Being Relatively Apathetic or why I'm not the best RA

I just cut my hair in the hall bathroom because I was feeling anxious. My hair is kind of drab, not short, but not medium. I decided to cut it, but I did it in a hurry, and it came out kind of jagged and too short.

Now, I have weird-shaped hair and I am not happy about it.

 As an RA, I am not typically peppy or spirited, but I do try to do cheery things.

Here are some examples:

 

I made the Lorax out of string wrapped around a pen. 

And here are some funny or questionable ones:

 

 When it is someone's birthday on the floor, I put up cat pictures. 

 

 

On the above example, I wrote, "This was too funny I couldn't resist, but don't do drugs. Drugs are bad."

 

This is an advertisement for a program serving sundaes.

 

I put these up in the bathroom.

 

I made this for my boss...she has been a teacher and is going into counseling. 

Autumn Inspirationy Objects/Impractical Wish List (NaBloPoMo Day 8)

As much as I love autumn, living in an area with a colder climate for the first time in a while, I'm excited about a hopefully snowy but not too painfully cold winter.  They brought out the red cups at Starbucks, which is a sure sign that winter is on its way (sort of like the concept behind Groundhog Day, but I would imagine fewer animal rights activists are opposed to it).

Here's a list of pretty objects that are impractical to actually obtain, for a variety of reasons, from irrationally high cost to lack of bathtub in college dormitory:

Free People Adorned iPhone Case

Anthropologie Wee Heart Ring

Philosophy Candy Cane Lane Set

Threadsence Fleeting Floral Boots

Topshop Lipstick in Wicked

Lush Gingerbread House Bubble Bar

Sephora by OPI Tinsel Town Collector's Set

Ted Baker Typewriter Laptop Sleeve

Free People Holland Tall Socks

Okay, I know you probably won't because you probably don't have a Blogspot account, but if you do, you should totally leave a comment with things on your autumn impractical wish list!

Merry November!

xo,

SF

What I'm listening to right now: Men of Snow by Ingrid Michaelson

Autumn Makeup Tutorial (NaBloPoMo Day 7)

Okay, first can I just say, it's snowing!! I can tell you, one of the biggest pros on my pro/con list for choosing a college was that it gets wintery around here. It's so beautiful. I haven't been in snow in a long time. Time to break out my Sasquatch hat, I suppose.  

Okay, now I can tell you, this post is an autumn makeup tutorial. Wait, why did I say that? You already read the title. Way to be redundant, Spencer. 

When I think of fall, I think of changing leaves and orange and gold and red, so those are the colors I incorporated into this.

I started with a NARS eyeshadow duo called Isolde (pictured below). I put the lighter gold color all over my eyelids, as well as under by bottom eyelashes and on the inner corners of my eyes.  I think putting gold eyeshadow underneath and in the inner corners always makes your eyes look brighter.

Then, I blended the darker bronze shade into the crease of my eyelids.

I brushed a Maybelline eyeshadow in Champagne Fizz which is just a shimmery white color under my eyebrows as a highlight.

I used L'Oréal Telescopic Carbon Black liquid eyeliner on the outer corner of my top lash line and winged it a little bit.

I curled my eyelashes and then used Covergirl Lash Blast Volume mascara which is really good I think, but why does everything have to have such a long and ridiculous name? I mean, come on.

I swept Rimmel Natural Bronzer under my cheekbones (but not literally, just on my skin under where my cheekbones are, don't get crazy now) which, if you must know, is called contouring in the beauty community (of which I am not a part) (I don't know, maybe. I wear makeup usually. Does that count? SOMEONE'S getting a little rambly, and only on day 7).

I used Stila Love at First Blush Palette (aww) blush on the apples of my cheeks, and dabbed a little bit of Topshop Sunbeam Highlighter on the tops of my cheekbones to do a sort of glowy thing or whatever.

I really like dark red lipstick for autumn. This one is L'Oréal Infallible lipstick in Bold Bordeaux which lasts forever and is really vampy if you put it straight on, so I used a brush to make it a little more subtle.

