Things I want to do!!!! (or have done)

Upon reading the newest Improper Bostonian there are a few things that I extracted out of their newly re-vamped (and I love it by the way!) magazine of interest to me. As I will have a bit more leisure time during the summer months here are a few of my favorites:

• Go visit the restaurant MKT - located in the financial district, this restaurant describes itself as having an Urban American menu. I wont lie my main interest in this restaurant comes from the fact that the chef rene michelena has a name similar to my middle name (michalina). Either way I hop
• e to check it out soon: www.mktboston.com
• http://www.hungry-girl.com/ - this website focuses on the every day girl and cooking to increase a healthy lifestyle through minimal changes in the way one eats. Full of tips and recipes this website has been causing buzz for quite some time. And now the author of the website will be vising Borders Downtown Crossing on May 1st to offer advice and recipes in person. Check it out on her website!
• When the air is not quite hot but not quite crisp Boston tends to get a bit lazy about the places we do or things we try. Therefore here is the perfect excuse to do/learn something new: Common Boston 2008. Take free private tours of a lot of cool places in Boston as well as listen to some interesting seminars check them out at www.bostoncommon.org

So here are somethings I am in the pursuit to do....

• Jack Johnson concert - 8/6 at the Tweeter Center....though I only have lawn tickets I absolutely adore the chill attitude of his newest album "Seep Through the Static"
• Kooza Cirque de Soleil - Boston - in September - I am thrilled to see this (late mother's day gift) needless to say the show promises to be fantastic and after seeing their previous show in Orlan I expect nothing less check it out at www.cirquedusoleil.com

Needless to say I hope this summer will be one of trying a lot of new things that I wouldn't have necessarily done before. I don't like just being confined to what is safe or even acceptable I want to learn/grow/ and experience lots of new things and I hope I accomplish this. So everyone once in a while I will blog abut new places I've eatten or things I've seen/done. I will of course include my anecdotes about Boston and pop culture infused between my blogs on trying to self improve but there will hopefully be a bit more of a linear goal for this blog over the next few summer months.

Anything But Joey

If you were wondering about the title its the name of this band that has been on constant replay on my Ipod with the song "One." Recently they have been getting more buzz since two of their songs made it into trailers for movies coming out recently. Check them out at: http://www.myspace.com/abjoey Absolutely loving the music and I posted below the two trailers that they are featured in. itunes has "One" available for download and you can download the other songs on their website. Hope everyone is having a great start to your week!

War Inc. movie trailer ("One" is played at the end)



Meet Bill ("Sight Reading" is what plays at the end)-- as a side note I cannot wait to see this movie it looks wicked good!


Needless to say this band sounds great and I hope they do really well. If the inclusion in two movie trailers for this summer is an indication of future success they should do great!

So I finally caved...

So I finally gave in and bought a Longchamp bag. Specifically the Le Pliage Large Tote in chocholate. At a heft price of $141.75 I still fell in love with its roomy interior and lightweight nylon feel. The straps are long and large enough to carry it over my shoulder and it folds up for easy travel. With my current back problems having a good shoulder bag is extremely import and this bag definitely delivers as the bad somehow distributes the weight of what I'm carrying. For quite some time I argued that having this pricey bag was simply a statement here in Boston...kinda like Northface jackets (I own one!) and Ugg Booots (I refuse these), Longchamp bags are making their way into the mainstream look of the average college Bostonian. After a good deal of internal debating over the price I finally decided to Longchamps Newbury Street store where a wonderful saleswoman helped me to select the perfect sized bag (there are a bunch of different sizes ranging from tiny purse to overnight/luggage bag sizes). Afterward I choose the chocolate. A nice rich brown color next to everyone's black ones. I know its a pricey buy but if there are any others who have been holding out on buying one of these bags...I highly reccomend considering it again.

