men

Writing (Original Screenplay)
should win: Juno
will win: Juno