And that's my deal. 

Try it! If you're that sort of person.

xoxo,

Spencer Rose

What I'm listening to right now: So Long Sunshine by Joshua Radin

A summary of today's thoughts

Dearest, 

Lauren

My Album Cover Unveiling/November 2012 Playlist (NaBloPoMo Day 6)

Hey readers! As you may or may not know, the Spencer half of The Lauren/Spencer Project writes songs and sings and plays guitar, but almost never in front of other people because she's a little scared. And she's a little annoyed by people referring to themselves in the third person, so she's going to stop.

My sister, Tyler, and I decided to have a competition that's not competitive because we're not those sorts of people, to design my first album cover.  I made the one above and she made the one below.

What do you think? Which one would you buy if you were at a CD store if those weren't obsolete and if you judged albums by their covers? How's THAT for a hypothetical?

OK, now for the music that I didn't write that I've been listening to in art studio classes so far this month:

1) She's So Right by Joshua Radin
2) Coin Laundry by Lisa Mitchell
3) Feel Again by OneRepublic
4) R U Mine by Arctic Monkeys
5) Holy Ground by Taylor Swift
6) Comeback Kid by Brett Dennen
7) Modern Love by Matt Nathanson
8) Rhythm of Love by The Plain White T's
9) All I Want by Joni Mitchell
10) Hard to Explain by The Strokes
11) After the Storm by Mumford & Sons
12) In the Middle (acoustic) by Mat Kearney
13) Lonely by Drake
14) Stubborn Love by The Lumineers
15) Amie by Damien Rice
16) Ungodly Hour by The Fray
17) Give Me Love (acoustic) by Ed Sheeran
18) Bloom by The Paper Kites

Kiss your cat for me if you have one,

Spencer Feder

Rather Amusing occurences or life as an RA

Some funny things have happened since I have become an RA this year, nothing spectacular, but reasonably smile inducing. 

Yes, someone let me be an RA. Here is proof:

1. Many people in the hall leave their doors unlocked unless they leave to go to class or the grocery store, etc. When you don't have to stop and get out a key to get into your room, some embarrassing situations can result. For instance, you may think you are opening your own door, but you are actually walking into the wrong room because you were distracted and not paying attention. This has happened to me -- twice. I have walked in to the same residents' room both times. Both times they were in the room and both times I loudly exclaimed from surprise.  My residents should have been the ones who were shocked. I was barging into their room and I screamed...they just looked back blankly with puzzled expressions. 
2. One time I walked into the bathroom and the floor was flooded. I did not understand what was causing the water to overflow, but I heard the shower running and figured someone had forgotten to turn it off. I slopped through the stagnant pool to the showers and pulled back the curtain to the stall where the water was coming from. I was flummoxed to see a bare naked resident standing in the above ankle-deep water. I do not know if she saw me because she was rinsing her face under the streaming faucet, but I was burning red with humiliation. I quickly pulled back the curtain and slopped out of the bathroom. It turns out the drains had been clogged with hair run-off and that is what caused the flooding. I still do not understand why that resident decided to take a shower at that particular time.
3. Each hall has a lounge with a kitchen, a television and comfy chairs for studying. It also has an upright white board that moves around on wheels. When it is a resident's birthday, I remind the floor by writing a message on the board. I bought expo markers for the residents and they use them to wish others a happy birthday. One time I noticed a resident did not get many birthday messages; the board was fairly blank. I had already written a happy birthday message, but I used one of the black markers to write another in slightly different hand writing. A couple days after the birthday I usually clean the board off, and this time the "happy birthday! :)" message I wrote would not come off. I looked again at my markers. The black expo marker was missing and a sharpie was sitting on the table. I had written in permanent marker. Luckily, the maintenance staff was able to remove it. It was not my proudest moment. 

 

Things that make me uncomfortable...

 or make me make this face...

