"You've Gotta Swim"

Playing: Smell-Tom Milsom
Reading: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Awhile back, I believe it was November 11th, I went down to Long Beach with my friends, Daniela, Chelcee, and Clare. We had a day off from school, so we decided to do a little celebration for my birthday. Wow, I actually celebrated my birthday three time this year...Once at school, once with my family, and once with Rebecca.

We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific first and we brought a dog leash with us because we thought it'd help us keep track of each other and that it was funny. It wasn't such a good idea because the leash kept on hitting each other people at the aquarium, so we stuffed the leash in Chelcee's purse. Now that I think about it, I do a lot of things that seem funny at the moment, but aren't that funny later on...

Here you can see Chelcee giving me the look that says, "Really, Audrey, really?" You can see Daniela in the black coat taking photos of the fish and shark. We were outside trying to figure out which one of us should get pushed into the tanks to swim with the sharks. Jokingly of course.

Afterwards, we went on an adventure through Down Town Long Beach looking for lunch. I still can't get over how beautiful Down Town Long Beach is now. It used to be so sketchy, when I was little, so it's great to see it all clean and happy now. I love all the buildings down there. You can see glossy office buildings and retro-styled parking lots. It's just very interesting.

I really like how Long Beach kept some of their older things to like this carousel. It's from the 1960's I believe and I just always find carousels to be very magical. So many books have emphasized the magic of these that I now automatically think there's something magical about them. Also, when I was little, I always had to go on the carousel at Disneyland and my parents thought it was funny how I chose that ride out of all the rides.

Afterwards, we walked to the light house and just sat and hung out. It was fun to just roll around in the grass and count how many couples were making out there and just be typical teenagers there.

Chelcee and I ended up laying around on the ground soaking up the sun, when it did come out. The four of us just acted like our younger selves for some time. Although it may look like Chelcee and I were tanning, we were actually telling each other to be quiet and were making terrible jokes.

The clouds started to roll back in signaling that it was going to rain again, so we ran back into the aquarium for shelter. Then we just goofed around some more and waited for our ride to bring us back home. By the way, I jsut got back from New York, so expect some posts about that.

Happy Holidays!

Anadolu Kavagi

Playing: The Future-Patrick Wolf
Reading: Where I lived, and What I Lived For by Henry David Thoreau
I keep on going through my photos from Turkey because during the school year, I always think about the places I've gone and the places I want to go to. Whenever I think about traveling, it immediately brightens my day because I like to dream about going back and about bringing friends there one day. I like thinking about other places, so I keep on looking at my old vacation photos. I really want to share with you this fishing village I visited with you today.

It took me about 45 minutes to get their by boat and it was a very enjoyable ride. The scenery was absolutely stunning and made me rethink what I considered to be the most beautiful place I've ever been to. (Venice still ranks number one, though.) I love how they have garages for their boats and how they're wide open. I just like the idea, if you know what I mean.

When I got onto the island, I walked past this adorable home that had the most creative yard I've ever seen. It had all these puppets arranged in a storybook manner and I just liked how it reminded me of this one ballet I loved as a little girl called Coppelia. Haha, I keep on imagining these puppets coming to life. Obviously I need to make friends with the owners of this home.

The main attraction is the view at the top of the hill. It has a stunning view, but it took us awhile to climb up there. There were so many stairs and after awhile, my legs were killing me. If you're in decent health, you most definitely should go climb up to see this. Remember to bring ice cold drinks with you, though! While I was up here, I practiced my French with this boy from Japan. It was fairly humorous to me that I'm from the USA and he's from Japan, but our common language is French. How does that work?

There's a fort at the top too, but it's been closed off for awhile, so none of us could explore. It's interesting because I believe it was the Romans that built it. Don't quote me on that though because my memory is a tad fuzzy at this point...

After I climbed back down with my family, we decided to get lunch and we sat down at this restaurant that had the most beautiful view. I loved how clear the ocean was and how you could see all the fish under the sea.

Pretty much all of the restaurants on Anadolu Kavagi offer the same food for around the same price, so my family chose the one with the most pleasant view. All of the restaurants offered fresh seafood dishes prepared simply, but nicely. I ordered a seafood feast, while I was there that came with fried calamari, fried oysters, grilled fish, and a salad. It was all very good, but nothing remarkable.

I spent around four or five hours there and saw the whole village, so while we waited for the boat to come by again, we looked around the convenience store for snacks, but I ended up leaving with a Turkish Vogue instead, which I still haven't looked at yet. Stupid homework is keeping me too busy to take a peek...Overall, this town was a very pleasant stop and I recommend it,  if you're in Istanbul for more than a few days. The boat ride itself is wonderful because you get to see so much and it just feels very magical at the moment.