OMG

So I just needed to quickly blog about last nights Gossip Girl episode. After weeks of diligant waiting I was rewarded with all the catty drama that one hopes for from this show. If you haven't already started watching this show I highly reccomend it. It fulfills that space in my viewing pleasure where the OC and the old One Tree Hill Episodes used to be. I am absolutely smitten with the "bad boy" of the group, Chuck played by Ed Westwick. There is something about the smarmy, righteous attitude about the character he portrays. To add to it, in real life Westwick happens to be Britsh (fantastic accent!) and be the lead singer in a band called The Filthy Youth (http://www.thefilthyyouth.com/, also check out their myspace page). A cute actor who plays a bad boy, with a British accent and sings in a band...definitely worth a new actor crush for me. That isn't all that's too like about the show though...the plots are juicy and there are constantly evolving character's. Just when you think you know who these characters are, the writer's show you something else about them and thus bring even more depth. No character is too archetypal, which is what I think drew me into the show. Well enough shameless promotion of one of my favorite new shows...just check it out (on itunes or on http://www.cwtv.com/)

Earth Day!

Well its finally here... Earth Day 2008! I feel like over the past month I have been inundated with green and organic messages. From the TV shows I watch to the magazines I read, it seems everyone is going green. Adding to this is the number of celebrity endorsements for environmental causes, it seems that earth is the new "it" thing of the moment. And while I fully support recycling, reusing, and turning off the lights it seems there are new extremes I can go to to save the earth. I am not rushing to buy organic clothes any time soon, but it seems that there are new eco-friendly products popping up everyday. Here are a few notibles:

• Josie Maran Cosmetics - this model has developed an organic line of makeup that has been creating buzz for quite some time now. Proof that you an be gorgeous and eco-friendly: http://www.josiemarancosmetics.com/
• And while I love the idea of wearing all organic clothes I still shutter at the thought of wearing something similar to a burlap sac. Luckily for me over the last year plenty of designers have come up with organic or eco-friendly clothes that are fashionable as well. Here's just a few: http://www.shopenvi.com/, http://www.doiedesigns.com/, www.gaiam.com, http://www.thegreenloop.com/
• And while your at it, check out a few other websites that have some great tips on living green: www.lime.com, www.treehugger.com, www.idealbite.com

I hope that everyone has a great Earth Day!

Its that time of year again!

Its that time of year again for those Bostonians who love their makeup....Clinique Bonus Time! While my friends have complained of the dismal selection over the past years (and I admit they have dwindled in quality) I still love getting a little extra with my Clinique purchase. So while I was at Natick Collection I popped over to Macy's to get a few things. Here's whats in the Bonus:

Liquid Facial Soap Mild

Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion

Clinique Colour Palette- comes with Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo (I got Like Mink) and Blushing Blush Bowder Blush (I got Smoldering Plum)

High Impact Mascara

Different Lipstick (I got Raspberry Glace)

Long Last Lipstick (I got Beauty)

It all came in this cute flower printed makeup bag (in either choice of pink or purple)

In addition I also got a sample of Clinique's Turnaround Concentrate

While the Bonus's have been markedly diminished in the past year I will admit I am still happy I picked up this one. My only real complaint is that the compact is a little difficult to open and the makeup a bit redundant. After that if your picking up makeup to begin with why not do it around bonus time...

Because it sucks...

So apparently my back pain hasn't all been in my head and not only have I messed up two of my discs in my spine but I also have something called spinal stenosis...which basically means my spine is narrowing. Apparently its quite common among the sixty and up crowd. This news of course comes around finals prompting me to go into hibernation mode. I have basically camped out the past week gorging on bad for me food and surfing fashion sites on the internet. Right now I am basically vainly trying to make myself smile through food, sleep, and a heavy dose of e! television. Sorry this post is somewhat depressing I hope to come back with something a bit more uplifting in the next few days.