1. When someone opens the door from an uncomfortable distance and I have to skip/walk over to him or her or else I feel rude. 
2. When I am in a public place that is quiet and I am hungry, but when I eat, I feel like every one is tuned into the sound of my chewing. Then I bite tentatively and can't even enjoy my food. 
3. Having to brush my teeth in a residence hall bathroom. I feel like I usually hunch over and foam excessively at the mouth, so I am very aware when other people are around. Then, I over-compensate by brushing like a robot. 
4. I love studying at cafes and libraries, but I feel like the people around me are judging how often I get up or how much I move around in my chair and shift my position. Then, I focus so much on other people that I can't concentrate on my work.
5. Walking amid a large group of people, especially around campus. There was a time when I forgot how to walk for like a year. I often don't know where to direct my eyes or put my hands. I also often walk too fast and get aggravated when a group of people are walking a horizontal line in front of me. 
6. Ordering my drink at Starbucks. I like it a certain way, but I feel badly every time I ask for it because I feel like I am imposing. 
7. Washing my hands in public bathrooms. I don't know whether or not to look at the mirror because I do not want to seem narcissistic, but I also want to see if I have mascara dust all over my face from picking at my eyelashes. 
8. Stopping at a red light when I am in the right-turn lane and another car is behind me. Even though I am going straight, I worry that the person behind me thinks I just don't know the rules and he or she is getting angry with me for not turning. Sometimes I steer my wheels a little bit to the left so the person may notice I am not turning and I know what I am doing. 
9. Tight Pants
10. Clingy, wet clothing 
11. Being hostage to a conversation
12. Pregnancy or wrist-cutting scenes in movies and t.v. shows
13. Sitting with a large party at a table in a restaurant when I do not know where to direct my conversation so I just sit and listen, which is always. 

Those are just a few of the quirks of being me and maybe you. I may had some more later. There are a lot of days in November.

What makes you uncomfortable?

Best, 

 LA

Thanksgiving Nail Tutorial (NaBloPoMo Day 5)

Okay, I know it's only November 5th, but Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and if you're going to perfect nail art turkeys by the 22nd, you're going to have to start practicing early.

This nail tutorial was inspired by changing fall leaves and, of course, turkeys.

Okay, here goes the tutorial:

I started with a base coat to keep the nail polish from staining my nails. The one I really like right now is called Rejuvacote and it's really strengthening to help my nails grow, which is good because they usually break pretty much always.

Next, I painted half of three of my nails with colors that reminded me of fall leaves. The red is Smok'n in Havana by OPI and the green is Veruschka by Zoya. I painted both of my ring fingers with a neutral sort of brownish gray color. This one is You Don't Know Jaques by OPI.

After those pretty much dried, I painted the other half of the nails with other fall colors. The dark one is actually a sort of medium brown color called Little Brown Dress by Essie, and the gold sparkly one is Disco Dolls by Nicole by OPI. 

For my thumbs, I painted the middle in a wide horizontal stripe with the same red from earlier, and once that dried, I went over it with the same gold from before.

When the gray was dry, I placed a drop of gold in the middle of the nail, and formed a point at both ends with a toothpick to make it look like the shape of a leaf. I used red for the leaf on the other hand.

I used the brown on my thumbs to create the shape of a turkey with a semicircle and then a smaller circle above it, being careful not to cover a small part of the gold for the beak. I painted the tip of my thumbnails gold, and put a dot of red beneath the beak.

After all the nails were completely dry, I used a Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in black to draw the veins on the leaves and the feathers on the turkeys. I finished it all off with Seche Vite topcoat which is the best topcoat, seriously. It dries really quickly and it helps to make the nail polish last longer and it's really shiny. Ta da, those are my Thanksgiving nails!

I hope you'll give them a try! Also, I'm considering doing another Thanksgiving nails tutorial later in the month with Thanksgiving foods on them. What do you guys think of that idea?

Yours till the snow falls,

S. R. Feder

What I'm listening to right now: Stay Stay Stay by Taylor Swift