Shoes, Shoes, and More Shoes

Playing: Sinking Ships-General Fiasco
Reading: For Esme-With Love and Squalor by JD Salinger
I was inspired by SEA OF SHOES latest post, where she shows her favorite shoes from this season, at least the sale shoes. So I went through my magazine cut outs, my look books, and my internet URLs that I've saved on my email to come up with this short list of my favorites.

1. Rag & Bone Classic Newbury Booties. I love the shorter chunky heel and that lovely purple color.
2. Yves Saint Laurent Jinny Suede Wedge. I like how the heel looks like it's leaning back and how the suede pieces resemble smooth pebbles.
3. Chloe Embellished T-bar Ballerina Flats. I'm not one to dream about flats, much less t-bar flats, but these Chloe flats look so sweet with their sparkly bows and are perfect for the holidays.
4. Alexander McQueen Sculpted Resin and Leather Sandals. These sandals look light as air to me and remind me of Greek goddesses. What's not to love?
5. Thakoon Velvet Ankle Boots. When I first saw these boots, it was love at first sight. Anything velvet and in navy blue make me want to melt, but a wonderful silhouette and simple buckle detailing as well? Perfection.
6. Alexander Wang Alice Rabbit Heels. This simple ladylike heel gets a real kick with the rabbit tassel. This heel is just too fun, but it's ladylike too.

7. Chloe Wedge Bootie. These can be dressed up or down and actually look like they could be comfortable. Great outdoorsy feel to them, but the leather and sude combo keeps it luxe.
8. Dolce & Gabbana Sequined Patent Leather Shoes. I really adore brogue style shoes and I love the glittery top and the buckles.
9. Marc by Marc Jacobs Mocasso Tassle Boots. High heeled menswear style shoes have a librarian feel to them in the most darling of ways and I really  like the dark chocolate shade of this particular pair.
10. Lanvin Escarpen Heels.  The simple black allows the gold cutout heel to really shine and the double buckle looks doll-ish, but not too dolly. From the front, it'll look normal, but the side will surely have people complementing you all the time. Standout heels that will go with everything are hard to come by.
11. Miu Miu Trompe l'Oeil Ankle Boot. I prefer the glitter pair, but these are beautiful as well and much more versatile. The glitter boots are very much for the party scene, but these can be worn anywhere. I especially love the curved heel.
12. Acne Leather Spin Boots. I am super in love with curved heels right now and I like how the leather cutouts remind me of woodblock printing pictures. In a way, it reminds me of a sea monster.
13. Bottega Veneta Medium Brown Suede Peep Toe Booties. Love the minimalist design of this boot and the shade of brown is a great neutral for your everyday outfit. I think it would look great with blue-ish grey nail polish.

Sweet Streets Part II

Playing: Down With Me-Days Difference
Reading: In Search of a Good Family by Jane Howard
This post is kind of late, so I hope you don't mind. I've been getting behind on my blogging because of school and I'm sorry that I keep on telling you this. Haha, now on to the point. This time I thought I'd share the art at Sweet Streets instead of just the crazy awesome people I met.

The first painting is by Aguru Mukai and the second is by Kayo Tamaishi. I really like the coloring techniques on these, especially how Tamaishi decided to leave her body uncolored.

 I loved the delicacy used on these pieces by Hiromi Sato. I loved the ornate paintings and the frame made them look even more darling.

The painting by Rudy Fig is beautiful and I love the fanciness of her outfit and the frame. Miss Kika's Pretty Persian Parfait is just to cute and lovable to not talk about.

If that cat in Bei Badgirl's painting existed, it would be my dream cat. I love the chubbiness of the little kitty, just as much as I like all the details put into Yumiko Kayukawa's painting of two lolitas having a picnic.

My photo of the artist's name for the first one is so blurred that I can't read it, so if you know the name, let me know. I liked the contrast of the formal frame and then the brightness of the actual painting. The quartet of painting by HIME+YOU are incredibly adorable and I love how each of them are different, but they all work well with each other.

I liked the dreary color palette of this painting, since it was so different from everything else there. I really liked how Ayami Kawashima made it both melancholy and cute. I also find the way the water blends into the sky to be quite fascinating.

Suzuki Suzuma painted Tina's favorite piece. She wanted plushie versions of the two bunny characters, so I think I'll attempt to make them for her...

I really liked the mixture of new and old in Misa Tsutsui's pieces. The borders are incredibly traditional in their color palette and then the painting is painted in all pastel colors, so the contrast in interesting to me.

I really liked this one because the artist only used a pencil and colored pencils, so it had the most simple materials, but had so much delicacy in it that I really liked this artist's work. I feel like I've been very superfluous today, so don't feel bad if you skip reading this and just look at the pictures.

And just in case, you missed the fashion show, I videotaped it for you. Sorry that I was talking through it and that it's sideways. My camera right side ups all my photos, so without thinking, I just shot it like that. I'm so sorry. Hope you enjoy the video though!