Because my little ADD mind can't take it

ADD sucks, no matter how you put it...but around finals time it royally sucks. Everything becomes a major distraction and lack of sleep or the appeal of the light at the end of tunnel (which is sooo close) aka the end of classes has basically halted my chances of studying for the evening. Its frustrating because I always go into finals with the greatest intentions of studying and actually trying really hard. Inevitably I end up throwing caution to the wind and cram about three hours before each test. I understand this is quite normal for the average college student...but image it ten fold and that's kinda how I feel without meds. Luckily the new drugs seem to be working pretty well...but its still a struggle to read and write long passages. I however refuse to go on a higher dose. At one low point I actually considered getting an ADHD coach, which I have refused therapy and the like for this disorder for so long mainly due to the fact that I think its a crock of shit...slowly I am coming to the realization that I need to figure a way to function off of meds as I don't think they are the best option for me in the long run. But this is mainly a battle for me in the long run as my immediate attention must be paid toward my final tomorrow at 1. Oh well here are some rather distracting videos for your enjoyment...

The Smell of Summer...

In between the stress of classes I have found a new love...Burberry's limited edition fragrance Summer. The smell is light and fresh. It feels like a more adult version of the fragrance you probably wore in middle or high school. It screams ice cream, hot summer nights, sleep overs, and summer break. I absolutely love how light it is and the bottle is perfect (not to cheesey or overtly there...). I just had to blog about this, now back to our regularly scheduled program of stress... : )

Its been crazy!

I haven't written in quite some time but life has been quite hectic lately. As I write this I am inundated with tons of stuff I have to do for finals! Finals always bring about an impending sense of doom upon the college community. Previously empty library tables are suddenly filled with caffeinated stressed college students. Added to my current stress of four finals is the fact that I left my date book in a coworkers car. Needless to say for the average ADD student this paralyzes us with fear. As I type this I am currently making lists of things I need to do tomorrow and fear that I am missing something important. I am also keenly aware that there is nothing I can do at the current time to get the date book back, but I am still counting down the days (Tuesday!) till I can reclaim my sanity lol.

Needless to say my procrastinating brain is still working overtime as I type this up, watch the Red Sox game, and am mindless surfing the web under the guise of writing my extra credit assignment. I wanted to write about two books I recently read. One is Beauty Junkies by Alex Kuczynski whose book explores America's obsession with having the perfect face and body. This addiction of ours which generates billions of dollars each year in our vain attempt to turn back the clock or in some cases change mother nature. Needless to say I am all for plastic surgery (some members of my family are quite familiar with some procedures described in this book...) but there were certainly some obsessive like quailities that were described in this book which shocked even me. Its a definite read for those interested in the beauty industry or just plain interested in the psychology of beauty.

Another book I picked up in my travels was Restless Virgins by Abigail Jones and Marissa Miley. I'll admit after watching a coworker read this book I was more than interested in picking it up for myself. Following the social hiearchies of the Milton Academy in Massachusetts. This New England prep school has a reputation for churcning out future leaders of America. During the 2005 year a sex scandal at the school caused a huge uproar and caused these two former alumni to dig deep into what it means to be a high school student at a private school these days. The writing is somewhat juvenile and does not provide real insight into any of the matters, rather it seems a bit gossipy on the part of the writers. Despite these short comings (or perhaps because of them) I found myself instantly drawn to this book and I couldn't put it down for the life of me. Call it my inner high school bitch who couldn't wait to see what would happen to these kids who are about my age at the time I am reading this. Needless to say I finished the book in about a week.

I suppose it is time to settle in for the night...I hope everyone has a great week!

There is a bigger divide than just the pond...

The song "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis has been getting consistent airplay overhere in the good old USA. My roomie from England happily informed me that the song had been out for quite some time in England however and that the UK and USA videos for the song were completely different. So I did a quick youtube search and indeed they are quite different. While they were filmed quite some time apart, the UK version is definitely more graphic than the US version. Here are both...you can decide for youself but I defintely enjoyed the UK versio a bit better (despite the somewhat more suicidal theme to the video):

US:



UK: